Gearbox and Claptrap honor late Borderlands fan with eulogy, NPC in sequel

by Jessica Conditt on Nov 5th 2011 3:00AM

Michael John Mamaril was a huge Borderlands fan, until he died of cancer last month at the age of 22. His friend Carlo, also a Borderlands fan, asked Gearbox Software to have the game's snarky robot, Claptrap, eulogize Mamaril. Gearbox did, and it has also promised to include Mamaril as an NPC in Borderlands 2. You can hear the heartfelt eulogy from Claptrap and Gearbox on Soundcloud.

Gearbox has established itself as a pivotal figure in the Borderlands community, outside of simply creating the game. In April, Gearbox had Claptrap help a man propose to his girlfriend, and now we've seen the deeper side of its indulgence. Cheers, Gearbox, Carlo and, most of all, Michael John Mamaril.

Source: Destructoid

Tags: borderlands-2, Carlo, cheers, claptrap, eulogy, gearbox, gearbox-software, Michael-John-Mamaril, microsoft, pc, playstation, ps3, xbox

Reader Comments (44)

This is when a developer team reaches up and beyond to the fan's and community that they have. This is really amazing where a fan of the game and subsequent franchise died to young, to early now in a way lives forever in the game.

That's really something amazing.

Good on Gearbox!

Jesus did I ever cry like a bitch from this. AMAZING gesture!!!! It's nice to see there is still good out there. Cheers to you Gearbox for a truly wonderful act!!!

@lloyddobler When I find this NPC, I'm going to do a 3-volley salute in his honor (a 21-gun salute is done with artillery, thankyouverymuchWikipedia)

@GuitarHero666

Well this is Borderlands dude. I'm sure you can find some artillery somewhere.

Congratulations Gearbox, you are officially the most awesome developer on the face of this planet.

Awesome showing of human decency Gearbox. Kudos to you, and sorry to hear about another life lost to cancer. :(

Very touching. Very sad.

I don't like borderlands, but I have to admit Gearbox is amazing to it's fans. Anyone remember the Claptrap marriage proposal? This kind of stuff makes me want to buy their games even if I'll never play them.

@CaramelZappa
Agreed.

And again we are shown why despite the few mistakes Gearbox may make, like Duke Nukem Forever, they know how to stay classy. Coincedence they used to work with Valve? I THINK NOT. :p

@Jennacide
To be fair, all Gearbox really did with Duke Nukem Forever was brush it off and get it out the door.

Ugh, I just love Gearbox so much. Not only are they awesome people with some of the best community outreach around, but they make some really, really good games. Brothers in Arms was one of the last console generation most underrated series and Borderlands is my favorite new IP of this generation.

Never played DNF, but that was hardly their game to begin with.

@TheyDidItFirst

i love Brothers in Arms. always thought it was the cream of the WWII crop. did you check out Hell's Highway? good game on current consoles, and they've announced "Furious Four" so i'm pretty hyped about that, too.

anyway, this was awesome, Gearbox. i'm going to go do something i've been meaning to do for a long time now, and order Borderlands on Amazon. hope there are still people out there willing to play with a n00b. :D

Saw this the other day and teared up like a bitch. Such a touching gesture. Gearbox are such a great team of devs and this makes me love them even more.

Devs who respects their fans are easily the best. Anyone else got the urge to go out and buy Duke Nukem Forever new?

:'(

I'm normally too much of a heartless dick that's trying to see what angle the company in question is vying for to appreciate these sorts of gestures within the industry, but I have to admit that this is not only classy, but it's also pretty damn cool

Go Gearbox

Guys, be sure to listen to Claptrap's eulogy. It's more than just an incredible effort to connect with fans, it's an incredible tribute that deserves attention.

http://soundcloud.com/tony-12-2/claptrap-eulogy-for-michael/s-tmwpd

Best wishes to Michael's family and friends. And Michael...I'll be seeing you in the Borderlands.

