You probably never met late Borderlands fan Michael John Tamaril, but thanks to Gearbox his name will become a part of Pandora lore. Last month, Michael lost his life to cancer at the age of 22, motivating his friend Carlo to approach Gearbox for help in honoring his late friend with a personalized eulogy from the franchise's robotic mascot, Claptrap. The studio agreed and then went a step further.

Shortly after Carlo emailed Gearbox, he recieved a touching audio response and a promise from the studio that Michael will be included as an NPC in Borderlands 2. While we don't know what Michael's NPC will look like (for obvious reasons), thanks to Carlo's willingness to share his story we can listen to one of the most touching developer messages in recent memory. 

Let this be proof, then, that both developers and players share a deeper connection and passion for the industry than we sometimes give them credit for. Now my fellow g1's, let us have a moment of silence in rememberence of Michael John Mamaril.