I thought it would be fitting to share some stories and ways Brad's games have impacted us over the years. Most of us here are veteran gamers who have been in Brad's worlds for quite some time now. I myself have been playing games he has created since EQ launched in 1999. The first day it was available to buy I had my copy from Hastings. I just so happened to be spending some time with my older brother and he was out working and bought the game for me so I would have something to do while he worked. I put the CD in and downloaded the game apprehensively. Little did I know my life would be forever changed.
I was no stranger to games, I had played all kinds from atari to nintendo and super nintendo, even dabbled a little in UO and Meridian59. Everquest was different. WAY different. I couldn't get enough of that game. I had sunk my teeth into this virtual world and it bit back, hard I might add. And I liked it. From running around Greater Faydark looking for my corpses (yes that's plural) with no maps, no sense of direction just aimlessly wandering hoping to stumble onto one my corpses with gear, all the way to raiding end game content 15 expansions down the road. Brad had left the Everquest team by that time but he had laid the groundwork for something that captivated me for many years. I contribute some of my stubborness to Brad and EQ, I also contribute my perserverence to succeed to them as well. Some people see it as a game but I learned a lot of great values too. How to cohabitate with other people, how to wait your turn for things, how to put the needs of your team ahead of your own for the greater good, how to work together as a team and accomplish so much more than by yourself. It even helped me learn how to manage money strangely enough through platinum and saving for things I wanted.
I think one of my favorite moments in EQ was killing the Avatar of War for the first time. Only one other guild on the server had done it, we took 80 some people on the raid. It took several attempts but on the 4th try we got him. The zone erupted, chat was going crazy, and I was filled with elation when the big fella dropped. Looking back at all the raids we did over the years in EQ through all the expansions I can't help but think this was all because of the vision of a guy who wanted something bigger and better than people before him dared to think. The entire MMORPG community owes Brad for it's existence. Games like UO and Meridian 59 were similar but they never would have spawned games like WoW, Warhammer Online, Rift, Asheron's Call, LoTRO, and any other game down the line like EQ did. It gave companies, executives, and other like minded developers a path, a purpose and desire to go even bigger. EQ wasn't the very first but it started it all.
I dabbled in EQ2 but it didn't really suck me in like EQ did. I played Vanguard despite it's early launch failures and it's bugs and less than desirable features. The game was basically a graveyard, yet it was still one of the most visually stunning games I have ever played. The character balance was very good, the storylines were amazing, the dungeons were the best I've ever been through. It took awhile for Vanguard to work through it's issues so I was back and forth between it and EQ. But then the bugs seemed to disappear and content was added and Vanguard became playable again and regained some momentum. Played Vanguard until the doors shut down and raided every encounter that game had to offer.
Even today I go back and play P99 from time to time, waiting for Pantheon to release and it dawned on me that I've spent the last 20 years getting lost in Brad's worlds. Fighting along side friends I've met from all over the world, grinding exp and hanging out with some of the coolest people I've had a chance to be around. Seen some of the most skilled players do some of the most amazing things. And I also learned a lot. I knew very little about mythical creatures, but now I am pretty sure I have seen them all. I have made real life friendships that will last a lifetime, people who have put their prints on my life and don't even know it. And I have Brad to thank for it all. Along with his development teams that helped see his visions through. I think it's safe to say that Brad had an imagination that wouldn't quit. Everything could always be better, and something more needed to be added to make it perfect.
I'll end with this story. I remember staying up late one night when I had school the next morning. My guild was raiding PoFear. It was one of our first runs at the zone, there wasn't a whole lot of information about the place. So we all zoned in and naturally most of us wiped. A few people managed to stay alive and avoid aggro, and a couple of people just started running in circles kiting the mobs. Little did we know this was going to be our strategy that night. The kiters kited for a solid 5 hours maybe even 6. We rez'd ourselves up, got rebuffed and started picking mobs off the kiters one by one. Eventually we made our way through all the mobs, the loot was dropping but there was no discussion of how it would be handled. Many pieces rotted, many were ninja looted, or looted before they rotted. Nobody really cared about the loot, it was all about survival. It was such a great experience, and one that made me so late going to bed that my mother thought I was sick the next morning and I got to stay home from school. Which was fine by me it gave me more time to get on and play more Everquest!
I am thankful for Brad and his games. When I had time to myself I could have been out getting into trouble, causing chaos and discontent. But I had an outlet, I could get online and get lost in his worlds for hours if I wanted to. No telling what kind of trouble a guy like me would have gotten into in such a small town with nothing to do.
