Brad Wardell

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Brad Wardell bigraphy, stories - American businessman, programmer and author

Brad Wardell : biography

24 June 1971 –

Bradley R. Wardell (born 24 June 1971), commonly known as Brad Wardell, is an American businessman, programmer and author residing in Michigan. He is the founder, President, and CEO of Stardock, a software development and computer games company.

Wardell’s specialty is the design and programming of artificial intelligence and game mechanics for turn-based strategy games.

Notes

Online personality

Wardell has participated in online news, magazines and forums since his days running Commodore 64 BBSes in the late 1980s. He made over 10,000 posts to Usenet during 1992–2006, being particularly active in comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.strategic and subgroups of comp.os.os2. – Google Groups – Google Groups – Google Groups

Wardell is a regular poster on Stardock’s forums,Wardell usually uses the screen name name Frogboy for corporate matters, while going by Draginol from home. and is actively involved in public debates, including those relating to Stardock. Sometimes criticized for this, he says the risk of alienating potential customers – especially those who feel they have "a license to behave terribly" – is "a price I’m willing to pay to be able to do what I want."

Personal life

Wardell is married to Deborah (Debbie) Wardell, whom he met at college; they have three children: Alex, Ryan and Ashley. His hobbies include beekeeping.

Fantasy author

Wardell wrote the fantasy novel Elemental: Destiny’s Embers (ISBN 0345517865; August 24, 2010), published by Del Rey to accompany Elemental: War of Magic. The book is set a thousand years after the Cataclysm, after the time of the game itself, and involves the quest of a former messenger to save mankind from the Fallen. The book came with a coupon to download an exclusive campaign for the game.

Awards

Wardell was a member of Crain’s Detroit’s 40 under 40 in 2003, and has been a finalist for Ernst & Young’s Michigan Entrepreneur of the Year in 2002-4 and 2007.

Philosophy

Wardell believes that "nice guys finish first," and that customers are "part of the team." Politically, he is a self-identified conservative.]

October 10, 2012]