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The picture from Brad's new blog
One of the original designers of EverQuest, who went on to become one of the founders of Sigil, kind of vanished after Sigil's Vanguard tried very hard to fail. But he's BACK!
Wait, let me back up, for the benefit of casual readers who do not avidly consume MMO gossip.
Brad McQuaid, also known as Aradune, was one of the primary visionaries behind Sony Online's EverQuest, the first title in the genre that proved you could make piles and piles of money with this newfangled MMO thing, even if you had such user friendly features as a death penalty that made players wish they were actually dead.
I used the word "visionary" on purpose, because "The Vision" was often cited as the reason why a class could not be balanced properly, or itemization done differently, or any one of a million things players said they wanted.
And to be fair, there does indeed need to be a vision on an MMO. A boat doesn't go very far if everyone is allowed to spin the wheel. The game was great fun for me for two years. It's just that with EQ, The Vision was one of those things that was invoked where lesser mortals might have said "that's too complicated."
Anyway, McQuaid and Jeff Butler (a former producer on EQ) created Sigil Games Online in 2002 for the express purpose of creating a more hardcore EverQuest, to be called Vanguard. Microsoft was announced as a publisher and a partner.
In the spring of 2006, Microsoft and Sigil broke up. Sony Online took Sigil in, because that's what families do for each other when members of the family get divorced and wind up homeless.
Vanguard launched in January... on its face. Premature launch syndrome: It Kills.
Then the drama started. And more. Then Sony picked up the pieces.
Basically, in May, the studio closed, and Sony "rehired" about half the team (supposedly "redundant" marketing/PR, and content people not on the preferred list were out of luck). At the "sorry, you're out of work" meeting... held in the parking lot... the director of production did all the talking. McQuaid had vanished, and reportedly had not been around for months before that. He surfaced in an interview since referred to as "the time McQuaid drunk dialed F13" and vanished again.
And now... he has returned.
Hat tip to Broken Toys for being the first to notice.
For more information: People who'd know tell me Vanguard is actually really good these days. I haven't tried it myself, since new game reviews are sucking up my limited time, but if you're looking for a traditional MMO to try, check out the free trial: http://vanguard.station.sony.com/
EDITED, noon 6/16: Maybe it's not Brad! Stay tuned!
Comments
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I had never read that interview between f13 and Brad. It still doesn't change my opinion. I will never touch a game that he has any known involvement with. I stuck with EQ for many years, until I realized it was sort of becoming another job just to keep up with others. Vanguard, while stunning graphically, never lived up to the hype. In my eyes, he is nothing but a huckster/ car sales person.
I agree, I'll never touch one of his games especially after reading a post from an ex-sigil guy www.fohguild.org/forums/retard-rickshaw/31593-vg-producers-letter-49.html#post945201
You know, when I first met Brad, I thought he was a pretty cool guy, eh developed games and wasn't afraid of anything.
No really, he unstuck me from a building in EQ beta (my first dabblings in the gaming press were then!) and was just an awesome guy to chat with. My young mind was impressionable and I looked at Brad like a mini-hero, the kind that wasn't afraid to interact with his gaming community.
... yeah, I thought that of Richard Garriot too.
Now I've grown to be skeptical of any game designers, developers, etc whose name becomes known in the gaming community. I think the fame goes to their head fast.
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