I’ve written before about how the gaming community can come together to support one of its own. More recently I’ve become aware of another such “coming together.”

As some of you know, I play Warhammer Online. I’m on the Badlands server and finally had to ask around to find out why so many players had adopted the same last name: Pinkfortink. The story has come to me in bits and pieces.

One of the players on our server, a young woman, is being treated for a recurrence of her breast cancer. In a visible show of support for her, both her in-game friends and her “enemies” have adopted the last name PinkforTink (her main character is named Tinkerhell). But even better, the game’s developers added a new merchant who sells only special pink and pinkish purple armor dyes. Everyone on the server, both the “good” Order and the “evil” Destro, has the option to dye their armor pink for Tink. Noble knights in pink armor, ferocious Orc choppas in pink loincloths —  gentle, constant reminders that real life lurks just beyond the screen and a message to Tink that fellow gamers are thinking about her.

I found Tink’s full story today, complete with a picture of her. It’s better than anything I could write.