Cheers to Gearbox

To Micheal!

Great job.

Rest in Peace Michael.

And good on ya Gearbox.

Gearbox...You alright with me.

That's really refreshing to see something like that happen. Maybe finallly, everything is not lost in our harsh world, as I sometimes tend to think.

Thank you Gearbox for reviving hope in my heart. Most sincere congratulations to you, amazing developers !

Dude, what the hell, I just woke up, saw the article on my phone, listened to the audio and now I'm still in bed, refusing to leave crying.

Sometimes it's easy to forget that developers are people too and It's quite the magical moment when both the fans and the developers recognise each other as one and the same and get together to deliver something that would probably mean the world to Michael John Mamaril.

For this, I'm going to buy every gear box game that ever comes out.
If we are not here on this earth to help each other, then what else?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdWkKKSckNk&feature=youtube_gdata_player

:(

I hope EA and Activision are taking note. And Ubisoft. Gearbox do the sort of things that I hope to do one day. Whether or not I like what they make is irrelevant - this team has actual caring human beings behind it, and that's always a huge bonus. Too bad that not all devs are like this.

"Though he may be gone, he will live on forever in the borderlands."

That last line has me crying so hard. God Dammit, there such good people in the world doing such good things for others. To Gearbox, and to John.

For this I will now buy every Borderlands game and DLC ever. I probably would have anyways but WOW when companies take time to do things like this it just gives me so much respect for the people behind the game. RIP Michael, Kudos Borderlands.

Damn, now I pretty much have to buy Borderlands 2. Good job Gearbox, reminding us that as unbelievable as it may seem sometimes, corporations are people too.

its sad to loose a fellow gamer. rest in peace.

I could never really get into Borderlands, but I really like the company behind the game. Sure, not everything they make is stellar, but they seem like honest, good people who actually care about their fan-base. I respect them for that.

Too young. RIP

I didn't like Borderlands (I'm one of the few apparently) but I must admit that Gearbox has some of the classiest game devs in the industry. This is such a nice thing for them to do.

Such a class act by a great company! I'm going to jump back into Borderlands tonight.

R.I.P Michael John Mamaril. I didn't know you personally, but as a gamer, i knew you. I loved Borderlands as well, and it sucks to know that you won't be able to play with all of us down here, but when I get Borderlands 2, along with everyone else, you'll be remembered and celebrated by us all.

Just for this i will buy Borderlands 2, cause i already have the first.

More class than Burt Reynolds.

Wonderful.

Well now I'm not only buying Borderlands 2 on release but all it's subsequent DLC too cause I want Gearbox to have my money. Gearbox, you rock!

Fun fact: I bough Borderlands for the THIRD TIME last week. First bought it when it came out, turned it in to buy the GOTY, turned THAT in to buy Arkham City but I regretted it so I bought back the vanilla edition(since I already have the DLC stored on my PS3 account). And Borderlands 2 is my most awaited game period(well, Skyrim is, but I already pre-paid it, I just need to get it on Friday). And my favorite Half-Life game is Opposing Force.

I LOVE Gearbox, needless to say. And this is a HELL of a classy gesture for them. I love how Claptrap says that "one of our own has fallen", those are POWERFUL words. I was especially moved by it, since I'm a soldier, and those words will make any member of the armed forces choke up.

That was beautiful :'( Really no words can describe what I just heard. It reached beyond the expectations of what I had when I clicked the link to soundcloud. Once they turned claptrap off and he spoke to us,..... f*ck man
R.I.P.
To Michael!

To all game developers who are not like Gearbox: be more like Gearbox.

Classy folks they are.

At first I thought it was gonna be corny but it was actually touching, especially saying that the best thing to do is stand by your loved ones. It actually brought a tear to my eyes. Good on ya Gearbox. You gain more points in my book for doing a really human thing.

Borderlands 2

Gearbox and Claptrap honor late Borderlands fan with eulogy, NPC in sequel

Reader Comments (44)

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