Jasen and Marti Kasten / Blizzard Entertainment"It was absolutely devastating when I got the news," Jasen Kasten says about the day he was told his friend Dave had died.Jasen says the grieving process was just as difficult as it would have been for a friend in real life."A lot of my friends have been cultivated over the internet, so for me it had absolutely no difference whatsoever," Jasen says.
"It could have been someone I had known from high school or had been in my weekly sports league or anything else.Jasen and his Warcraft 'guild' met on the internet - but he says they live by a motto that what's happening offline is more important than on. "A couple of times Dave said: 'Listen guys, I'm really not feeling well, I'm going to have to bow out,'" Jasen tells Radio 1 Newsbeat.Dave lived in Florida, the same US state as Jasen - but despite various attempts, they'd never said hello face to face.
"As we went through different parts of the content we all had different anecdotal memories of him and jokes we used to make.And while Jasen was taking part in Dave's online memorial, his wife Marti overheard and shared the story on Twitter.
Modern version of the old time pen pal. When a public figure dies there is mass mourning. And that's widely accepted. I think when you talk to someone so often it's not more than normal to grieve their loss.