An off-hand comment in a post on The Ancient Gaming Noob today about EverQuest Legends reminded me of the passing of Brad McQuaid over six years ago. The reminder sent me on a bit of a journey that took me to a video that inspired some feelings.
I recall being sad at the time- Brad “Aradune” McQuaid was several years younger than me when he passed at the age of 51 in 2019. I’ve just kept getting older whereas his story was cut short for reasons his family understandably chose to keep private. The sadness continued when his wife passed from cancer a short time after Brad’s passing, leaving their 22 year old daughter without either parent.
None of us have any “ownership” over the figures that define the gaming industry. But there is a part of the gaming community that feels we are owed something by these individuals. Some gamers turn cruel and vindictive when the games they love or want don’t develop the way they expect them to. And that cruelty is often directed at the very people who pour their lives into creating the games we love. The video I watched makes it apparent that Brad suffered under this kind of misdirected vitriol during his career.
The video comes from a Youtube channel called aLovingRobot. I’ve queued it up to the 26 minute mark where discussion of Brad McQuaid begins.
After watching this video I feel the sadness take form again. I played the original EverQuest for several years starting in 1999 before moving on to other MMOGs like Asheron’s Call and Dark Age of Camelot. I would say that nothing ever re-created the feelings that EverQuest brought.
It bears mentioning that there is no going backwards, and much of what made up the original EQ experience would turn me right off today. But at its time and place it was an extraordinary experience brought to us by dozens of dedicated developers and designers. Of course the names that always come to mind for me are Brad McQuaid and John Smedley. To think that one half of that iconic duo has been deceased now for over half a decade is depressing.