From
the moment I knew we would be creating a community site for
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/sto">Star
Trek Online,
there was no
question as to who I wanted to see sitting in
the captain's chair as our STO community manager. I knew that
Eric was driven, passionate about MMOGs and had a particular flair
about his writing that I felt was a perfect fit for the role. From our
very first meetings about the project I knew that I'd made
the right decision, as Eric quickly picked up the ball and ran with it
even further than I expected he would.
border="1">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/82913">
alt="Captain Dalmarus"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/82913/preview"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 300px;">
Eric
was clearly always meant to lead our Star Trek Online team.
What followed were many, many
late nights chatting as we attempted up
the ante for how we'd go about presenting content for the
site. It never failed to crack me up that on a good number of those
nights
Eric would be working from his unofficial office at IHOP. In fact I
wouldn't be surprised at all if they have Eric's
name engraved on a brass plate and nailed to his favorite booth by now
for all the nights he spent there weaving his magic on our network.
Having been with Ten Ton Hammer for nearly three years, the STO site
isn't the only part of the network where Eric left his mark.
Originally brought on board by our current PR Specialist and Features
Editor Karen "Shayalyn" Hertzberg to be one of her
minions for our
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/vanguard">Vanguard
site, it was clear from the very beginning
that Eric would go on to do great things.
"When I first "met"
(virtually) Eric he was a wide-eyed
writer marveling at the notion that he could actually get paid writing
about games. He was one of a handful of Chosen Ones selected to
interview for a position with Ten Ton Hammer's Vanguard community team,
and I put him through the interview paces. It's so hard to find a good
minion these days, but I had a good feeling about Eric. As minions go,
he definitely turned out to be one of the finest. Not only was he
willing to do the tedious work of putting together things like spell
lists or populating databases, he actually seemed to enjoy it. (Most
good minions possess masochistic tendencies, I've learned.)
Plus, we totally hit it off. We learned that we liked the same types of
games, and that we were pay-to-play snobs desperately trying to take
free-to-play games seriously; we could get our geek on talking about
Star Trek (which is one of the many reasons why Eric made such a great
lead for Ten Ton Hammer's Star Trek Online community site); we were
annoyed by bad grammar; and we were both trying to curb our habit of
swearing like sailors (or, in Eric's case, like a former Marine).
Throughout his time here, Eric has been a superb minion (if only
briefly before he moved on up the food chain), an awesome coworker, and
a great friend (something I know he'll continue to be). I wish him the
best of luck in his new position, and I hope those folks at Blizzard
know just what a fine catch they've caught."
Executive Editor Benjamin de la
Durantaye also fondly recalls his early
days of working with Eric on our Vanguard
site.
“It wasn't that long ago when Eric and I started working at
Ten Ton Hammer. We were both hired at the same time to write for
Vanguard under Shayalyn's lead at the time. We were both young, new,
and scared. Often we'd call each other in the middle of the night
shivering with fear and excitement about the new job, and then giggle
about girls until the wee hours.
Ok, not really. Eric's happily coupled, and I rarely giggle (though I
am known to chuckle, chortle and sometimes titter). But the fact
remains that we did share a time line and working with Eric was always
rewarding. We both loved Vanguard and his commitment to the content
lasted well past the decline in server population. But that's the kind
of guy Eric is - committed and focused. Any time he took up a project,
you knew he'd not only see it through to the end but put such hard work
into it that it would invariably kick ass.
It was no different when he moved to the Main Site. He'd get an idea
with sparkle in his eye and he'd run with it, and he'd run far. He's a
man with drive and values. Blizzard's lucky to be getting him. That
doesn't mean that I don't hold some resentment for them for taking him
away. But I guess I'll just have to titter by myself for a
while.
Many other staff members echo
Karen and Ben's sentiments that
Blizzard is lucky to be getting such a driven, talented individual,
among them Xerin, our current
community manager for
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/wow" target="_blank">World
of Warcraft.
Eric is an awesome guy and Blizzard is lucky to get him. That in itself
speaks leagues about him and the quality of work Eric has produced
since he's been with Ten Ton Hammer. Lucky bum.
EverQuest
II community manager Savanja
jokingly attributes
Eric’s new position with Blizzard as part of her grand scheme
to snag Star Wars: The Old
Republic beta keys before the
rest of the
staff.
Dalmarus and I never actually had the chance to work together closely,
even though he had been at Ten Ton Hammer working on the SOE title
Vanguard for a few months before I had started working on EverQuest II.
We always seemed to be off doing different things and our paths really
didn't cross that much.
That is until the fateful day in which we were asked to share our 2010
predictions. While the original banter was cut from the published
version, the battle over who would get SWTOR beta keys first raged
through out the company wide e-mail. Dalmarus declared that he was
certainly going to get in first where a couple of us were willing to
play dirty to snatch that possibility from Dalmarus.
Alas, I had shown my hand. I had fool-hardily shared my plan for beta
key domination thus lowering my chances of success. It was then I
decided to hatch an intricate plan of sending Dalmarus off to the
motherland of MMOGs, Blizzard, in order to get him out of the way and
securing my shot at victory.
Sure, it may appear that I have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do
with Dalmarus' move to Blizzard in any way at all. Does a good puppet
master reveal their tricks of trade?
I think not.
border="1">
href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/82914">
alt="IHOP"
src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/82914/preview"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 200px;">
IHOP
- Eric's unnofficial office space.
Apparently I wasn’t
the only one on staff who got to experience some
epic late night chats with Eric as he busily worked from his local
IHOP, as contributing writer Martuk adds:
I don't have a lot of past war stories so to speak, aside from his epic
battles with the Tutty Fruity IHOP breakfast while trying to meet a
deadline. May his waffles fly just as true in his new position.
Personally I couldn’t be happier for Eric as he embarks on
his newest adventures with Blizzard, though he will certainly be missed
around the network. Wherever his path may take him from here,
Eric’s dedication and drive will no doubt take him far. So
shine on you crazy diamond Eric, shine on!
For those of you interested in
keeping up to date
on Eric’s latest escapades, he’s also created a new
blog,
href="http://dalmarus.com/"> The Dalmarus Chronicles,
because after years of writing week in, week out it can be hard to
give up the habit. Be sure to add your own thoughts or favirote
articles that Eric has written
in the forums!
