how do i play online with other players?

[cat]

i click on online session and join one but i see no players?
it's really hard to kill high level stuff by my self !

[Wild Arcanine]

Are you talking about when you accept a quest and are fighting?

Do you shoot out an SOS?

[Clarencezer]

You can go to the Gathering Hubs and talk to the Quest Counter NPC to find a session or start your own. During your own mission, you can fire an SOS flare to call for help and other players should arrive.

For Joining other players:
- Go to a Quest Board / Gathering Hub, Quest Counter NPC.
- Join a Quest.
- Respond to SOS. (If someone is in your lobby that chose a quest already, you can select Available Quests.)
- Refine your search Criteria, I usually just leave all to default and select the Difficulty but feel free to select your desired parameters and hit Search for SOS Flares.
- Select your desired Category. You should see Assigned, Optional, Investigations, Events, Expeditions and Special Assignments.
- From here a bunch of assigned missions will be visible from other players.

For getting players in your quest by firing SOS Flare:
- Once you are in your mission, press Start / ESC.
- Navigate to Quest Menu.
- Fire SOS flare. (If greyed out you may need to finish other requisite steps / go through cutscene / quest isn't multiplayer to begin with.)


Good luck & good hunting!

Monster Hunter: World - Multiplayer 101 - Online Sessions
https://youtu.be/Mr0km6bEdgo?si=g92Eu38qrAxu5jdr

[Cercamon]

You can't see players in Astera or Seliana, you have to go to the gathering hub to see players from the lobby.

When you are hunting and wish for help just launch an SOS flare, you can do that from the menu.