I don't really find people that love me much. I had a mate once on a character, but never saw them again due to online coming issues. I don't have mates a lot, and I have to admit, mate beggars, I really hate when they spam me up in bonfire while I roleplay alone (I do that often). Sometimes they spam up the general chat, or spam with movies.
I never, ever, got a whisper saying "do u want to be my mate?" as I remember. If I ever did, I'd ignore. I need to know the person before we are mates, in my opinion. In roleplay I liked a few people, then my game crashed. The end. Not like account mate, just for roleplay.
I rarely get any mates, which I don't care. My characters, most often males, though I'm female in real life, never get mates. Nira got a mate as I remember, that's it. I don't remember anything else. So I pretty much think roleplay mates are the best. Nothing else, to me. Things happen and change, but I maybe have to agree with you. Though one thing, I often feel I'm way too young to have a mate even on a game yet, unless it's roleplay in a game. I'm glad I don't like anyone truly in real life yet, but eh, I sort of do, but in-game mates aren't for me yet, unless for roleplay.
That's my opinion, saying I agree.
~Hugrf