Scott Hartsman Leaves SOE

[GameBanshee News]

EverQuest II producer and long-time SOE employee Scott Hartsman stopped by the official EQ2 forums to announce that Friday was his last day at the MMORPG development studio. Here's what he had to say:

I've never been a fan of saying goodbye, but it's time. Today is my last day here at SOE.

In addition, I'd like to say thank you.

Thank you all for playing in these worlds that I've had the chance to touch over the past years.

Thank you for your boundless dedication and passion to what it is that we've all created here.

To many of you, thank you for your friendship. A lot of you have been nothing short of an extended family over the past years.

I will miss you all.

The years of working on EverQuest and EverQuest II have been the highlight of my career, and have led to a significant personal milestone as well.

The release of EverQuest II: Rise of Kunark marks the 30th online games product that I've been fortunate enough to ship. I sincerely hope that you've enjoyed what I was able to contribute to this amazing franchise as much as I've enjoyed being a part of it.

When asked what exactly I do for a living, I've referred to it many times as "having the greatest job working on the best teams in the world."

That's still true today. It's possible for that to be true as well as to know that I've done the best work that I can on a world, and that it's time to hand the reins over to others whose best is still ahead of them.

It's time for me to see what else is out there waiting to be built. It might even end up being something involving SOE. Regardless, I'm sure we'll get a chance to meet up again, whether I'm making new MMOs, continuing to play them, or talking about them on the internet.

I wouldn't be leaving SOE if I wasn't positive that the responsibility for EQ2 was being left in the right hands.

Taking over for me is Bruce "Froech" Ferguson. Some of you will remember his name from EQ2 beta, others of you may have met him at Fan Faires. If you have met him, you know he's one of the most straightforward guys you'll ever be lucky enough to meet.

A few important things to know about Bruce and why I think SOE made the perfect call here:

- Up until shortly after launch, he was EQ2's live producer. This move is more of an overdue homecoming than anything else.

- Before his production days, his background is also originally in working very closely with online communities as far back as text MUDs. This community deserves nothing less.

- He knows that with respecting communities comes respecting the worlds they've grown to love. He's not the kind of person who's going to come in and start re-envisioning the game wholesale.

- He has long standing relationships with all of the leads and production staff on EQ2. In a number of cases, even longer than mine.

In short, Bruce is the perfect person to help this team continue to succeed in their mission of producing what we all know is the best MMO out there.

For my part, know that I count myself exceptionally fortunate to have been a part of such great endeavors, and I remain thankful for having been given the opportunity.

Until next time,

Scott Hartsman
Senior Producer Emeritus, EverQuest II

Something tells me we haven't seen the last of Scott.