M
Story
What are the best online activities to do with friends remotely?
Like the title says, my friends live pretty far so we don't often meet up given work and family schedules. What are some ways you kept in touch with your friends?
Run a discord server. Hang out and chat, even if you’re playing different games or watching shows and movies. Sometimes knowing you’ll be heard even if no one is actively speaking is a good activity.
I don’t know why but discord isn’t prevalent in my circle, maybe we’re just a bit older?
In my experience Discord is mostly popular among the gamers. Not for me personally, I find Discord bloated and overwhelming. Slack for work is barely tolerable
Discord is not for me either, I guess. young kids seem to be having all the fun there.
  • vlark
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  • 2 days ago
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Play an RPG via your video conferencing platform of choice. You don't need to use a Virtual Table Top like Roll20, either. Use the built-in whiteboard function of your video conference platform or use a site like excalidraw.com.
Bigscreen Beta if you have a VR headset. Let's you e.g. sit in front of a fireplace with a friend and watch or listen to YouTube
kosmi.io is a great tool for this, you can watch movies together as well as playing games.
Ooh I’m going to try this
Among Us!

people can join on mobile devices as well!

Jackbox.tv games?
Yep! We’ll do a video chat while we play
I prefer the jackoff games, but that’s mostly solo

Add friends for some spice

I see [flagged] in your comments future
Coop portal2
opensimulator.org
Use https://MeetingGlass.com to get easy long video meetings through virtual frosted glass.

Me and my friends, each of us got that app launching at Windows startup. Every time we turn on our computers at the same time, we see each other frosted through the virtual glass. Then we talk or remain frosted in the background.

You've primarily been on HN to self-promote your app, which doesn't really fit the HN guidelines.

Anyhoo, to answer OPs question -- we live 10 minutes outside our town, and my kids play video games together with their friends. Sometimes via in-game chat, but just as often by playing a game on the same server and calling each other on the phone.

Personally, I'm still old-school. I call my friends and family on the phone and talk to them.

There's nothing wrong letting people know about a useful tool that they can take advantage of. It is not a promotion. It is distribution.
  • jaden
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  • 2 days ago
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From the guidelines

> Please don't use HN primarily for promotion. It's ok to post your own stuff part of the time, but the primary use of the site should be for curiosity.

At least be clear about the self-promotion.
Yes, to me this is the only thing objectionable about the GP’s comment.

Just be transparent. If anything it might provoke further interest and discussion too.