Question: dark souls 1 how to play with friends?
Answer: Enable the "Draw Nodes" checkbox in DSCM - stay in the default channel.
Wait until you get at least one node (use either DSCM or DSPW to monitor your amount of nodes). ... 
You and your friends open up the friendslist in Steam and use the "Join game" option (summons on the host and the host on everyone).