Pink for Tink: 20-year old video game boys support Trish’s fight against breast cancer.
MMO games have lots of group activities and people play together for a long time because it takes months (sometimes years) to fully develop your online character. PvP means you fight (mostly) against other players who tend to be smarter, or at least less predictable, than playing against the computer.
Trisha and I go by different versions of Tink and Mort (Tinkerhell, Tinkehellion, Tinkerhellyeah, Mortrisha, Mortadella, Mortgasm) The game itself is just ok, but we we play because we’ve become a part of that community.
Tinkerhell (Trish’s main character) really leaned on the community when she left her job last fall. It took the place of the office water-cooler chat and gave her someone other than me to talk to. (I don’t know why she would need or want someone other than me to talk to, but she says it’s important, so I humor her.)
If you know Trish at all, you know she is charismatic in a subtle way. She is always surrounded by people, but is never the center of attention. Trish took to the online gaming world easily, and in the process became a damn good player and teammate.
Don’t think that everyone is nice online. The Interweb provides a cover of anonymity that encourages behavior we wouldn’t accept in real life. And the majority of the game-players are 15-25 males that put a lot of youthful energy and emotion into the game. There is relentless competitiveness, bragging, and nerd-rage. There is also a lot of young-boy sensitivity, insecurity and douch-baggery.
Jokes tend to be crude, and topics quickly shift to sex. Girls are welcome, cherished, even loved, but they get (mostly) the same treatment as the boys. Trish, very tough and always crude, fits in perfectly.
Pink for Tink helps Trish cope
Seeing Trish come out of the mammogram room crying is one of those moments in life that is permanently impressed in my memory. Cancer for the second time is less shocking, but more heartbreaking, especially after she passed the 5-year mark that was supposed to signal ‘all-clear.’
It’s understandable. Do you know how freaking hard it is to reach out and tell people you have cancer? It’s such a heavy and they don’t expect it. And if you are self-reliant like Trisha, you don’t want to ‘burden’ people.
So this time I did it. I called every parent, relative and close friend to let them know she had cancer and needed their support. Trish cried at the outpouring of love from her close friends and family. Within minutes she got calls. Facebook was so filled with messages she couldn’t keep up. And the next morning, I told our gamer friends online in a post on the forum boards.
My intent was just to let a few of our gamer friends know that we would be playing sporadically, and to get a few well-wishes from our close associates. Boy were we both in for a surprise. By mid-day the number of responses from people was over a two hundred, with a thousand views. The tone was supportive and caring, not what one would expect from the hardcore gamer demographic. Here are a few sample posts.
And it grew beyond that. Our buddy Sparkkee had the idea to dye his armor pink, and I called it ‘Pink for Tink’. It caught on, like a virus. By the next day hundreds of people were walking around in-game wearing (often ridiculous looking) pink armor for Trish.
Even more amazingly, the opposing side (remember it’s a PvP game where we fight each other) started dying their armor pink and naming themselves ‘Pink for Tink’ too!
By this point, Trish would burst into tears every time she logged on to play the game. One sort of expects close friends and family to express support, but to have strangers (including your ‘enemies’) stand behind you in solidarity is touching in a very different way.
Folks suggested that we take a group photo, which seems easy enough. But getting a bunch of ADD, stoned gamers that drink too much coffee and Redbull to organize and do something together at the same time is an impossible feat. And how could we ever get both sides together peacefully? It was worth a try, so I put out the announcement all day on the boards and in-game. Our guild Silent Reign, took a group photo and that took an hour in itself!
I tried to lower Tink’s expectations because I didn’t think more than a few would show up. And even if a group did show up, the most likely outcome would be they kill each other before we could take the picture.
The tension grew as we tried to get Tinkerhell to the spot (she was late.) People were moving around menacingly, and there were a few ‘accidental’ deaths. But the temporary truce, in support of Tinkerhell’s fight against breast cancer, held long enough to get a picture. They even waited until she gave the signal to fight!
And it was a hilarious fight. Spells, explosions, and bombs burst everywhere in mass (virtual) carnage. Destruction won, but everyone had a blast.
It was really healthy for the server to unite, albeit briefly, in support of one of it’s own. Online communities are fragile without the face-to-face contact that glues traditional groups. The Badlands community isn’t typical. People posted you-tube video of the event like this and this. Pong featured the Pink for Tink event in his hilarious newsletter. In 10 years of online gaming, I’ve never seen anything like this happen.
And it meant a ton to Tink. She was still reeling from the news, and the huge show of support helped her get through the terrible week. Tinkerhell and Mort send appreciation and gratitude to our friends and enemies on Badlands.
/respect
For the truly curious, there are some great tidbits of stuff here in the destro region chat during the event.
Good friends trump bad cells every time! (Damn, I swore I’d never use that man’s name again.)
[...] the Sprite race, my friend and I created a character named Tinkerhell and fun ensued) Her husband, Mort, plays the game as well (the couple that games together!), and both feel to be strongly a part of [...]
It was great to see this blog. I wish you all the best and I look forward to seeing both of you out there!!
Despite the actions of a few individuals, these games give us the opportunity to cross vast distances, time zones and cultures to enjoy each other. Keep fighting the good fight, and we’ll keep the positive thoughts coming.
