brad didnt set out to scam anyone im sure. no doubt brad was sitting at home and he realized that his money and his "cache" is disappearing and he had to change that so he forced an idea. a game just like everquest but with different lore. and brad would raise funds via a kickstarter just like many games have, but the difference is he would use his Brad Mcquaid "cache" to draw in the cash. it didnt work as well as he hoped. then switched to a crowdfund plan b and that started out ok, but brad was still hurting for the dollars. suddenly a big investor comes along and shows interest in pantheon. brad is jumping up and down happy he will be making his comeback, then suddenly things go wrong. this investor pulls out because his accountant shits his pants at how poorly pantheon is being run so he warns the investor to go somewhere else.
at this point brad had already taken all the remaining money out of the project because he needed money right away and didnt think anyone would notice because big money was gonna be rolling in and brad was the one handling the money. what i have issue with is brad's destroying the entire project before it ever had a chance all because he couldnt resist dipping into the till. its even worse now, now brad has removed the till and is making people work for nothing and probably putting out their own cash for assets or having brad buy the assets for them and telling them, "go nuts kid. make me a game"