In remembrance of Jeff Freeman AKA Dundee

(10/13/08 I had to repost this due to a database problem).

No longer among the living, Jeff took his own life. I grieve today, and no matter how death happens it comes and goes until it’s your turn. When death strikes close to home it’s scary, emotional, tragic, and of course the impact of that loss makes it different. That was Jeff, different in a good way. Sure he was another blog junkie with a warped mind but set a great example.

He took the time to read the lesser known blogs. He wasn’t afraid to drop comments, and offer advice or help when asked. When I opened Plaguelands Jeff tossed a link up on his site, sent spambots my way, encouraged my writing, and fed my pathetic ego. He didn’t have to invest to listen, read, or talk to a mere stranger over the internet. He still did, and I believe he genuinely cared.

What I’ll remember most about Jeff is how hilarious he was. His occasional odd sense of humor was also easily misinterpreted in his writing. I found it thought-provoking. It wasn’t uncommon for people to ask, “Did Jeff just say that or what the hell is Jeff trying to say?” I’m glad I could decipher it and try to throw it back at him. Our back and forth banter always left a good laugh.

As a game designer Freeman’s insight was compelling. His ideas were often entangled with bits of humor. When Jeff pulled all his essays on game design from his site I panicked and delved into the cached interwebs to save them all. I foiled his evil plan to deny the world from the secret Freeman designs. You just wait! All those designs will make me rich someday. They did in thought. I think Jeff would get a kick that someone actually saved all his design essays.

His blog hasn’t focused on design discussions for sometime. Maybe the reason why stemmed from an NDA due to work, the unfair NGE debacle or the simple burnout many of us face and struggle with for extraordinary lengths of time. Ahem. Whatever the case, I miss the discussions and our duels but more importantly he will be missed. Thanks Jeff, I only wish I said it sooner and a lot more often.