When you see an online community on the internet, you probably do not think much of it; you’d assume they mainly consist of nerds behind a monitor who stay home all day in their mother’s basement. There are some half-truths to that statement, however, it does not apply to all within the gaming community. They are much more than a shadow behind a monitor.

Going to Google and searching up the “gaming communities”, you’ll find over 30 pages of groups, clans, tournaments pages, and gaming profiles. They range from first-person-shooters to massively multiplayer online role-playing games. Whatever the game, you’ll find a community based around it somewhere.

However, there is a greater story behind the individual players within these communities. On Dec. 21, 2014, within the Final Fantasy 14: A Realm Reborn community, a player under the alias Codex Vahlda, passed away. Vahlda, who was 29 years-old, became brain-dead due to complications arising from renal failure. While he was at the hospital, a close friend of Vahlda within his gaming community had informed other players and friends of Vahlda’s death and many sat in silence in front of their homes. Their numbers multiplied into the hundreds, and it was not only occurring within the residential area of the game.

other players took it upon themselves to sit in silence throughout the realm of Final Fantasy. The event became so viral that someone had even live-streamed the event through Twitch, a live streaming video platform.

Although the passing of another person is unfortunate, the fact that this community came together to recognize a lost member is telling. Though not many people knew Vahlda, they had a connection to him; he was still a person that deserved their support and respect by simply being a part of their community. It goes even further than having a similar interest to someone else; these communities are built around empathy and companionship, qualities that are difficult to find anywhere else. So next time you see someone playing a video game, place yourself in their shoes and see for yourself why they may enjoy playing that game so much. You might be pleasantly surprised.