[Ngruk]

I don't know Brad well, beyond I think an initial meeting years ago. I can't comment much on the VG beta as I haven't been able to get too far into it due to the time needed elsewhere.

What I do know is that Brad is one of the more instrumental and pivotal people the MMO space has ever seen.

I don't know how much or how little he had to do with EQ or EQ2, my guess is alot more than most think, and probably less than the haters want to believe. But, when you look at where we are today, there can be no doubt that Brad has had a major influence in the MMO world.

Personally EQ sold me on the genre in about 10 minutes. Much to my wife's chagrin it held me for a few years and then I moved to EQ2. I've played just about every MMO I can think of. None got me like EQ did, or EQ2.

That being said I can see some enormous gaps in content and gameplay that were there at the beginning, and are still there now.

Say what you want about Brad, or Smed, or any of them, but the fact remains that when you want to lay the cards on the table they are the only ones with hands to play. They've been there, and done that, from start to finish, which I don't think any other person on these boards can claim. That in and of itself deserves something in the way of respect, to me anyway.