Wheaton then says that he brought up his concerns over player treatment with Longobardo, who was Downs' direct supervisor. "I had a reputation that was important to me," Wheaton says. "I didn't want to be part of something if these players were going to leave here and go tell their friends that it sucked and G4 is a bunch of a-holes."

"There was obviously tension between the two of them [Downs and Wheaton]," Longobardo says from a speakerphone in the network's publicity office. "That kind of thing happens naturally in work environments -- particularly at start-ups where there is a lot more work and a lot of pressure."

Tensions only grew worse, says Wheaton, after his conversation with Longobardo. Wheaton says that Downs' response to his concerns was to "scream and yell at me and call me all kinds of names and then treat me like shit the whole rest of the time that I was there.

"Then he did this really stupid thing where my paycheck turned up the next week and it was cut by two-thirds."

Longobardo declined to address this question directly. "It was a personality conflict that was irresolvable," he says. "We made offers to change lots of different things in [Wheaton's] situation. I was hoping they would be able to work it out but Wil decided it was irresolvable and resigned."

"They still owe me $1,500," Wheaton claims.

So in December of last year Wheaton walked away from "Arena" and G4 lost its most bankable personality. "Wil was their only celebrity," Oates says. "Every article that was written about the network mentioned him. Every picture that came from the network had him in it. To turn a blind eye to that and just let him go boggles me."

"I think that it was just [Downs'] arrogance," Oates continues. "I think Jim believed that Wil was one of these sad celebrities who had no following."

Wheaton's disappearance from "Arena" created a P.R. problem that couldn't be papered over with some pat network press release. Fans on the message boards and discussion groups kept demanding an explanation. Characteristically, the former crew member of the Enterprise decided to give them one by posting his Slashdot journal entry recounting his final days at G4.

"I wasn't about to go pleading my case to the media," Wheaton says. "If I didn't have my weblog, there's a good chance that [G4 executives] would have been able to completely put out their version of events because they have the biggest and loudest voice. I never would have been able to say that the reason I quit the show was because they're lying to you and when I said, 'Stop lying to the audience,' they screamed and yelled at me."

Oates was fired by G4 soon after Wheaton left the network. He says he was dismissed for posting a message making clear that Wheaton wasn't returning to "Arena." Longobardo wouldn't address the situation with Oates directly, but says, "Some of the comments that were posted on the board were inappropriate, because essentially they were discussing the inner workings of G4, which contractually they are not really supposed to be doing."

"I wouldn't take what you read on the message boards as the gospel truth of what actually happened," Longobardo says of the message board fallout from Wheaton's departure. "It is filtered through other people's perceptions, who may not know everything that was going on."

When asked about online comments that Wheaton himself had made, Longobardo adds, "Wil's entitled to his opinion."

Jim Downs is now a supervising producer at G4 and oversees the production of four different shows including "Arena." Michael Louden, a British-born actor chosen to replace Wheaton, was fired from "Arena" on March 21. "Louden was very funny," Longobardo says, "but he didn't really know video games. We need someone who's a gamer for the show."

In a posting that is still up on G4's message boards, Louden jokes: "Maybe, billing ourselves as the ex-'Arena' hosts, Wil Wheaton and I can co-star in some bus and truck tour of 'The Odd Couple' hitting dinner theatres across this great land of ours."

Despite his sour experiences at G4, Wheaton still believes in the video game network's potential. "G4 fills a void," he says. "There's a huge market of people who play video games, computer games and platform games. There's absolutely an opportunity for that group of people to have their own television network.

"There are some terrific people that work at G4," Wheaton reflects. "I can't stress that enough. There are some fantastic writers and producers that love their shows and love games and love gamers. Sadly, I was not working on one of those shows."

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