There's more of a connection though in an offline pub because people do actual service to one another during a discussion.
For example, two smokers could be in the middle of a heated debate that would spill out into bloody warfare if it took place online, but one smoker simply offers the other his light and they argue on without issue.
Same with drinking, you piss off half of your friends with your irrational views, but they forgive you for it because you buy the next round.
It's hard to get that kind of humanizing interaction online, other than squeezing some Wuffie out into the Magical Kingdom