It was late last month that the MechWarrior Online team scrapped together and introduced a unique Mech, all in the name of one of the game's youngest players that was lost to cancer in May, Sarah Parries. "Sarah's Mech" featured her favorite chassis, a Jenner, Sarah's favorite class.
Since going on sale and at the time of this posting, the total amount of proceeds generated from the sale have reached an astounding $118,000. That number can soar even higher, because today is the last day for MechWarrior Online players to buy Sarah's Mech.
"Again I can never thank all of you enough for all the time and effort you at MWO have provided. It has helped a lot knowing that people out there legitimately care," said Sarah's father John.
When you play games online, it often seems like numerous games are populated by gamers who are nothing more than obnoxious, loud, vulgar, misanthropes that give the term "gamer" a bad name, screaming out crude insults that never have to face any sort of repercussions because they're shielded by anonymity. Lately, we've seen a rash of these "people," some even going as far as to issue death threats to developers and their families over something as simple as minor game adjustments.
But with a community of developers and gamers that make up MechWarrior Online, it's a nice reminder to see that these sort of riff raff are really just a minority (albeit a highly vocal one), and that actions truly do speak louder than words.
"On a personal note, I would like to thank the thousands of people on our forums and on our initial facebook tribute thread who really drove this charity project. Through your support, we've been able to make an awesome 'Mech for a great cause, and I couldn't be more filled with pride," wrote Viterbi, MWO's Social Media Manager.
"Let's fight cancer together. 'Get 'em good!'"