Julliann rr80 Sorc
Vayjon rr62 Dok
[...] can read more about Tinkerhell here. GD Star [...]
[...] If you would like to get some more information on Pink for Tink please follow the link below: Pink for Tink [...]
[...] As many of you may already be aware, a player on the Badlands server, Tinkerhell, has recently been faced with the reemergence of her breast cancer. As anyone who has fought a battle with this terrible disease knows, the support of friends and family can be a source of great strength and comfort during a very stressful time. The amount of support shown by the WAR community at large, not just on Badlands but across all servers, has been inspiring. In recognition of the outpouring of support from the WAR Community, in lieu of our normal blog roll we’re going to simply link everyone to the recent blog posts about Pinkfortink. [...]
[...] You can read the full story here. [...]
[...] in lieu of our normal blog roll we're going to simply link everyone to the recent blog posts about Pinkfortink. To the WAR Community, thank you for being the best bunch of WAAAGH'rs a team could ever have the [...]
[...] As many of you may already be aware, a player on the Badlands server, Tinkerhell, has recently been faced with the reemergence of her breast cancer. As anyone who has fought a battle with this terrible disease knows, the support of friends and family can be a source of great strength and comfort during a very stressful time. The amount of support shown by the WAR community at large, not just on Badlands but across all servers, has been inspiring. In recognition of the outpouring of support from the WAR Community, in lieu of our normal blog roll we’re going to simply link everyone to the recent blog posts about Pinkfortink. [...]
[...] As many of you may already be aware, a player on the Badlands server, Tinkerhell, has recently been faced with the reemergence of her breast cancer. As anyone who has fought a battle with this terrible disease knows, the support of friends and family can be a source of great strength and comfort during a very stressful time. The amount of support shown by the WAR community at large, not just on Badlands but across all servers, has been inspiring. In recognition of the outpouring of support from the WAR Community, in lieu of our normal blog roll we’re going to simply link everyone to the recent blog posts about Pinkfortink. [...]
just stopping by to say <3
this is furg btw
[...] As many of you may already be aware, a player on the Badlands server, Tinkerhell, has recently been faced with the reemergence of her breast cancer. As anyone who has fought a battle with this terrible disease knows, the support of friends and family can be a source of great strength and comfort during a very stressful time. The amount of support shown by the WAR community at large, not just on Badlands but across all servers, has been inspiring. In recognition of the outpouring of support from the WAR Community, in lieu of our normal blog roll we’re going to simply link everyone to the recent blog posts about Pinkfortink. [...]
[...] As many of you may already be aware, a player on the Badlands server, Tinkerhell, has recently been faced with the reemergence of her breast cancer. As anyone who has fought a battle with this terrible disease knows, the support of friends and family can be a source of great strength and comfort during a very stressful time. The amount of support shown by the WAR community at large, not just on Badlands but across all servers, has been inspiring. In recognition of the outpouring of support from the WAR Community, in lieu of our normal blog roll we’re going to simply link everyone to the recent blog posts about Pinkfortink. [...]
Good luck! Sending many positive, healing thoughts your way <3
[...] Shadow tells the story better then I do. Here’s the original post.. More of Tinks Story in their own words…. [...]
[...] working together to help her raise awareness, and even the game company joined in. Here’s the story, man once I read it, it touched me [...]
I have family who have battled different kinds of cancer. Through positive attitude and family support they have beaten or are beating the disease. Keep your chin up and energy positive and you will get through this. It was awesome to see the WAR community come together over this! Best of luck to you and yours. Sincerely, Mike B (Frotharrard,Chosen – Volkmar)
Fight on!
There isn’t much to say really in this kind of sittuation.. I remember how i felt when a close family member went throught this. And i remember how much the pressence and support of others meant back then. So :
Best wishes from Europe !
Lokke- WH – RR80 – Karak Azgal – EU
Hello from a fellow WAR player, here’s a video I just made (with some proper fights in it instead of that rubbish on the BO =).
It’s all dedicated to Tink, as I was (and still am) wearing the colors!
Keep on fighting Trish!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YcbzbjVtKs
Greetings from the EU.
[...] I hope you enjoy the weekend post special. And be sure to visit her Husband’s post! [...]
My mates and I from PiiTA (both from Volkmar Destro and Badlands Order) will be changing our color scheme to pink and our last names. I hope she pulls through. Good luck to her, you, your family and friends. Volkmar will be supporting you :)
Reading through here bought back memories of my mothers Battle with cancer. Seeing the unity of Destro and Order brought a tear to my eye. My thoughts are with you Tink. Even though I have left Warhammer, I still check back now and then to catch up and see whats goin on and new. You will OVERCOME this Tink.
I don’t know you guys & I am only a free trial player, just started now, but this story is heart wrenching! I hope Trish/Tink feels better! She must get rid of her cancer totally ‘cuz I say so! <3
[...] found Tink’s story today, complete with a picture of her. It’s better than anything I could [...]
From one girl gamer to another, you go girl! <3
Hi this is Tink’s husband, (Mort in game). Thanks so much for the support. As I type this she is asleep after her fifth of six chemo treatments. I know this will cheer her up when she awakes.