From my perspective as leader of Code, he failed his memberbase and deserves every bit of criticism that he has gotten. I think giving him respect belittles the work that other leaders in the continent have put in both this world and in past worlds. I am not talking about myself here, but I could not imagine Kirk or Fredrik for example giving up on their tribe like that.
I cannot comment too much on the internal situation within Gents as I was not privy to it, but to see Brad get up and disappear was very disappointing from where I was sitting. There may well come a time where our tribe fights Beast and we may win, we may lose. If we lose, it is my responsibility as the last thing I do as a duke, to at least try give an opportunity those who wish a future. Furthermore, whilst Gents was losing the fight versus Beast, there were definitely opportunities for them to turn it around, especially diplomatically. This is from the perspective of someone who is pretty knowledgeable about the diplomatic scene within the continent. Brad threw the towel in too early and essentially guaranteed the failure of the vast majority of his members. I don't think any other leader of a major contender tribe for K45 dominance would have done this.
I feel as a leader that I have an obligation to repay those who have placed their trust in my tribe and my leadership. For Gents, this is exaggerated multiple times since they are a premade and their players have come to his tribe on this world specifically to play under him. I'd personally feel dirty if my friends put expectations in me, only for me to up and leave before the war was determined, taking the carpet out from under their feet. Yes, this is a game, but there is a significant life investment put into Tribal Wars and I care about my few friends on this game and wish them success in both the game and outside of it. I do wonder sometimes if worthiness comes into the equation. At the start of the world, Gents had a far higher quality memberbase than ours, with a multitude of world winners. Our players were courted from the area through old fashioned recruitment mails. Yet we are still here and Gents is not. I question whether the worthy continue, though perhaps part of worthiness is who you put your trust in or just getting good luck.
I just hope that my members do not make the same mistake that Gents did if they choose to put their trust in me.