Some of you know who Jeff Freeman was; he was the lead designer at Sony when the major changes were made to SWG that left so many upset. Although it was not his fault he took the brunt of the criticisms, attacks, and even death threats.
Some of you may have even known him back in the UO days as Dundee, Guild Master of the Nameless Ones on Lake Superior and later the administrator of the private UO server World of Dreams.
I am not sure why I have chosen this forum to share this news; it may be that I would have loved to see Jeff build the game that he really wanted to, if he was running a private server. You see I am his brother. On September 24th Jeff took his own life. I am not angry at him or anyone else, sad yes, like so many others I feel a bit of guilt but I love my brother and I am thankful that he is no longer suffering.
Below is part of the obituary that will run in the Longview News Journal on Wednesday, October 1, 2008.
LONGVIEW - Memorial services for Jeff Freeman, 39, of Austin, will be at 4 p.m. Thursday, October 2, 2008 at Triumphant Christian Center, 1308 Reel Road, 903-xxx-xxxx.
Born October 8, 1968, he was a computer programmer who worked on many popular programs including Star Wars Galaxies and had served this country as a member of the U.S. Army Reserves.
"Because Christ suffered so much for us, we can receive so much comfort from Him." 2 Cor 1:5
I hope all of you will join me and our family as we celebrate his life.
later his brother posted a follow up:
Yes, I do plan on posting on his blog but I do not have any of his login information. That is something I am working on today. When I do get access to his blog I will post some pics etc... to show what a great person he was.
I am sure it seemed strange that I posted here, but this is the only contact I have the SWG community. I was a fan of pre-cu and have played on the test server. I have even considered running a server when SWGemu is released. I am not the programmer my brother was but I am excited about the project.
Also, I want everyone to know that it was not SWG that lead him to take his life. He has been troubled for sometime. There were alot of personal issues that tore at him. I did not post here because this is a community of pre-cu fans. As I stated before this is just the SWG community I have a connection to.
Regardless of how SWG turned out we must admit that many of the great things we enjoyed about pre-cu was because of his work.
Kylrathin I to wish it was a joke. I miss him so much.... I need him back...
He and I began our correspondence back when the whole NGE thing happened. We started out as semi-adversaries, but I'd like to think he and I became actual internet buddies over the years, and not only did I grow to respect him, but like him as well. He was a good man and a good game designer; and I am going to miss him greatly. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family.
Here's the link to his blog: http://mythicalblog.com/
3 comments:
A fitting post on Freeman. He redeemed himself and showed us that he did care. The programming and mmo world is all the poorer for this loss.
The news of Jeff Freeman's passing came as quite a shock to me - - I thought it some cruel hoax at first. Then the worst was indeed confirmed and the reality of it became acutely painful. I did not have the honor of knowing him in-person, but his openess and honesty in forum discussions helped paint a picture of a truly special person that will be sorely missed. My extend my most heart felt sympathies to his family and friends.
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