This. Extravert-introvert is a useful sense-making frame, but it’s also a very broad brush to paint a portrait with. I’m both - a shy, noisy extravert that needs lots of space.
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Haha, the ‘eve-online player’ bit made me laugh.
I recently just went back to WoW almost solely for the social aspect, guild chats especially. Now found a nice casual guild for older players and it’s perfect. I might be a semi-broken wreck for social interactions in RL, but there i shine 
It’s definitely a sliding scale too for the RL social interactions bit. I am far, far more confident with new people than i was in my teens. That only gets me to still far below the average social norm, but the difference is like night and day compared to how i started out 
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I think most introverts like spending time with (some) other people, it just tires us out more than most people. The big difference is that generally introverts are very happy being on their own, whilst full-on extroverts can’t handle it at all. (“normal” people are somewhere in the middle).
It’s interesting how often people say something along the lines of “Introverts just aren’t valued in American society”. I think it’s true of most societies, because extroverts are just much more visible/audible than everyone else, so there’s always the impression that they are a more ‘dominant faction’.
Several of my best friends are extroverts, and we get on really well. I know I can rely on them to always make conversation, and to deal with any strangers we come across, and I think they value always having someone who won’t try and interrupt or upstage them 
Also, on the rare occasions when they do want quiet, I make a good companion, because of course they can’t quite stand being actually alone, so someone quiet is the next best thing.
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Are… are you my old roommate? If so, this is awkward. Hi.
A housemate of mine was exactly like this (and still is). We call him Fantastic Mr Fox; he’s the kind of person who’ll start high-fiving random people in restaurants, wears tuxes out in public just for fun, sets off fireworks, or will lead singalongs in bars or buy random people rounds of drinks if things get too calm for his tastes. Boisterous, loud, class clown, instantly likable, 100% on. And then once nobody’s around, he crashes, and if you try to talk to him he just growls and says “go away”.
I’m an introvert, I’m quiet and think a lot, and I find that it makes people really uncomfortable. I’ll be fine, in a good mood, just sitting around, and afterwards people will say “hey, were you upset with everyone? You were so quiet. We assumed you were depressed or angry.” The quiet guy makes people assume the worst.
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I tend to be the traditional introvert plus some. Sadly, the plus some is generalized anxiety disorder which really makes everything harder even when I’m alone or left to myself in public so this cartoon helps in general to explain at least the introversion to people that I encounter. >_>
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It did cross my mind to print out a few copies for the more extreme extroverts I’ve met.
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Gee whiz, there are still normal people left?!
I’m not your old roomie, but he does sound a lot like me.
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