So right out of high school I picked up RPG Maker (back in 2006) and started up a ridiculously over-ambitious MMO project with it. I recruited on the RMVX forums and met a ton of people who wanted to help. 3 of which ended up being my best friends basically to this day.

The problem here is that I've continued to pursue game development and making indie games (and actually nearly finished with school for a 3d game art degree) and my friends have all kind of lost their way. They're all "interested" in game development still, but don't seem to have the drive that I do and when I propose we start up a project or do a game jam I get excuses or 4 hours of re-teaching them the game engine or how to do some simple game art.

The worst part is that at one point the biggest draw for game development was because I was very antisocial in high school and liked creating my own worlds to escape into. But now that I'm 27 and a stay-at-home dad as well as a full-time student, I don't have much of a social life. And my only free time seems to be between 10pm and 4am... But I'm craving that team setting now that I've had a taste of it with game jams in the past and kind of know what I'm doing now when it comes to game development.

So how does one find more lasting friends who are serious about at least indie game development? I feel like I post a "friend wanted" ad once a year and never find anyone interested. Not sure how I snagged such good friends back in 2006, but today, even with the massive increase in indie developers, I can't find anyone who actually wants to chat about game dev or work on small projects or game jams together.

Any advice? Or friend requests?

I should probably get a therapist.

The problem is indie teams of friends hardly ever succeed.

If you want to make an indie game then do it on your own. All the really successful indies tend to be one man shows.

If you want to make friends then do something more social, join a gym, join a local sports club, go to a bar.

Hey thanks for all the replies. Yeah, I'm no longer antisocial now that I'm older, but i can't help but feel that most game developers, especially indie devs are.

I also realize how awkward and pathetic a friend wanted ad is, which its why i was trying to look more for advice or suggestions on how to meet more people who share the common interest of game dev.

Also, I have plenty of friends outside of games. I belong to a climbing gym so i meet people there constantly. Is it really that much to ask to want friends who are passionate about the same things your are?

I'm also not looking for a team of friends to build an epic game with. I really just want friends to learn, do game jams, and essentially grow as game developers with.

Joining a project is a great idea though. Or just recruiting for an upcoming game jam. I guess I always assumed I should only recruit for big projects.

Thanks, everyone.

You could always post a journal here on gamedev of your game in progress, and let people know you're looking for collaborators. You get a bit of the community/friend feel by seeing their work, and their thoughts on your work. I think there's also a irc chat as well, but I haven't joined it, but that might also help.