Altair

He seemed to be the perfect guy for the job. Sad to see him ago and best of luck to him on his future endeavors.

Fortune

Honestly the leak shouldn't be a huge deal...Sure maybe some of the lower echeleon didnt know about scott leaving who fucking cares they all do now anyway.... I love the loyalists here scolding you for inside information lol. This is an unmoderated forum to talk about eq2 so honestly to everyone giving LFG a hard time go fuck yourselves seriously... I mean you have to be kidding me.. First off most of you losers dont have a clue what your talking about defending scotty anyway and next you blast LFG for posting something that could very well generate site traffic on HIS website!!! You do realize there is advertising here right?? You do realize this does make LFG money right and at this point is proably semi profitable right?? When he gets inside info OFCOURSE he should be posting it here....



P.S. I highly doubt this created any issues for Scott Hartsman... I wonder about your contact though lol... Hopefully it isnt well know who that was as I could see that being an interesting issue for him. I doubt you would have posted that though if it could be traced back to him anyway.

LFG

Scott has gone out of his way many times to do cool things for me and other users of this site. He has done things for us when nobody else would, just to make sure we were included in shit. I'm not going to list those things out now, but trust me on this.

I had absolutely no intention of repaying his past kindness by harming him in any way. I would not have posted what I did had I known it would be such a big deal and resulted in such a firestorm, especially against Scott.

The bottom line is, this website is my hobby. If it went away tomorrow, that would create zero difference in my life, except I'd need to find an alternate use for my abundant discretionary time. What I posted probably had a negative effect on the life of a good person. I'm sorry for that, I really am. But Pandora has opened the box, and all that remains inside now is hope. What's done is done.

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Auroz

I've kept quiet because the subject of the post actually asked me to.. so all I have to say... I don't see how you could be such good friends with people with inside info and not ask Scott directly if this post was ok..

All I'm going to say is right after reading this, and posting my comment, I went directly to the dude this thread was about and got my answer.

NO HE DID NOT SAY 'YES I AM LEAVING'
NO HE DID NOT SAY 'NO I AM STAYING WITH EQ FOREVER'

It was a regular answer/convo we had, and WITHOUT HIM TELLING ME that this post annoyed him, I could tell it did.

So.. I know LFG has done this before, but I don't understand how he can have 'inside info' and then not actually be friends with these people or know these posts will make them go 'wtf' or cause issues. Or, atleast know 100% the subject of the post won't have issues with the post.



PS, rae is hawt. i saw her in person too and rl opinions > web pics. end.

pps.. i still love you lfg, not flaming or blaming you, just voicing my opinion that its weird you get inside info from being close to someone who is close to scott, OR from being close to scott yourself, and neither of you know or care what his reaction would be to this post..

and i know you want traffic to your site, and its your fun hobby and etc. just stating my opinion.

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aduros

What exactly is the 'backlash' and 'harm' to Scott? Is he not leaving? I haven't really been following up on all this beyond this thread, so forgive my ignorance.

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LFG

I'm told that Smed got really mad about this being leaked, and that created problems for people.

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LFG

I've never claimed to be "good friends" with anyone.

What I said is that I had a situation of mutual respect with Scott Hartsman, where he went out of his way to provide opportunities for this site and its users that would not have happened but for his personal kindness, generosity, and sense of fairness. Again, I apologize to Scott for any personal inconvenience this has caused.

But I'd done this same thing several times before, and it never previously created problems.

I do not feel as if I betrayed any friendships or confidences of any kind. This information was provided to me by someone who wanted it leaked. He (not Scott, someone else) told me to post it, so I did. I am NOT the bad guy here.

What I've learned from this situation is that in the future, I'll maintain more of an arms length relationship with SOE people so there will be no misunderstandings or expectations for me to do or not do anything which I have the legal right to do. I violated no obligation to anyone in this case, and I damn sure had no duty to John Smedley.

I am now getting pissed off by the backlash from this situation. And I have other information I will just hold onto for now. My message is that we can return to business as usual, or we can take business in a new direction. But in the meantime, if anyone wants to make anything known in the future, I am still the appropriate vehicle for leaks and disclosures. I will never reveal a confidence to any other person, ever.

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Ballads

I was told a slightly different version of the rumor you posted. I was told he attempted to hand in his resignation but Smed or whoever at SOE had convinced him to stay instead. If that was true I think you posting the information probably cause a reversal of said agreement and basically will drive him from eq2. Which we all know to be a bad thing for the game we all play. I bear no animosity for you LFG i just found your posting this unconfirmed info to be irresponsible and not fully thought out.

A situation similar to this occurred in NCAA football last week. Irresponsible reporting lead people to think LSU's coach was leaving for Michigan 1 day before their championship game. Luckily the coach in a brilliant move exploded on the press and was able to rally his players back to him. Now they face my beloved BUCKS in the national championship game. I only wish Scott would of done the same.

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Savanja

I think MOST of us are adults here and we realize that in scheme of things, releasing this info is really not that big of a deal. Certainly not enough to "drive" a professional away from his chosen employer if he had (or does) choose to stay. I think its an insult on the part of Hartsman to say that he'd run away like a child because the community got whiff of something before he was ready to make it public.

Things like this get out. Its the way the world works! Everyone has made a much bigger deal about this than is called for. At the worst, someone over at SOE needs to review how information is contained.

LFG

I have nothing to lose now.

What I understand is that he's been planning to leave after the end of year 2007 for some time, just to move on to something new. Smed and the higher level people at SOE all knew about this. Smed was apparently the one who got mad about this information being leaked because it didn't fit in with his plans. I don't believe my leaking this information caused Scott to change any plans. No, what I did was more like announcing that someone was pregnant, rather than allowing that person to do it themself.

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