As lovers across Wales celebrate the patron saint of lovers – Santes Dwynwen – this week, we look at how finding ‘the one’ has changed since Dwynwen became our guardian of love.
Luckily for two gamers from west Wales, technology has progressed quite a bit since Dwynwen’s 5th Century, but even in an online world, finding love can be a Minecraft to say the least.
When avid gamers Jake and Cerys both swiped left, they could have only imagined how their destinies would align.
Meeting online just a few months into the pandemic, the pair managed to work around restrictions by gaming together – with Cerys even offering Jake her old console, so they could continue gaming as the pandemic played on.
Cerys said: “Gaming has become a huge part of our lives together. It forms the basis for a lot of our friendships – and actually, it’s how we first started dating.”
As restrictions eased, the pair took things to the next level and moved in together, bringing with them a multiplayer friendship circle from across the world. Yet, with local broadband download speeds averaging around 67Mbps, their connection was just not giving them the competitive edge they needed.
Regularly gaming around the house, Cerys upstairs and as far as you can be from the router as you can get, and Jake in the living room, both faced frustration with the all to familiar buffering wheel impacting on those curtail game play moments.
Looking back at his frustration at the time, Jake said: “As anybody knows, living with somebody takes getting used to, and with our broadband regularly dropping out, it can get very tense – especially when we’re also mid-game.”
Before Cerys added: “Downloads would literally take hours. In the little time we have together, we want to spend it gaming with our friends, or curled up watching a film, not waiting for updates to install.”
As their relationship moved to the next level, the pair looked at local broadband options – eventually opting for Welsh provider Ogi’s 900Mbps package, in the hope it would be a match made in virtual heaven.
“It was a game changer form day one.” Said Jake, adding: “The speeds are immense, and those game updates that took hours to download are now ready to play in a matter of minutes.”
With a new born baby too, the pair thought it might be game over for their multiplayer lives; but their ultrafast and ultra-reliable new service meant they could continue gaming while adapting to their new family life.
“Having Faye was a big adjustment and our lives took on a whole new level of busy.” Said Cerys, adding: “We started investing in smart home tech to help with timers for cooking or playing lullabies and that. Having the reliability of full fibre gave us that level of security that really is invaluable.”
As technology increasingly continues to play a fundamental role in connecting people, it is not surprising that a chance meeting in the gaming world has changed the course of this couple’s life in the real world.
“It’s completely changes the way we can game…” said Jake, adding: “and having a faster connection means we can focus on what’s important – like our family, friends.”