As a former member of the Star Wars Galaxies community, I was surprised to hear that one of our own has taken his life; Former Star Wars Galaxies Lead Gameplay Designer Jeff Freeman (39) is now one with The Force.

In the begining, Jeff’s work on Star Wars Galaxies: An Empire Divided was celebrated among many fans, especially those who choose the ‘Creature Handler’ profession within the game.  A profession which former Senior Producer of Star Wars Galaxies John Donham says Jeff devoted extra time on, during the weekend to prevent the class from being cut at launch.

However, In November 2005, through a post on his personnal blog, Jeff became known as the man responsible for Star Wars Galaxies’ New Game Enhancements, which alienated a large mass of the existing player base, and in turn Jeff was seen as the “bad guy” in this whole ordeal.  Although he wasn’t the single handed mastermind behind the NGE, the faceless enemy suddenly had a name and a face, and the alienated players began to voice their disgust and anger.  The Escapist wrote a brief piece on how Jeff handled the situation here.

Although Jeff is quoted by The Escapist as saying, “Because I spent almost six years working on SWG, and it kills me that the only people who liked it, hate me. Frequently for misinformed reasons,” a member of his family has stated that SWG and its disgruntled players played no role in Jeff’s suicide.

I myself was one of those players who, years ago, cast the blame upon Jeff and a few others at SOE for what happened to SWG, but never to the point of harassing him personally via message boards, e-mails, or even in person.  Afterall, it was just a game!  If anything, his role ,big or small, in the development/implementation the NGE into SWG actually allowed me to break free from my addiction to that game, and for that I am truly thankfull.  I spent many great hours enjoying the fruit of Jeff’s labor on SWG, and I know he will be missed by all.

I wish his family my condolences