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Jeff Freeman, former Lead Gameplay Designer on Star Wars Galaxies, has tragically taken his own life
BobCrazyton
Member UncommonPosts: 2,117
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Wow, this is very sad.
Crazy.
Serious death penalties makes every close call an adrenaline rush, and every minor achievement a major victory. This alternative rule-set should be in all MMORPGs.
RIP Jeff... best of luck to his family
MMOs currently playing: -
About to play: Lord of the Rings Online
Played: Anarchy Online (alltime favorite) and lots of f2p titles (honorable mentions: 9Dragons, Martial Heroes, Dekaron, Atlantica Online)
This Sad news is on a thread in the Veteran Rufuge
www.mmorpg.com/discussion2.cfm/thread/205077
A lot of us have express our saddness there.
Unaware of the Jestor?
http://about.me/JestorRodo/
Friends enjoy his classic Vblog - https://www.facebook.com/GoodOldReliableNathan
R.I.P. I remember you from Ultima Online. Which you should be remembered for and not SWG.
Star Citizen – The Extinction Level Event
4/13/15 > ELE has been updated look for 16-04-13.
http://www.dereksmart.org/2016/04/star-citizen-the-ele/
Enjoy and know the truth always comes to light!
Wow things like this are always sad to hear. May he rest in peace.
Heavy. Although I realise it wasn't due to the community backlash that he did that, it does put things into perspective. I see people insulting developers in the worst ways sometimes. I think that sometimes we forget they are human, too. Cliche, but how else can people be so cruel over a game?
Rest in peace, Jeff. I've spent some of the most fun days in my life with friends in a game you helped design, I'm very thankful for that!
Edit; I've been looking through some replies on the blog after his death. F'ing hell, SWG veterans are still flaming him in horrible ways saying things like 'the (swear word) escaped life with no punishment". Jesus. These people belong in a mental asylum! Being an SWG vet myself longing for Pre-CU, this is definitely NOT the time or the place to say such things. I can't help but wonder what kind of people post messages like those. This is someone's life and their family will be reading that blog hoping to see heartfelt condoleances. I hope that people who even thought about posting something like that reflect on who and what they truly are, and seek help.
:-(
Playing EVE Online
(PM me for the EVE 21-day trial program)
As a pre-NGE vet myself all i can say is this.. His family has my deepest sympathies, i seriously doubt that the "hate" he recieved for being the "face of the NGE" had nothing to do with his death, it's something that would have piled on top of his other issues to cause the end result..
As for the NGE itself and the people who blame just Jeff Freeman, come on peeps, one man cannot be blamed for it, if i recall it was the top bosses not the designers that made the decision to impliment it, even against the wishes and recommendations of some developers.
You said it when you said it there Praet, they do belong in a mental asylum. I guess their lives had no meaning til he gave it some and then when it was taken away their lives returned to meaninglessness. An offense these idiots can't get over no matter the circumstance. I'm too appalled to even feel sorry for them. Bastards.
"The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion." -Edmund Burke
Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?"
(Psalm 94:16)
I just hope that his close friends and family do not blame themselves for not being able to prevent it. My condolences to his close friends and family alike. I just hope that the SWG issues do not overshadow his contributions to the MMO industry.
Now, regarding the "fans". These people live behind a mask of anonymity created by the internet. These people hate or are so disgusted with their own life that they build up an online persona that is so real to them that it generally takes the front seat when compared to real life. MMOs to them are a perfect gateway as it gives them the tools to interact with others in a visual way.
These people are ill. They have such contempt for their own personal lives that they choose to create an entire alternate life that they value more than reality. When these people were caught up in the entire SWG debacle, they felt as if their "life" was personally attacked. They become enraged because they have to come to a realization: The online alternate lifestyle they created to escape pressures of everyday life was never really under their control to begin with.
People like this do not use logic where one person cannot possibly make the decision on their own. They are working off of emotion simular to a mob that has turned into a riot. I have a feeling they will now soon choose someone else to direct all their blame towards.
After a passing sympathy really isn't about that person. It's usually expressed toward the people close to that person (friends, family) and in this case those he may have indirectly touched along the way through his career choice. His life's work provided hours to years of entertainment for many people. After that entertainment was ripped away, Jeff was really the only one willing to directly approach customers and lay things straight for them.
