In this post from The Safehouse in 2001, some of the same or similar types of observations were made about Brad McQuaid's management "style" as are being made today. In particular, this quote caught my eye;
Things weren't coming up roses at 989/redeye/verant. Brad himself had basically done no work whatsoever since Everquest's release, and many (including Kelly Flock) think he didn't do anything *before* its release. Brad thought of himself as infallible, and Everquest's incredible success, his millions, and his ferrari were all proof of his greatness. Being crowned a "Game @#%$" by PC Gamer didn't help either. His self-aggrandizement cannibalized Verant's customer relations for its entire existance. He insisted on being the sole point of contact with the public to promote his own name, and he did a miserable job.
Overall, it's an interesting post-mortem about how Brad allegedly left Verant/989/SOE back in 2001. If you look at that and also look at the recent posts to f13 and here, I think you'll see some staggering similarities. Where I come from, if something happens once, it's a happening. If it happens more than once, it's a pattern.
I'll let you draw your own conclusions on this one but to me it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck.
