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I don't have anyone near me that likes to play role playing games but is it weird playing with people you don't know?

I don't have anyone near me that likes to play role playing games.So i was wondering if it is weird to play on here with people you dont know.
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Pat S.
Forum Champion
Sheet Author
I've haven't had any gamers near me for the last 10 yrs and have been playing online with people across the world for the last 8yrs so nope it is not weird. Welcome to the world of gaming and enjoy.
It's only weird if you make it weird. Don't make it weird. If it feels strange playing with people you don't know, get to know them.
Playing with people you don't know is a little weird at first, but not in the traditional sense of the word. This community is fairly friendly so it is unlikely that you will encounter a situation where people are assholes right off the hop. However rping tends to rely a fair bit on comfort with the other players. I've run many games now with different groups and I find that everyone starts of a little reserved which is normal. As people start to find their comfort zones with one another then it starts to feel less weird and people come out of their shells. Like all things it takes a little time for people to get used to one another. If the group is just starting out then having the first few games be combat heavy is a good suggestion as combat brings people together, or at least tends to :D 
This tip is given straight from the D&D 4e Handbook, A good way to get players to interact and get into self roleplaying is for the DM to start it when acting out NPCs or Actions suck as funny moments or combat scenes. RP is on a general bases to "normal people" weird but if you can make your community "judgement friendly" allowing people to stop being afraid to act out and have fun it will then turn into a normal thing and you wont think its weird anymore.
One thing that I have done with other virtual tabletops was to host a meet 'n' greet using Skype the night before the game and also an hour before the game starts...which I plan to do again here once I finish getting my maps together here.  These MnG's gave everyone an opportunity to talk about the game (house rules, expectations, personal goals, etc.) and to just shoot the bull to find other common interests.
@Nathan S.: That actually is a great idea, I have sadly not even considered that xD. 
I'm in the same boat at Jacob mostly.  I'm completely new to all of this (haven't even played a game yet), nor do I know anyone IRL that does PnP gaming.  But the way I think of it is that it's not any weirder than jumping into a Call of Duty game online or something and just start talking with the random people you're playing with.