July is a special month for multiple reasons. It boasts notable Australian events such as Dry July, JulEYE and National Desexing Month. But there’s one day in particular that promotes peace and kindness with those around us. International Day of Friendship has been celebrated on July 30 for the past 10 years after being designated by the United Nations in 2011.
While it’s not exactly a day that’s overly celebrated, it’s still an opportunity to reflect on our friendships. Which, in my honest opinion, should be celebrated every single day. As humans in the 21st century, we make friends in multiple ways. Whether it’s a schoolmate, someone you met one night at the pub or through an MMO.
If you’ve kept up with GOA’s Final Fantasy XIV Online content, you’ll most likely remember my fondness for the community at large. But obviously I’m not the only person with such experiences as making new friends in the online realm. There are many Aussies players who’ve also made friends with others in the online world of Eorzea. Some have even met IRL.
Just like Aaron and Ben. Two Aussies who met in Final Fantasy XIV Online back in 2017. Living in Hervey Bay, Queensland and Newcastle, New South Wales respectively, the pair met in-game after Ben called out for help with an instance. Since then they’ve met in person on multiple occasions and together run the Australian Final Fantasy XIV Online Facebook group.
In celebration of International Day of Friendship, I had the chance to speak to Aaron about how a simple yet random encounter in-game turned into such an important friendship.
Nicco: Aaron, yours and Ben’s experience sounds a lot like mine back in 2015. Except the roles were reversed as I was the one screaming for help in Party Finder. Was it a case of Ben looking for help clearing a raid like I did or to get through the story?
Aaron: Ben was looking for help to clear Thok ast Thok Extreme, (Ravana). It was Ben’s first time attempting Extreme difficulty content. We cleared every Extreme primal and most savage content together after this!