Like I said above, I never search for girls in my area randomly. What does happen at times, though, is that I stumble on a girl through a friend's page, through a group for some local event or business or, sometimes, they just pop up in the "people you might know" section. When that happens, if it's possible to find another way to meet her (e.g. get a mutual friend to introduce us) then I'll do that. However, if I really can't think of another way to meet her then the only option I'm left with (if I like this girl enough that I don't want to just leave it go) is to do some kind of cold approaching through Facebook.
As for the creepiness part, I definitely think it comes off as creepy. That's almost certainly the biggest problem with cold-opening a girl on Facebook. There are ways to offset it a little bit (e.g. if you have pictures that give you social proof) but it's always going to be an issue. That's why I'd much rather have met the girl in person in the first place or, at least, be introduced by a mutual friend after seeing her online. But like I said above, if those things aren't an option then I can either leave her go completely or just try to do what I can to limit the creepiness.
I know there are a lot of Facebook gaming methods that people have been working on but I've personally had quite limited success with them. Like you've pointed out, there are some huge challenges to be faced for anyone trying to meet a girl this way (like the creepiness or the process of transitioning to an actual meet-up with someone you've never spoken to in person). I think, if anyone is to devise a significantly successful approach to gaming via Facebook, then working through these obstacles would form the bulk of their work. Once you get over these problems it's more or less the same as gaming in any other setting.
One thing I will say is that, once the initial creepiness has been overcome and if you can get to the stage where you can talk to the girl quite freely (using banter and things like you would with any woman you were talking to in person), then it's not really any more difficult than normal game. I have had girls add me randomly on Facebook (meaning I didn't have to worry about coming off creepy for being the one to add a randomer) and have usually been very successful in gaming them. In some ways, the fact that there's less pressure on you and you've got more time to work on your responses to her makes it a bit easier. You can quite comfortable talking to her and getting to know her even before you meet her. I know some people might not think this is a very PUA way of looking at things but it's proven successful for me.
Anyways, hope this helps with your questions a bit
