I knew nothing of Patch before this thread (I don't really pay as much attention to the lindens as I should) but from everything I've read on this, it seems like he must have done something bad. ...and we may have to live with just never knowing exactly what.
The only times in my career that I saw a long time employee suddenly depart in this fashion, we either never knew what happened, or it was revealed later that they did something big or even criminal. I remember one incident in particular where a coworker I liked suddenly vanished and management didn't want to talk about anything. ....we later found his mug shot and criminal case.
I'm not accusing Patch of anything in particular, but I definitely feel like LL would not be acting like this if it was something they could easily talk about.
I'm saying this on basis of my sources being anonymous and I am putting my reputation as a community figure on the table to prove that I'm assured of this, but Patch is not a good person. He has done some very fucked up things - to residents, to the health of Agni (SL), to his fellow Lindens and Moles, some that are so egregious that they do justify criminal prosecution. I don't want to get into to the dirty details to preserve the innocent and avoid stoking flames, but we are better off without him than with him.
Don't believe me?
Linden Lab's C-suite and administrative staff following the article did their investigation and whilst they told us one story, the consequences for Patch were just shy of what he deserved - what I will concede for the health of our home, was for a good reason. From what I understand from my sources, Patch immediately following the investigation had his wages slashed severely, down to minimums, he was admonished for what he did internally, and Product Operations was slated to be gutted like a fish. This explains (at least to me) why there was a gutting of CSRs last year, and the firing of staff back in October 2024, because Brad was cleaning house of anyone under Patch's influence. It also likely explains why Philip was brought in suddenly as a CTO - He probably was brought in to oversee PRODOPS and help correct course and unfuck the reputational mess from what Patch did.
Linden Lab, instead of firing everyone in PRODOPS from word go, decided to take the methodical and corporate route of not renewing employment and NEC (Non-Employee Contractor) contracts for pretty much everyone involved. This is why Patch wasn't let go until now - his contract wasn't set to expire until May 2026. This afforded Linden Lab an out, whilst Patch was essentially bound, gagged and occasionally puppeted out to keep up appearances. Ever since 2024, Linden Lab has been operating with varyingly declining degrees of Patch's influence upon the Linden Lab ORBAT (Order of Battle, essentially their chain of command.) and now he's gone, along with all I hope, or if not, most of his lackeys who he hired on, gone.
In the interrim, we have resumed a lot of work that has gone otherwise either botched or unfinished. We're hiring on new people who know how to unfuck the mess we're in after Patch cost us so many great minds to petty bullshit. For the first time in years, I feel we have a path forward. Patch being gone has done so much for the future of our home, and I can go into some details on certain things if people would desire, but I assure you that the best course of action for us all is to celebrate the fact he is no longer a Linden, that Product Operations is gutted of him and his ilk, and we can finally move forward.
Eric "Patch" Nix is a vindictive, manipulative, misogynistic, hateful, insufferable piece of shit, and quite frankly him being allowed to walk on Agni after everything he has done is a insult to everything that has been created in this beautiful world. If I were Brad, I would have seen to it that he stayed for Fantasy Faire and was banned immediately with a legal C&D backing it. But I'm certain the Lab will keep eyes on him from here on out and the moment he does *anything*, he will be devirtualized (read:banned) faster than someone on Lyoko being punted into the Digital Void.
