by CodingSquirrel » 06 Oct 2015, 17:44
As someone who was up until recently in the exact same boat as you, I'll tell you that playing against other people isn't as bad as it seems.
I purchased SupCom at launch and played off and on for years, as well as Star Craft 1 and 2, almost exclusively against AI or for the Campaign. I didn't like the idea of playing against others because I didn't like the idea of losing badly. So instead I made my fun by turtling and kicking AI butt, but it would get boring after a while.
It wasn't until I happened to be linked to a Gyle cast from somewhere (I can't even remember where, I think it was a post somewhere on the SWTOR forums) and I got hooked on watching his casts that I finally got the courage to do some online play. I got in some team games, did some ladder, and did a mixture of poorly and well depending on the opponents, but it was a lot more fun than I thought it would have been. And even when I lost (and it would piss me off sometimes) it was always an opportunity to watch and learn what I did wrong and he did right. Every match, win or lose, I think I've gotten better, which opens up more opportunities to get into fair and fun matches.
The apprehension I definitely understand. I ended up taking a break from playing for a few months recently because any time I went to start a game I got too apprehensive, again about losing badly and playing poorly, and went to do something else instead. I just had to push past it and remember that despite what my worrying is telling me it's a lot more fun than I'm afraid it will be. It doesn't hurt that the game will generally match you up with people who are roughly your skill level.