[fao_]

> Building real-life relationships is not easy. There are many ways to get there. A pure online play is not the answer.

I disagree. Personally I've found that real life friendships are much more fickle, many disintegrate because of distance, or time, or some other reason. On the contrary, the people whom I have made friends with through the internet, through for example, IRC or Slack. Have become much more long lasting, and quite lengthy. Even if one of us does not respond or get a response from the other for a couple of months, it does not matter. One of us eventually reconnects or bumps the conversation and we resume practically where we left off. Most of my real life friends have difficulty even responding online.

Sure, this is not a cure-all for loneliness, but such a thing does not exist in this world. At some point we shall all be lonely for some time, even the most devoted partner gets busy or has things to do. It is not the cure-all, but these 'pocket friends', like all friends, help.

[HappyKamper]

> Even if one of us does not respond or get a response from the other for a couple of months

This kind of interaction does not fit my description for a friendship.

>Most of my real life friends have difficulty even responding online

Is taking one month to reply on IRC not to "have difficulty even responding online?"

[fao_]

> This kind of interaction does not fit my description for a friendship.

It depends on your age. A huge chunk of my friends are in University right now, so they have very little time to dedicate to social interactions, and when they do, there is pressure for it to be physical interaction.

In addition, many of my friends are suffering with various forms of illnesses and depression, and a lot of them are makers, that delve into projects headfirst. All of which can sometimes create long gaps in contact.