RIP Brad McQuaid

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Ommamar
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RIP Brad McQuaid

Post by Ommamar »

http://www.legacy.com/news/celebrity-de ... e-designer

I was very surprised by this and gave me a moment of pause. I only know him through playing the games he was involved in that I really enjoyed. I consider him to be one of the innovators that really pushed a genre into being what it is today.

Ommamar
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Re: RIP Brad McQuaid

Post by Ommamar »

I just heard about this although he passed six days ago. It has effected me oddly, I had no personal relationship other then experiencing the worlds he created. Some would
define them just as games but I think he managed to go beyond that term in many ways. Many who aren't into games particularly online games won't understand, I rate the effect
of his passing on the same level as someone like John Lennon, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, or Alfred Hitchcock. There was a lot of people who knew and enjoyed their work, who
where effected in a personal way by it but had no direct personal relationship with them. Never the less they keenly felt sadness at their passing close to what is felt at
the loss of a relative, with the difference of a lot of others outside their personal circle feeling the same way. There is also a HUH! That can't be feel! involved such as
you would get when someone like Jim Morrison passes beyond this plane of existence. Watching several videos of people who where close to him there is no mention of him in ill
health or struggling with a disease, the statement is he died peacefully in his sleep at the age of 51.

Everquest wasn't the first game I could get lost in for hours, that would probably go to Legend of Zelda or maybe Oregon Trail (but that could only be played at school).
It is the first game I recall really connecting with a community, here where thousands of people enjoying something I was all at the same time. Sure there where some games
on SNES you could play with a friend, we also would watch each other play usually supplying a nice strings of critiques about how badly you where moving pixels around. But
this, this was a whole new level with none of the bothersome draw backs of interacting as you. Instead you where a mighty warrior, a devious thief, a powerful mage,
a wise cleric, helpful shaman, or connected nature druid. This was not new as D&D rule set and all the similar games offered this escape but Everquest made it so damn
accessible. You didn't have to ride your bike to your friends house (or beg Mom/Dad for a ride if the weather was nasty) after coordinating on the phones with all the other
friends required to get a campaign rolling. Just log in and go!

The guild I was in was called Spirt of the Wolf(SOW), there was a buff with the name spirit of the wolf that the shaman class could cast. What it did was give the target a
very large passive speed boost. As you had to run everywhere (I don't recall mounts but I am sure they came along in one of the many expansions) this was very nice thing to
have. I can't recall if it was a guild rule or just how the spell worked but you couldn't cast it on your self only on other players so with this spirit of charity the guild
was founded. I was not a Shaman but a Cleric, a Eurudite Cleric at that. There was a tunnel that separated the Barbarian starting zones (Barabarians being on of the 3 or 4
races that could be Shamans) that was full of Gnolls, Snakes and Darkness. Near the Eurudite starting area was an island that was full of wisps, the thing about these wisps
was they needed a magic weapon to hurt them or the use of a spell. At the level they where most players didn't have magical weapons or very strong spells so it was a
challenge. I, as a cleric though could summon an enchanted mace, so with that piece of divinity and a couple of people I had met who where Mages we set of to conquer the
wisps. After I had gathered ten or so of the wisps light sources I set out for this tunnel.

Once I got there, gathering fire beetle eyes along the way as well, I began giving away these light sources which where a sought after item as you had to get out of the tunnel
to get them. This action raised the notice of a couple of people in the SOW guild which resulted in an invite into the guild as an honorary "Shaman". Soon I had a regular
group there was Garth and Kurg who where shamans, Katrina a warrior, Gwynth a druid, and Leliwyn a bard. I recall hours of us meeting challenge after virtual challenge, the
whole time discussing and sharing our thoughts. The community was one of the great strengths of the game but it could also be one of the worse parts of the game.

One night Gwynth happened to be standing in the wrong place at a fairly new spawn for the team, we had set up a rotation with several other groups to allow for equal access
to Monsters or Beasts (MOBS) at the entrance to a higher level cave. The MOBS in the cave where to much for any of us there but with team work we could handle the MOBS at
the entrance. Well by standing where she was Gwynth made the entire cave go aggressive resulting in everyone's end game death including the groups waiting their turn. The
reaction was very brutal and not all that mature which upset Gwynth a great deal, to the point where she left the area. I didn't feel it was right to treat her that way
so I messaged her then went to group up with her.

This was how I found out she was actually Katrina's sister in real life, that she had cancer and was using the game as a means to distract her from the symptoms of her
treatment. That her momentary lapse in attention was because a nurse had come to adjust her IV medication. Well that hit in the feels so I told her that any time she
wanted we could group and move at her pace through content. She was not a very good player but I could usually use my cleric spells to heal her through any problems and
really are success in "winning" at the game had become secondary. I could usually get her laughing but when I couldn't I just listened giving the occasional Mmmmhmm,
until she had vented enough to get the relief she needed.

When she passed I was invited to attend her funeral in real life, it was very surreal as family and friends of Jennfer (aka Gwynth) would come up addressing me by the
Everquest game tag I had to tell me how much Jen would talk about are in game adventures. I could tell many didn't understand exactly what she had told them but the
memories of it brought a smile to my face.

If Brad McQuaid hadn't been so determined to make Everquest none of this would of happened the way it did. You might not of successfully made the world you envisioned
and strived to create but you did give thousands up thousands hours of enjoyment and created numerous lasting relationships both in game as well as the "real" world.
I salute you sir may that creative spark and determination carry you into the next plane of existence!

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/511975822

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King of Worms
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Re: RIP Brad McQuaid

Post by King of Worms »

I remember Everquest was something I always wanted to play, but my internet was either too slow or maybe non existent at the time. And in no way my pc could handle it anyway. So it was this distant fatamorgana for me, something Id like to reach and have, but I was not able to. I think the game was ahead of its time and still hold its mystery.

51 is strange age to die. To me it seems ppl die either young or old. Esp if he had no illness.

Well. This is what I always say. You never know if theres a tomorrow for you. And the feeling of "being in control" is ultimate mass illusion.

RIP

Ommamar
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Re: RIP Brad McQuaid

Post by Ommamar »

Well you can still play it along with all it's expansions, although different there is still an active community. I don't know if you ever heard of Vanguard: Sage of Heroes which unfortunately you can no longer play, that was the last game where you can see the imagination of Brad McQuaid. Generally thought a failure as he sold it uncompleted to Sony which changed a lot of what was originally there. I always liked it as it was yet another overly ambition game that was doing things differently then the rest of the genre and had a strong community until it became Sony's property. Now there is a game Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen being made that he was a large part of that I look forward to.

His age does give it that sense of Huh! What happened! feel, there is likely that there was something going on that only those closest to him knew about. Which we might or might not find out about it brings to mind a couple quotes.
"...., people still wonder how Bruce died. I prefer to remember how he lived."-Linda Lee Cadwell
Robert Jordan through the mouth of an Aiel- "Sleep well and Wake!"

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Aleryn
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Re: RIP Brad McQuaid

Post by Aleryn »

This is really sad because that is young to die in this era. I spent so many hours in EverQuest with friends being just as afraid of the environment - if not more so - than in Daggerfall. It was just so very different because so many other people were there to experience it with. May he rest in peace, and his family find solace.

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