Tribute to a deceased friend

[Rhaegyr]

Long time listener, first time poster. It’s going to be a long one so please bear with me!

First off, I’d just like to give me thanks to the C&R team who’ve given me countless hours of entertainment over the last few years. It’s the only Podcast I listen to and the discussion and insight is fantastic, fun and informative; even if I’ve not played the game (plus I could listen to people shit on Heavy Rain for weeks).

Anyway, it’s a bit of a selfish request but I’ll try and keep it short and sweet.

A very close friend of mine unexpectedly took his own life a few weeks ago after a battle with mental illness, he was only 29 and married for a little less than a year. Fucking great guy who had everything to live for and made everyone else that much happier when he was around.

He was a passionate gamer and he adored two games in particular - Borderlands and Binding of Isaac. He enjoyed them so much he had about 6 or 7 tattoos of them (Claptrap, Isaac, Meat Boy etc). He finished the original Borderlands over ten times and the sequel a fair few times too.

We were eagerly looking forward to Borderlands 3 since we finished Borderlands 2 back at launch and I want to try and get him honoured in some way in the game (or series). It doesn't have to be major; I'd just love if there was a little nod to him in a game series he adored and was really excited about playing. A random minor NPC character named after him, a spot on the ‘special thanks’ credit list, a tiny texture buried in the map with his name on it – anything.

I have a fair few reasons for wanting to do it; I want him remembered; I think it'd give a little happiness to his mum, dad, sister and wife; I think he'd love it; He's been looking forward to the game for so long it and it wounds me he won't get to experience it.

I'm a bit of a social media idiot (no twitter, facebook etc) but I’ve created accounts on these (and in forums) in an attempt to speak to the devs/publishers to try and get something accomplished. I’ve posted on the official forums, reddit, contact the developers directly, contacted the publisher directly and contacted the community manager via twitter and their official website – sadly no reply ☹

So, it’s a bit of a shot in the dark but here’s the question – could you guys recommend any other channels/avenues I should be going down? Or what I could do to get someone’s attention? Willing to do anything – charitable donations, get signatures up, do something daft for charity; absolutely anything. The reason I’m asking here is that I know you guys have extensive knowledge of the industry and also (hopefully) a lot of good contacts with developers, publishers etc. If you can’t help I honestly can live with it; just thought I’d ask (please don’t feel obligated either, it’s really not my intention).

I know the game’s close to being done (if not already) and it’s a huge long shot but I couldn’t really look myself in the mirror if I didn’t try as much as I could. I’m aware it’s quite the selfish request to ask point blank in my first post but I’m running out of avenues (that I know of).

Thanks again for your time and thanks for all the great work over the years – can’t thank you enough!

Carl

[Stanshall]

Hi there, and welcome to the forum. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful but I wouldn't have any better ideas than what you've done already. I just wanted to say it was really moving to read about what you're trying to do for your friend. Whether or not it comes off at this stage, I have a lot of respect for what you're trying to do. Most of all, it shows that whether or not his name appears in a game, he clearly made a real impact on your life, he is remembered and he will be remembered by those who love him, like yourself. All the very best.

[ratsoalbion]

Hi Rhaegyr. Thank you for signing up and for the kind words.

So sorry for the loss of your friend and respect to you for this touching idea to commemmorate him.

To take things forward, I would recommend getting in touch with Fever, who have been hired specifically to handle Borderlands 3's PR:
https://www.prweek.com/article/1585009/ ... d-3-launch

https://www.feverpr.com/

[Rhaegyr]

First off, I really appreciate the replies. Can’t tell you how much it means to get a reply to this stuff, especially in such a short time frame. Thank you so much.

@stanshall Thanks for the welcome. I’ll not lie, your kind words had me tearing up so much at work I had to make a quick dash to the toilet!

@ratsoalbion Again, thank you for the welcome and the lovely words. Thanks for putting me in touch with the PR team; I’ve messaged the Borderlands 3 community manager on twitter and her own website to no avail. Hopefully I can get a little more joy out of this contact.

Am I right in thinking I’m speaking to Leon? Forgive me for sounding like a fanboy/groupie but I’m in a bit of a reflective state at the moment and I’d just like to say I love this show, the work you all do is fantastic and I’m so glad Cane and Rinse is a thing (and so are all my mates after nagging them to listen to it). I’d love to start contributing to the community once I’ve got my head right, hopefully sometime soon.

@clippa Thanks for your concern and your great ideas. McMillen does seem like a great guy; I’ve been focused on trying to get him some way into Borderlands but this could be a better shout. The YouTube users are really helpful too – someone mentioned this in the Borderlands forum but I’m a bit of the pace when it comes to YouTube personalities so having specific names is a great help for me!

I’ve said it a million times but thanks again guys, these few replies have lifted my mood more than anything in the last few weeks has.

[KSubzero1000]

Hey man, I didn't really know what to say yesterday since Stan basically took the words out of my mouth and said it better than I ever could. I'm very sorry about what happened to your friend and I hope you'll find a way to commemorate him somehow. I'm sure he would appreciate that.

[Alex79]

Sorry to hear about your friend, man. Still so much discussion needs to be had about male suicide, it's a sad situation. I've lost three friends that way in the last ten years and it's awful.

Regarding streamers, Northernlion is one of the best known BoI YouTubers but that's about all the help I can give.

[ratsoalbion]

Thank you for the very kind words!

Glad that signing up here has already proved a positive.

[Rhaegyr]

Quick update for anyone interested;

Contacted practically everyone I could think of (related to Borderlands) - their forums, twitter, official 'contact us', the two YouTube personalities mentioned by clippa, their community manager, 2K, Gearbox and FeverPR. Sadly no reply from anyone, though I imagine they're in overdrive with the release of BL3 round the corner. Bit disappointed but to be expected

HOWEVER!

On clippa's suggestion, I found a random email for Ed Micmillen on his twitter and sent him an email basically thanking him on behalf of my friend and asking for any sort of small tribute. He replied to me directly within a couple of hours, offering his condolences asking for pictures of tattoo's my friend had (I mentioned he had a fair few) - luckily I had them on my phone so sent them over to him.

Not heard anything back yet but even if I didn't it wouldn't matter so much. Simply the reply, the condolences and acknowledgement from the guy who gave my friend so many hours of joy is a fucking great thing on Ed's part and something I can pass onto my friends wife and family. Thinking how jealous he would be that I've had contact with Ed makes me laugh and cry in equal measure, too.

What a top bloke Ed is and thanks again to you all for the suggestions.

[ratsoalbion]

Well done Ed!

[dezm0nd]

I've had some dealings with Ed in the past and he's been so down to earth. Glad it seems to be the case now. I love his work, I just wish he would focus on getting another game out!!

[Rhaegyr]

Another quick update for anyone interested - FeverPR have replied to my request and passed my details on the to Borderlands team. They've tried to temper my expectations as much as possible but even a reply/acknowledgement means a hell of a lot.

Big thank you to Leon for putting me in touch with them!

If I get anywhere with this it's down to the suggestions from people in this forum - can't thank you all enough.

Thanks*100!

[Alex79]

That's awesome mate, your friend would be be so made up about that.

[ratsoalbion]

Excellent! Good luck.