As an hermit in W8 I spent month alone without troubles, after some time 2 Ukrainians guys came settle nearby me I gave them stuff to start and we were fine.
But then one day after a long inactivity i logged back to find my place totally erased, with a single lone runestone with russian words and a ' =) ' the base of the Ukrainian guys were also wipped.
Right now i'm hermiting near a village of Pole guys, they are the most friendly guy I have ever met in any mmo I've ever played.