I read of such stories once in a while. Sadly, I cannot relate because I always played singleplayer games back then, so I missed out on that. But I would like to add that joining pve world events in guild wars 2, there is some chance that there are people chatting publicly like they have known each other for a long time. Not sure what is is worth, though, but it always give good vibes to work together. Me playing mostly wvw (pvp) we (me and my friend) somehow found some likeminded people who invited us to their private voice chat and talk there while playing together. It is not very often, but it is a start, I guess.
Not sure where I was going with that but I though I add what I could I guess. Thank you for reading!
I am looking forward to attend the NordicFuzzCon. Looking into it more I found that they host Furovision every year (2024) and even had an Opera in 2024. Also their parade looked really nice.