In all honesty, there's no store in my immediate area that will host Yu Gi Oh players. A few have tried and the stores always shut it down because the people it attracts are apparently always disruptive and... thievey.
do you have any idea if that's specifically a yugioh thing or a general trend of anime/japanese tcgs? My general impression of the community is that yugioh is to the card game community what smash bros is to the fighting game community, lol.
I could probably do that, but I'm going to bring a mask to conceal my identity. I'm not comfortable with people seeing my face, or just people knowing me in general.
in that case you would stuff mutual interests between yourself and others. If direct bridges are uncomfortable, then that'll be a compromise. Life though does seem like a matter of how willing you are to break out of your molds and self-constraints to get what you really desire. Soo, good luck.
If you're not playing with other people in rl, then there are at least a couple simulators out there, some even with the link mechanic. It would be good to download them so you can test stuff out before purchasing singles and stuffs anyway.