Jamie Lawrence Mitchell

Last Friday night, a friend of mine from more than ten years ago died. Jamie had been undergoing a series of surgeries to treat his heart. He had begun the process with confidence and bluster that we would have expected of him, and came back after his first treatment with determination to resume life full speed ahead; but a second surgery was required, there were complications, and quite unexpectedly Jamie Mitchell of Goulburn, New South Wales, died as a result.

I knew Jamie as Dargarian, the mercurial, boisterous, impatient, utterly determined lead warrior — our “tank” — in the World of Warcraft guild that Joi Ito founded, of which I was an admin. Very often I was Darg’s healer; he would yell “BIG HEALS” into the guild’s shared audio channel when a monster was raining down damage on him, and on those occasions when I did not successfully keep up a stream of healing equal to the damage he sustained (sometimes through random mischance, sometimes through my own slowness, sometimes because Darg would keep moving forward and I’d lose sight of him) he would shout “Tank down!” and sometimes suggest that we start the attack over again as soon as his character died. “Tank down, it’s a wipe” he would say, and we would point out that thirty-nine of us remained who might possibly be able to finish a particular event without his participation. I loved healing Darg, even though he sometimes cursed me out for not doing a good enough job; that’s what we want in a tank, a sort of swash-buckling, irrepressible enthusiasm for the job he has to do, and though I healed many excellent tanks before and after Darg, none were as colourful, as manic, as mad for the struggle as he was.

Eventually the close-knit raiding group from our guild changed direction, changed characters, changed times and emphases. Darg — who, after all, was devoting his Australian midnight morning and daybreak mornings to our raids — took less part in both the group raiding and in the guild as a whole. He’d pop up now and then, we might run a lesser dungeon crawl with him, but the mad glory of the huge 40-member raids ebbed away.

We kept in touch through the Guild forums, through Facebook, and in the years after our guild conquered its first big raiding challenge, Jamie went on to marry and have a fine son; we’d see photos on Facebook and imagine Darg as a Dad. He must have mellowed over time, but not too much. I’ll invite Giselle to leave her own comments — but we know dozens of comrades-in-arms who will remember Dargarian, will remember Jamie, as an unstoppable force (for better or, sometimes, for worse) with a big heart, comrades who will miss hearing him explode into the guild audio channel, who have been sending him big heals, big heals, and who have been greatly saddened this past weekend to hear that the tank is down. For now, it’s a wipe.

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9 thoughts on “Jamie Lawrence Mitchell

  1. When i first met darg he was a young man loved skate boarding. loved life. he was very much a free spirit we meet on mirc thanks to a amazeing friend charlie jamie did his kung fu weekly loved his guitar made friends very fast it didnt not mater who they were and which walk they came from they all learned from him and honnored his knoweldge. He taught me how to program and rebuild computers in secs he helped me through many stages of my life which i wont disscuss now only the close people that know me know the issues i faced i was a huge handful and nightmare but he still joked around and put up with my bullshit. we were housemates for a long time Darg introduced me to wow and we know i was the shadow priest that tryed my best to heal even tho i was shit at it darg would yell quick heal me durling raids and if successful i was able to do if not at least i tried. I left we know i left wow due too problems and we went our differnt ways i was so happy to see darg happy again when he met his wife giselle i saw his life return to him again and the joy he used to have when younger thanks to the amazeing wife that she is. He then had his son litle finn he was a great father to both kids in his life finn and his step daugther. I could see the joy and love he had for his famiy he was a great role model for everyone he brought joy into peoples lifes no mater what was going on i have not been in contact with him or anyone in a long time i put my head down and sorted on my own mental issues but i can say i was so happy when he met his wife and had his son i knew jamie had the family he always wannted his life was brought to a tragic end that no person should ever have to face and im so sorry to his familly and loved 1s he still had so much more to acheive in his life so much more joy to bring to others he loved his wife and son and daugther n famiy n friends and nothing can replace him as a person R.I.P Jamie Mitchell the world lost a true friend and gentleman through this tragic loss i have known jamie since i have been 17 years old im now 34 years old i wish he had the chance to live up to old age with his wife n children
     
     
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  2. I met Jamie about 17 years ago. I was 17 at the time. Wow, that seemed like eons ago. We used to bash around on oz.org and once he found out that I was using windows 3.11 on a 486DX he took it upon himself to help me through the process of upgrading. A short time later I had taken ownership of his Pentium 133, US Robotics 23.6k dial up modem and a fresh install of windows (I think it was 95 or 98).

    Of course, he wouldn’t just give me hardware without the knowledge to pilot it. He taught me to fish in a big way and I have been feasting ever since. The seeds he planted in my mind underpinned my career I have today. I’m proud to have dropped into various roles including a “telemetry and control systems engineer” but would always fall back onto Jamie with technical questions which he would answer with ease. I can not tell you how much I owe Jamie. His tutelage and guidance over the years have been fantastic but what I value most was his friendship.

    The last time I seen Jamie, He snuck over to Perth for some work. He didn’t want everyone knowing he was coming over because he didn’t have enough time to see people. However, I was very privileged to enjoy dinner with him. We talked about the old times, the good times, and where life was taking us both.

    I regret not heading over his way to visit, and I regret not spending more time with him. A true gentleman, a beautiful human being, and an intellect that I envied.

    Your the only one that knows… Rest in peace my good friend.

  3. The early raiding days were a very special time for me, and Darg was an irrepressible force through it all. As my playing slowly improved, it was an achievement for me when I was first told by him to “watch your aggro, Doc!”

    Jamie was a wonderful guy who will be greatly missed, and I regret having never been able to meet the man in person.

    Docadus
    Gnome Rogue

  4. I met Jamie in my teenage years and spent a huge chunk of those years celebrating life with friends and music and gatherings. He was a part of some of the best years of my life and I’m so glad that I met him.
    Jamie was the computer guy, just so smart and knew how to be a mr fix it. He would help anyone who needed it. He was also gentle and loving and just a great person to be around. Always happy and outgoing. We lost touch over the years and I was so deeply saddened to hear of his passing. My heart bleeds for Giselle and Finn. Taken too soon J. We will always remember you. Rest peacefully brother x

  5. I meet Jamie as a kid say 12 years old I’m now 27 years old when I first meet Jamie was in the kitchen and he walked into our house with he’s side show bob
    looking hair he’s smile and he’s computer,I can never forget the look on my mums face
    When I was pushed into the deep end of a swimming pool and I couldn’t swim he was the only one that took out he’s hand to pull me out.
    Ever since that day he became a best mate and part of the family, he always knew what to say to make things better, he was full of life and talent
    as I got older I became a teen! He open he’s home to me and my son, He was a great friend Great brother and I’m so glade he came into our life never be forgotten. R.I.P Jamie I know your watching over your family and thank you for the bobtail lizard that showed up.one thing I’m really sorry for loosing contact with you. And I enjoyed doing your hair it was fun and playing world of warcraft with you Miss you

  6. I will be reading some of the tributes to Jamie at the service and wake on Wednesday. If anyone has memories or stories they want to contribute to the memory book for Finn but don’t want them read out please email them directly to me. We want to leave Finn stories and remembrances of Jamie that speak to the good, bad and the odd.
    Thank you.
    Brian

    brian.hill@fairfaxmedia.com.au

  7. I first met Jamie in 2008, in a production of Macbeth at the Lieder Theatre in Goulburn.
    He was a fine warrior!

    Fiona

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