Personally I feel it's tragic when anyone reaches a point in life so bad, they feel it's best just to end it. Maybe I'm weak as well 'shrug'.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
If you followed all the links in the article(s). Here is his blog from recent days:
Blog
I hope he finds peace in death, since he had none in life:(
As for the guy that was a bit blunt. Friend, noone cares what do you think of suicide. At least he produced something noteworthy and he left his mark on the world, what exactly did you make with your life?
A friend is not him who provides support during your failures.A friend is the one that cheers you during your successes.
I just hope that his close friends and family do not blame themselves for not being able to prevent it. My condolences to his close friends and family alike. I just hope that the SWG issues do not overshadow his contributions to the MMO industry.
Now, regarding the "fans". These people live behind a mask of anonymity created by the internet. These people hate or are so disgusted with their own life that they build up an online persona that is so real to them that it generally takes the front seat when compared to real life. MMOs to them are a perfect gateway as it gives them the tools to interact with others in a visual way.
These people are ill. They have such contempt for their own personal lives that they choose to create an entire alternate life that they value more than reality. When these people were caught up in the entire SWG debacle, they felt as if their "life" was personally attacked. They become enraged because they have to come to a realization: The online alternate lifestyle they created to escape pressures of everyday life was never really under their control to begin with.
People like this do not use logic where one person cannot possibly make the decision on their own. They are working off of emotion simular to a mob that has turned into a riot. I have a feeling they will now soon choose someone else to direct all their blame towards.
5 star post.
As for the guy who feels no pity for him, sounds like he may have wrestled with that demon of contemplating such things himself and decided against it, despite feeling severely put upon, and now sees anyone that does kill themselves as weak because what could've been worse than what he went thru. Fairly self centered and insensitive. Could also be for pure shock value, in which case, mission accomplished.
"The people never give up their liberties but under some delusion." -Edmund Burke
Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?"
(Psalm 94:16)
You have no clue what you are talking about, please refrain from posting in threads like this again. Please go flame a game, not a loss of life.
Each year, more than 1million people take their own lives - more than the combined annual deaths from homicides and wars. Suicide is a leading cause of death among teenagers and adults under 35.
Frequently people who commit suicide are suffering from a chemical imbalance that leads them to not react to stressors in the same manner that an average person would. In other words, they have a disease/sickness that leads them to their actions, and it is not rare and it is treatable.
What I wonder about in this case, is that a majority of people contemplating suicide make some sort of gesture for help, whether direct or indirect. I wonder if no one even tried to help him.
In any case, I feel for Jeff's friends and family and wish them the best in overcoming this obstacle. The amount of guilt a suicide can leave behind is no easy burden to bear.
When someone takes their own life, it is a loss of human potential that is the saddest aspect of all. True, he screwed up with the NGE. But it was a business decision that ruined a game, not an executive order that sent millions to the gas chamber.
I knew him only from some of the posts of his that I read, where he talked about the NGE. He made a mistake and he admitted it, and was not beyond redemption in the mmo genre as evidenced by his continued employment there. Also he cared enough to reach out to the anger of SWG vets and offer some semblance of an explanation and appology, which seemed thoughtful and heartfelt.
Suicide is the euphemism we use to describe when someone murders themselves. The self hatred, the saddness, the despair that can drive people to commit self murder is unfathomable unless you have been there.
I don't pity him at all. But I have compassion for him. And I hope he has found the peace that he wanted.
<snip>"Yet he selfishly went through with the act, knowing full well what torment he was unleashing on his loved ones."
Horrible. Absolutely horrible. I'm fine with you having whatever opinions you have, but you clearly don't know what you're talking about. I'm okay with armchair 'rented-a-book' self-proclaimed psychologists/psychiatrists/philosophers telling us your opinion in any topic, and I'd respect that no matter how moronic that opinion might be. I could quote the entire DSM-IV, my textbooks and personal experiences and you won't change your opinion, and again I do not mind. But to come here in a topic meant to pay the respects to someone who has mattered to both pre-CU vets like me and NGE fans currently enjoying some of his work and insulting him and other people who were desperate enough to seek the only way out they could think of, is absolutely disgusting.
