I am shocked and saddened by this news. I started playing Everquest back in the early 2000s. And loved the world. I have played in his other worlds and have always found a place that intrigued me. Rest in Peace Aradune your worlds and community will always remember you.
May The Great Forest Stalker great you with open lands to continue your journey.
Lauiyner Bryarpatch Ranger of Everquest.
Rest In Peace Brad. I’ll be praying for you and your family. This is very saddening news and I’m in shock. He changed the world of gaming and brought me together with many people. Happy times filled with laughter and cheer is what he gave and I will remember him this way. Cheers and well played Brad. You will be sorely missed.
Brad was such a visionary and his passion showed in the projects he has involved in.
May the spirit of Aradune forever live on within the lands of Terminus. The next epic adventure awaits my friend.
True vision and passion embodied. Hard to express in words how much of an impact that had on both mine and the lives of others. A genuine person and gamer that never lost touch with the community he loved. You will be missed Aradune.
To his family and the VR team that worked with Brad, my thoughts are with you.
I am in tears as I write this, but I feel I must.
Brad was a special person... I just wanted to say Thank You one last time to him, and his family.
I told him once, when he was on our VoT show after it was over, I told him he was a special person, and that I was wanting to say thank you for all the people who never got the chance to. His response was to just get very quiet, and then he said "Wow. I don't know what to say, but I am so glad I was able to do something that I never knew I did." His games were special...they saved lives. I know this for a fact.
I have several friends who probably would have died if not for Everquest and Vanguard, and many who met the loves of their lives in game. I am so so blessed I was able to tell him Thank You for all those who couldn't...so he at least had an inkling of just how much HE meant to us. Why else did people perk up when they heard his name mentioned? He prided himself on being a "creator of worlds". I always thought of him as a "saver of worlds", personally.
I know for myself, there is a good chance that I would not be here today if not for Everquest. I won't go into details, but I was so grateful to be able to tell Brad over Discord that he was a light in the dark for so so many people, including me. Many never were able to tell him how EQ/Vanguard saved them...but I did. When I heard he was creating Pantheon? I was there in a heartbeat. I've made some of the best friends in my life because of Pantheon and EQ and Vanguard. Who else could say that? :)
So in closing, I thank you, Brad, once again for being the loving caring person that you were. I thank you for your vision in creating a home for those of us who had none. I thank you for being a good human, which is all too rare in this world. But most of all, thank you for being the light in my darkness, and showing me the way "home", to EQ and now Pantheon.
May you rest in peace, and know that one day, we will meet again and see you with your sword of flames held high and that playful glint in your eyes. I hope that your family knows that they are being thought of and loved as well and that you may be gone from us for now...but you most certainly never be forgotten.
If I were asked to name a single individual associated with gaming that has had the greatest impact on me, it would without question be Brad McQuaid. Because of his influence I spent years of my life in the world of Everquest. I then spent years more as a rather rabid supporter of the Vangaurd project, and now having spent countless time here in support of Pantheon. I've developed real life friends from every continent, had endless online adventures both online and off with those I've shared Brad's projects with, and to this day enjoy online gaming with my entire core family due in no small part to his vision and passion.
I'm surprisingly moved by this sad news. I hold his family and his colleagues in my thoughts and wish for you all to be strong and carry on his mission to produce quality entertainment for millions.
I am in a state of shock right now -- so sad
I will miss him even though we never met -- I have met so many wonderful friends through Everquest
(that explains the dark screen this afternoon on EQ, totally dark, I've never seen that before -- makes since now)
And also Matt McDonald, seemingly in just the last few days...
Thank you for what has been formative experiences and long lasting friends.
Still playing Brad's material on Project1999.
You have my thanks, and your family has my condolences.
If I can pledge more to Pantheon, i will do what i can to see your last project to realization.
I was saddened to hear the news about Brad today. My condolences to his friends and family. He will be greatly missed by the gaming community.
Brad was an awesome visionary of the MMORPG genre and gave us one of the first greats, EverQuest. And while EverQuest was not the first, it did help pave the way for all those that followed. I have a lot of fond memories from that as well as Vanguard. And EQ was something that helped me through some really "not so good times" in my life. I can't thank Brad enough for that.
Perhaps in a lot of ways his development of Pantheon was a lot like the last great aging gunslinger coming through the fading west for one more fight. There's no other developers that aim to design MMORPGs like he designed. And Pantheon may very well signal the end of an era in that regard. So hopefully Brad's last Vision tm will do him proud. For Aradune.