• Gearbox to honor late fan as an NPC in Borderlands 2


    This morning [Nov 5th, 2011], we received an email from a Destructoid fan named Carlo who shared a story about his late friend Michael John Mamaril. Last month, Michael passed away due to cancer at the young age of 22. Both were huge Borderlands fans, so Carlo thought a great way to honor his buddy's memory would be to shoot Gearbox Software an email asking for a short eulogy to be read by the game's smart-mouthed robot mascot Claptrap. Not only did Gearbox comply with the request, it also promised to insert Michael into the upcoming Borderlands 2 as an NPC.

    This is, without a doubt, one of the most heartfelt and generous acts of fan appreciation ever. For Gearbox to extend such an honor demonstrates how serious the company is in forging meaningful relationships with the people who play its games. This certainly isn't the first time Gearbox has gone above and beyond, and I guarantee it won't be the last.

    You can listen to Claptrap's eulogy for Michael below. And thanks for sharing this touching story with us, Carlo. You have our deepest condolences.

    Claptrap Eulogy
    Comments 14 Comments
    1. IdolEyes787's Avatar
      IdolEyes787 -
      Come on I'm sure that his spirit will totally appreciate it and it didn't have the least bit to do with crass marketing or anything like that.
    1. rdtphd's Avatar
      rdtphd -
      either way it is BA
    1. IdolEyes787's Avatar
      IdolEyes787 -
      Quote Originally Posted by rdtphd View Post
      either way it is BA
      Translation please.
    1. bobbintb's Avatar
      bobbintb -
      Quote Originally Posted by IdolEyes787 View Post
      Quote Originally Posted by rdtphd View Post
      either way it is BA
      Translation please.
      i think it means "bad ass"
    1. Jimathome's Avatar
      Jimathome -
      Dam why do some people always have to look for the negative in everything, I think it was brilliant that they did this and I wish more entrepeneurs would step up and do the right thing too !It doesn't cost anything to be nice and it makes everybody feel good including yourself !
    1. Funkin''s Avatar
      Funkin' -
      Whatever their motives are for this I still think it's extremely cool that did it. How many others would give homage to a 22 yr old nobody in their video game?
    1. iLOVENZB's Avatar
      iLOVENZB -
      Developers can't respond to every request they get. If you watch the Destructoid episode, Max Scoville pretty much sums it up.
    1. mjmacky's Avatar
      mjmacky -
      If I died, I wonder if I'll come back as a special zombie in Left 4 Dead 3, you know, since I'm a big fan of the series. Surely my whole life's accomplishment would suggest that everyone close to me would contact Valve upon my death for a eulogy.
    1. Funkin''s Avatar
      Funkin' -
      If I know about your death then contacting Valve will be the first thing that I do, macky. That is as long as you contact Nintendo when I pass and have then replace either Samus, Mario, or Link in their next game of any of these three series. It doesn't have to be all of them. I'm not greedy. Just one will suffice.
    1. dtrihana's Avatar
      dtrihana -
      nice
    1. Glen@DB's Avatar
      Glen@DB -
      Well done you guys @ GearBox
    1. IdolEyes787's Avatar
      IdolEyes787 -
      Quote Originally Posted by mjmacky View Post
      If I died, I wonder if I'll come back as a special zombie in Left 4 Dead 3, you know, since I'm a big fan of the series. Surely my whole life's accomplishment would suggest that everyone close to me would contact Valve upon my death for a eulogy.
      Just to make it clear I believe that it is truly horrible that anyone, especially anyone so young, should have to die in this unfortunate manner.That said I don't think a zombie would have the necessary eloquence to eulogize you properly.
      Of course the fact you being dead and all and nothing to be gained by anyone except maybe Valve for doing such a thing ,a simple argghhhh might indeed suffice.

      Anyway I could be entirely wrong about basically everything about death and with it the cessation of caring about anything that comes thereafter in which case I will refrain from pissing on your grave.
      Either that or seeing as supposedly ego is the first thing to go following death I will (anonymously) donate to some worthy charity in your name and forgo the pointless if well intentioned accolades.

      Your corpse thanks me and anyone that was helped by this entirely altruistic act ,probably does as well.

      Btw if I was a better person I would have treated you better in life when it might have made an actual difference and so that such ostentatious displays in death would be deemed far less necessary .
      Sorry about that mjmacky but I have this annoying tendency to see the bad in everything.
    1. brilman's Avatar
      brilman -
      Quote Originally Posted by IdolEyes787 View Post
      Quote Originally Posted by mjmacky View Post
      If I died, I wonder if I'll come back as a special zombie in Left 4 Dead 3, you know, since I'm a big fan of the series. Surely my whole life's accomplishment would suggest that everyone close to me would contact Valve upon my death for a eulogy.
      Just to make it clear I believe that it is truly horrible that anyone, especially anyone so young, should have to die in this unfortunate manner.That said I don't think a zombie would have the necessary eloquence to eulogize you properly.
      Of course the fact you being dead and all and nothing to be gained by anyone except maybe Valve for doing such a thing ,a simple argghhhh might indeed suffice.

      Anyway I could be entirely wrong about basically everything about death and with it the cessation of caring about anything that comes thereafter in which case I will refrain from pissing on your grave.
      Either that or seeing as supposedly ego is the first thing to go following death I will (anonymously) donate to some worthy charity in your name and forgo the pointless if well intentioned accolades.

      Your corpse thanks me and anyone that was helped by this entirely altruistic act ,probably does as well.

      Btw if I was a better person I would have treated you better in life when it might have made an actual difference and so that such ostentatious displays in death would be deemed far less necessary .
      Sorry about that mjmacky but I have this annoying tendency to see the bad in everything.

      Ok,

      Nice job Gearbox you got yourself great press and made a little happiness go around.

      Anything else, who cares?


      Quote Originally Posted by IdolEyes787 View Post
      Sorry about that mjmacky but I have this annoying tendency to see the bad in everything.
      Learn to see all the sides, even if you don't agree
    1. mjmacky's Avatar
      mjmacky -
      Quote Originally Posted by IdolEyes787 View Post
      Anyway I could be entirely wrong about basically everything about death and with it the cessation of caring about anything that comes thereafter in which case I will refrain from pissing on your grave.
      Either that or seeing as supposedly ego is the first thing to go following death I will (anonymously) donate to some worthy charity in your name and forgo the pointless if well intentioned accolades.

      Your corpse thanks me and anyone that was helped by this entirely altruistic act ,probably does as well.

      Btw if I was a better person I would have treated you better in life when it might have made an actual difference and so that such ostentatious displays in death would be deemed far less necessary .
      Sorry about that mjmacky but I have this annoying tendency to see the bad in everything.
      I have an odd perspective on this thing. Death is actually great for the person who dies, it sucks for everyone else. I almost died once due to some freak condition of the heart a little over 4 years ago (reference Bond in Casino Royale), and it prompted a lot of conversations about what to do with my corpse/funeral (for this purpose I'm dismissing EVERY other topic it prompted). I used to demand that there be no funeral, and toss me in the oven without collecting the ashes (that's if the amazing specimen that would be my corpus adonis couldn't be donated for some more useful purpose).

      But I eventually pulled back and retracted all my demands. Death is final, there's no capability of me being able to produce a disagreement post finale. We just basically agreed to not talk about it while I'm still animated; but afterwards they can do whatever they want with my phsical remains, perhaps stuff it and use it as an 'after' statue for a penis enlargement gimmick (David being the before).

      As far as charity goes, I've only done it in an involved manner. So it'd be cooler if you went out and labored in my name. I'll do the same for you, but I'll use my name... and you'll probably still be alive.