I can only hope it will never happen to you or your loved ones - but neither you nor me or anyone here has any idea what he has been struggling with, but I find it apalling you stand on the sidelines knowing nothing and saying things as hurtful to the memory of someone's loved one as you chose to write here. Who is the selfish person here? Even worse is that you're thirty five. You should know better.
This topic should not have been used for anything other than condoleances, and I'm sorry I dragged myself into it too.
why did he do it. i know it says it was personal. but seroiusly why?
My Lord, Its amazing that the family shared the nature of Jeff's passing. If they just said that he just suddenly died , the tone of were this thread is going would be different and it would honor Mr Freeman and his family more then what I am reading now.
Recently there was another passing in the MMO community in Austin and I stumbled upon some inconstitences in the recording of facts. This person's Family declared that this person just suddenly died.
Well ,what I am saying is that it took courage on the part of Jeff's family to share with you that Mr Freeman died by his own hand.
I can respect everyone's opinion of the nature of his passing but to express it now is a little shallow.
Unaware of the Jestor?
http://about.me/JestorRodo/
Friends enjoy his classic Vblog - https://www.facebook.com/GoodOldReliableNathan
I just hope that his close friends and family do not blame themselves for not being able to prevent it. My condolences to his close friends and family alike. I just hope that the SWG issues do not overshadow his contributions to the MMO industry.
Now, regarding the "fans". These people live behind a mask of anonymity created by the internet. These people hate or are so disgusted with their own life that they build up an online persona that is so real to them that it generally takes the front seat when compared to real life. MMOs to them are a perfect gateway as it gives them the tools to interact with others in a visual way.
These people are ill. They have such contempt for their own personal lives that they choose to create an entire alternate life that they value more than reality. When these people were caught up in the entire SWG debacle, they felt as if their "life" was personally attacked. They become enraged because they have to come to a realization: The online alternate lifestyle they created to escape pressures of everyday life was never really under their control to begin with.
People like this do not use logic where one person cannot possibly make the decision on their own. They are working off of emotion simular to a mob that has turned into a riot. I have a feeling they will now soon choose someone else to direct all their blame towards.
Unfortunately we can look back through years on this very site and see the vitrol and hate they showed to him and others over a video game. Its sad, but as you said, the internet give some a feeling of power they otherwise wouldn't have through the anonymity it provides. You are right as well that they will direct that misguided hate and anger towards others now that he is no longer around to yell at. Before long I'm sure we will start seeing "It wasn't really Freemans fault , it was <insert name>" and the whole process will start all over.
My condolences to freemans family. I cannot begin to imagine the pain and grief they are going through.
"If we don't attack them, they will attack us first. So we'd better retaliate before they have a chance to strike"
Why would anyone criticize Jeff. SOE sprung NGE on both the playerbase and the original development team at the same time, neither groups knew anything about it until it was implemented?
Well, that’s not entirely true. He knew before us, and thought it would work, but only cause his boss told him it would, from what he said.
i agree. we should honor his life and remember the good things and try forget the bad. remember he was the only person at soe to apologize for the changes....and unfortunately soe let him bear the hate for it. most of us vets forgave him and wished him well in the future and personally i hoped he would bounce back with a hit. to the nge supporters....... if a few deranged minds cannot control themselves....just let it be. don't dignify them by responding to the poo-flinging. this is a subject that all rational people feel the same about.
I don't mean to be insenstivite, but the guy deserved every bit of backlash for being partly responsible for the biggest screw up in MMORPG history.
While its sad and tragic what happened, clearly something else is going on with this person's stability and health. I don't think its fair to suddenly 'forget' what his part in the SWG NGE was because of this event. We, as players need to remember these NGE scale type incidents, and need to hold companies responsible and to a higher level of standard. That is the only way we will get quality games in the future instead of the trash we are getting now. In my mind, the best way to honor poeple like this is to hold companies responsible for their mistakes, remember things like NGE, and pressure the MMORPG industry to move foward with a higher level of passion, dedication, creativity, excellence and execution to produce quality games, and to not allow it to move backward.