Be Welcome here stygium, glad to have you here.
As far as the friends thing goes it can be a lot like the real world here. There are a lot of good nics here, I really come here nowadays to be around them more than anything else myself. Yet don't expect to connect with everyone and try not to be disappointed if everyone doesn't connect with you. Even the friends you do find will probably let you down from time to time and the good friends will probably say things to you that you don't want to hear but probably need to. So don't rush things, friendship often takes work and patience and just getting along with others can be a chore at times.
There are lots of goodies shared here to provide entertaining distractions so have fun with all of that and I hope your stay at Akiba Online is long and enjoyable.