Things got emotional when an online community of Final Fantasy XIV gamers decided to pay their tribute to one of their comrades who had passed away due to complications related to the novel coronavirus.
Ferne Le’roy who used to play on the Final Fantasy XIV Zalera server had contracted the coronavirus in early April and passed away. Sadly, her friends from the community couldn’t mourn her death due to the imposed lock-down and thus they did the thing nobody could think of. Together the community of players arranged for a virtual funeral procession in an effort to pay their last tribute to their fallen friend. Hundreds of players from Zalera as well as different servers logged in at the same time with their virtual counterparts dressed in all black and carrying umbrellas. The procession of gamers marched through the world of Final Fantasy XIV for an hour on Saturday afternoon and completed their final send off near a tree.
The emotional and heart touching video has been shared on a multitude of platforms including reddit and has earned worldwide praises. Many gamers expressed their love for the community and praised the organizers for organizing such a noble and moving gesture for their fallen friend.
In an interview with Inverse, one of the facebook organizers of the march going by the name Leafelda Moonchild online said, “I didn’t expect anyone to actually show up. I made the post so that those that may have known her would be informed. The fact that so many people showed up, not only from Zalera but from other servers, really took me by surprise.” The original facebook post had announced the death of Ferne Le’roy and read, “One of our own was lost to COVID-19.Now’s the time to show up and show out for a fallen Zalera player … Remember the fallen, or no one else will.”
