Stevivor’s Final Fantasy XIV Pre-PAX Australia was the talk of the town last month night, and ended in the best way possible. Keen Final Fantasy fan Josh Deveson (above middle) walked away from Flinders Lane’s Bartronica Arcade Bar with a custom, FFXIV-themed PlayStation 4.
Except that he almost didn’t.
Hundreds of eager fans clustered around myself and the organisers of the FFXIV ANZ Facebook group, Adam Perry and Ben Getley (above left and right, respectively), as we drew for the console. Josh’s winning entry was selected, his name yelled out through the crowd… and then silence. As heads darted around, attendees eagerly scanning the crowd for a winner, no one came forward.
Then, it clicked. As doorman for most of the night, I had the privilege of meeting most of the night’s party-goers. I was pretty sure I knew who Josh was.
“It went silent after host announced my name. Most of people [in attendance] didn’t know my name and I couldn’t hear straight away,” Josh explained to me earlier in the week.
“I’m deaf,” Josh continued. Which, obviously, explains why he didn’t come forward then and there.
While patrons were shouting, “he’s gone! Draw again!” I took to darting around Bartronica to find Josh. It wasn’t overly difficult — he was cosplaying as Final Fantasy XV‘s Noctis. Reasonably sure I had the right man, I typed, “Josh Deveson?” on my phone and held it out to him to read.
His face went white as a ghost.
“I had to show my ID for prove my real name,” Josh recounted. In truth, he didn’t. I could tell from his excitement — literally shaking as he tried to pull his license from his wallet — that I had the right man.
“I didn’t even notice Adam ate the paper of my winning entry,” Josh told me, unaware that my fellow host had done so for dramatic effect. I even tried grabbing the paper from his mouth to initially show Josh (and in retrospect, eww), but it was too soggy and ruined to really help much.
Desecrated entry form or not, it all ended well.
“I was legit speechless,” Josh said. “More speechless when I was holding a real FFXIV PS4 console — with only three custom units worldwide — in front of everyone! I’m loving this bad-ass PS4 design!
“I had an ultimate great time FFXIV Fan Gathering Melbourne event. It was so amazing to meet Final Fantasy fans and cosplayers and new friendly people — I really appreciated all the nicest compliments on my costume. The atmosphere [of Bartronica] is perfect for the gamers and gaming retro lovers,” Josh concluded.
Congratulations again to Josh, and thanks to everyone who came out to make Stevivor’s Final Fantasy XIV Pre-PAX AUS event one to remember.
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