Ex Lead Game Designer for SWG commits suicide

http://kotaku.com/5057189/star-wars-gala...eeman-dies

Seems the guilt of what he did to Galaxies caught up to him...... Wow I can be pretty cold sometimes..... To be honest, I don't really care....


Does that make me a bad person when someone I've never heard of and was a part of the downfall of an MMO I actually liked and I couldn't give 2 shits that he died?

I highly doubt he even gave a single thought to SWG in the end. Word is the man had cancer, was recently laid off from a failed game studio and was facing the choice of dieing and stiffing his wife and 3 kids with horrid medical bills or simply dieing now rather than a latter. The cancer part is unconfirmed. Keep in mind this was the man that made creature handler and had a heavy hand in JTL before you get too judgmental.

As to NGE, yes he did have a heavy hand in that as well. Jeff Freeman was actually the biggest source for inside information on the fall of SWG when most were too cowardly to talk. It is my understanding the NGE was a combination of two things. One a new combat system along with current SWG client and server used as a demo pitch to Lucas Arts for another Star Wars MMO (Bioware would win the contract in the end, not SOE) and a new demo/noobie area space station. Once the new combat system was demonstrated in the noob space station suits at SOE with LA's consent told the developers to make SWG into this new MMO and roll out the new noob area.

The NGE worked great in the context of the noob space station and play tested well in focus groups but obviously wasn't play tested in the whole scope of the game itself. Jeff Freeman was the lead programmer at the time and was tasked with NGEing SWG. He did his job and then left SOE.

Raph Koster, the creative mind behind the original SWG, wrote a bit about the man in his blog.
http://www.raphkoster.com/2008/09/30/jef...#more-2039

That is definitely sad when someone takes their own life.

I don't know why I need to know this, he made JTL as for one thing, dunno if he had kept that pace and still was on that part we probably would have more space content, the NGE way when it occured is very much alike how it would work in a FPS/Space Sim sort of speaking if they had went full FPS in the ground game MMO wise then SWG would had gotten a kick but as it is it was more half on half which certainly did not work out.

The man quit SWG, when he was told to bash it, it is just sad.. also sad that he has decided to kick the bucket and commit suicide for some reason in which could be cancer as Arch say, or other personal reasons.

I saw a few comments by his family on another article. His wife said he was suffering from extreme depression. While he will be more known for the NGE, I hope some will remember him for the good things he did.

On a side note, Blixtev (lead designer for SWG) has left and went over to DCUO (DC Universe Online), and Loche will be taking over his spot.