One thing I’ve learned over the past many years of dabbling in emulators is that their communities and teams can be as tight or tighter than any game played fully in the light. Case in point: The Star Wars Galaxies community came out in force to pay its respects to a fallen player dev from the Legends server.
“We are sorry to bear the devastating news of the passing of one of our much-loved developers, IrishDarkShadow, otherwise known as ‘Irish’,” the SWGL team announced last night. He was not only a SWGL developer but a co-leader on the broader NGE-based restoration project known as SWG:Source.
“He will be deeply missed by the entire SWG:Legends team, his friends within SWG:Source, and the wider SWG community. His passing has understandably left a hole in the Star Wars Galaxies emulation scene. Irish was always full of personality. Whenever you spoke to him on a voice chat there would be relentless amounts of laughter and cheeky banter. SWG:Legends meant so much to Irish, from the very moment he joined the team back in March 2018 he always had such a flair and love for the Beast Mastery system. He was always wanting to give the Beast Master community many more iconic and unique Star Wars creatures to obtain. He never hid the fact that his favorite creature from the Star Wars universe was the spring-footed, Binjinphant he implemented.”
The official post includes a list of his best-known work, from paintings and hairstyles to pets and armor – specialty houses too. In fact, he’s apparently responsible for the implementation of the new armor sets coming in the Bespin patch, which isn’t even out yet.
Not only has the thread filled up with condolences for Irish and his family, but the SWGL community turned out in force last night to honor his memory, complete with Irish’s favorite pets.
Hundreds of you have decended on Theed over the last hour, Irish would have been delighted to see so many of your faces paying tribute to his life. He was an incredible person & will be missed unconditionally. Pay tribute by visting Theed Spaceport. #StarWarsGalaxies pic.twitter.com/P0mHky9NGu
— SWG:Legends (@SWGLegendsStaff) October 20, 2020
“Thank you to everyone on the staff team and to everyone else commemorating this great loss to the community,” Irish’s son posted to the forums. “I really appreciate the response from everyone, it means a lot.”
The SWGL staff hasn’t announced whether he will be permanently memorialized in-game, but we assume he will, as the game already has at least one dedicated memorial hall for folks who’ve passed on.
Our sympathies to his family and friends and the whole community. MTFBWY, Irish.
