Are any other newbies here absolutely petrified of playing against real people?

I play chess for a while, but I feel nervous as well as you do. I think it is normal, but you should try to focus only on a game. It is important, because if you think about being nervous (for whatever reason - losing points, doing mistake... ) you will do mistakes that you will not do if you were relaxed. So what you can do about it is that you can play unrated and longer games like 30 minutes or just play daily and have fun. Stop when you feel tired. I think 2-5 games (longer) a day are enough, then just do tactics  problems. Tactics is what is neccesar for your level to improve (I saw even 2000 blunder as well and I would be a snack for them). But when you play game, focus and look for haning pieces, your opponents will for sure blunder, just wait for your opportunity. Maybe it is difficult but you should try to create plan as well and try to figure out your opponents, if you do this, I am sure you will dive into a game and you will not have a time to think about anxiety. I hope it helps. I am sure you will get rid of it and you can imrpove as well, and remember, chess is still just a game. If you do not wanna become GM and you just play for fun then there is not reason to be anxious about games or be stressed. Have fun here

Theres subtle differences in computer vs people play. No biggy to worry about. I get frustrated at losses sometimes, but I always learn something. Computers play very rigidly but humans are more likely to fall for subtle tricks and attacks. Like a trick where there is a blatent queen sacrifice a computer won't take (if it leads to you winning in 2 moves) - but overall I think human play is much more fun than playing robots. Just my opinion though, good luck with your chess

Yes, this is me....and you already wrote the solution. Have fun and keep growing!

I think I've played about a dozen games and lost most of them. Mainly 1 day per move games. I too don't feel comfortable playing real time yet against a human opponent. I will gladly play a few games with you and we might get over this anxiety thingy soon together.

obt games arent that hard ngl, for me my first tourney was stress not my first obt, otherwise its nothing, just play it, obt definitely has obt tricks but yeah 

the more tourneys the better, for bigger tourneys well stress, for random tourneys no stress, i actualy got mmy membership from one somehow

is it just me or did i start lower rated than everyone here 

i started at 300 btw

I know the feeling! I'm going to start playing real people later this week, after being away for a while. Before I do that though, I'm going to work on solving checkmate puzzles for a few days. It will help me to remember how to checkmate.

I started at Pooch level, several years ago.

1.) It's just a game. It may be more fun to win, but nothing bad will happen if you lose. Even if you mess up big, your opponent won't remember it for longer than a few minutes and they will more than likely forget you.

2.) After a couple of games, the chess.com server gets very good at matching you up with a similarly ranked opponent. Trust me, it does a good job.

3.) when Michael Jordan was asked if he was nervous taking big shots because he might miss, he answered "why would I worry about missing a shot I haven't taken?" You will definitely play worse if you get worried about "messing up"

4.) Playing a bot can be it's own fun and can be good when you need an opponent who can be flexible with your time availability, but I think it is poor preparation for playing against real people, IMHO.

Nike catchphrase, "Just do it." Also, you are playing people YOUR level, so you won't get matched with someone insanely high. 

And an emu too.

Yes.  I've made too many embarrassing blunders against the bots to reveal them to real human.

I can relate to this.  I was just doing the tactics trainer for like two years and thinking back yeah I was nervous to play live games.  That lasted about 5 games, during which time my default rating (whatever it is they start you at like 1000) came quickly down to the point where I would win about 50% of the time. I've gotten some really good (i.e., fun, similarly rated) opponents, where we would rematch 3-4 times because the games were enjoyable.  Bigger issue to consider is your time control.  I still only play bullet or blitz because I'm afraid of having to think.  I just don't have it in me, though I know I'll never really improve just playing to win on time.  The other issue is find an opening (or two, or whatever) so that you can usually get into the middle game and play a little.  Finally, I review almost all of my games with the "Moments" replayer, really instructive, and then you can think as long as you want about why the best moves are what they are.  You can even replay your opponents mistakes, turn the board around, etc.  Oh, one other thing.  I almost always fight on after a big blunder and make the opponent beat me, resigning only when it's a clear courtesy. You'd be surprised at the things that happen as the game progresses, I mean, the opponent is rated close to you, they may return the favor!

Either chess.com rating of the bots is way off or everyone's rating is not their actual rating because i cannot beat 1300 rated players in chess usually but chess.com claims i am about 1700 for i can beat the 1600 bot and not the 1800

I am scared of such a thing. Thank goodness that your comments were the first things I saw, Ultimate_Fighter. I needed to hear this. Sometimes the only way is through.

Update: Tried 3 blitz games under those conditions, lost all of them. I don't think I can bring myself to get through the 10 at this rate, unless the goal is to get busted down to my "real" rating.

Analysis describes your last game as "Wild — A chaotic game where both players had many chances to win."  What's not to like?  Just play a few more.