Richard Garriot's Future... More Swords and Dragons Online

[LC]

The other thread mutated into some horrible freakish creature.

Now, after a very interesting break, I'm keen to get back into the fray and work on a new game. Probably medieval fantasy and probably online; there's something very powerful about getting people together.

The Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7804564.stm

 

[Bill]

Insert hat-eating related witty comment and vague suggestion of hopeful...ness.

2015 will be an interesting year!

[sidereal]

He can't quit elf boobies.

[UnSub]

So Richard, what do you think about the state of TR since you've left?



... and the sad thing was that he didn't even say the stupidest things in that article. That honour went to Fatal1ty's "I've got new headphones! Buy my headphones!" schtick.

[Aez]

Rockstar nailed how you characterise a game and their engine and cut sequences are state of the art. However, only a few people actually saw all the cut sequences because the game was so tough to play. Are we making games too difficult?

I fucking hate him.  What the fuck?  His last games were so pathetically easy they barely qualified as game.  I didn't finish fable because it was such a joke.  It was so easy he might as well have made an autopilot feature. 

[Aez]

This article is shit.  I'm very bad at editing my post but at least I don't work for the BBC.  The content and the editing is a huge turd.

[LC]

That honour went to Fatal1ty's "I've got new headphones! Buy my headphones!" schtick.

But he's doing it for the other players. The ones who can't get rich playing video games.

[IainC]

That honour went to Fatal1ty's "I've got new headphones! Buy my headphones!" schtick.

But he's doing it for the other players. The ones who can't get rich playing video games.

And he does helpfully point out that you can use them for the power of good and not just smack talking. Civilisation advances via headphone technology.

[FatuousTwat]

Seriously Dick, just fucking quit. Go live in your stupid fucking castle.

[Lantyssa]

So all those adventures he wanted go on that would make him leave the industry... were just in his head?

Barnett sounded good with the tape over his mouth.  He needs to keep it there.  Forever.  It's also funny since the entire time he's talking about this big games failing I think Warhammer, while he acts like it's the one game that isn't.

[Venkman]

Go live in your stupid fucking castle.

Maybe the rent is due?
 
His history since, what, Ultima VIII is what any investor is going to look at, since at this point unless he buys a company, he's starting don scratch. I don't know that throwing his name around is going to do much of anything.

Rest of the article was predictable. Oh look, even more people catching up to the world that changed in ways they're just realizing a few years in. Can't say I blame them though. When you've got your nose to the grindstone, it's hard to pay attention to anything else.

[Slyfeind]

If he wants to design again, I'd love to hear him working as "just" a designer on a project; contribute what he knows, and learn about what he doesn't know.

That said, I would kill for a Diablo clone set in Britannia, oh damn yes. He shoulda bought back Ultima from EA, instead of spending his money on a space ticket.

[schild]

Sigh.

[Goreschach]

So Richard, what do you think about the state of TR since you've left?



... and the sad thing was that he didn't even say the stupidest things in that article. That honour went to Fatal1ty's "I've got new headphones! Buy my headphones!" schtick.

Fatal1ty's headphones will make more money than this project.

[Trippy]

Go live in your stupid fucking castle.

Maybe the rent is due?
 
His history since, what, Ultima VIII is what any investor is going to look at, since at this point unless he buys a company, he's starting don scratch. I don't know that throwing his name around is going to do much of anything.

You would think that would be the case but sadly things don't work like that in the NA MMORPG business. People who shouldn't be making games get opportunity after opportunity after opportunity to screw things up again.

[Ratman_tf]

Eh. Next game: financial failure. I just saved some poor investor millions.

[Arthur_Parker]

Good luck to him, I don't understand all the hate for the crazy guy.

[Falconeer]

I've been working really hard to develop them

You should die sometimes.

[apocrypha]

This article is shit.  I'm very bad at editing my post but at least I don't work for the BBC.  The content and the editing is a huge turd.

Have the BBC produced any really good articles about gaming? Ever? In fact, I can't think of a single article, news item or blog from the BBC that was well written, well researched and well edited.

[Sparky]

Good luck to him, I don't understand all the hate for the crazy guy.

Me neither, dude make Ultima 6 and 7 for fuck sake.  Could spend the rest of his career churning out Puzzle Quest knock offs and still be a legend.

[Venkman]

You would think that would be the case but sadly things don't work like that in the NA MMORPG business. People who shouldn't be making games get opportunity after opportunity after opportunity to screw things up again.

Heh, yea, if wishes were horses and all that...

I still don't know that his name is going to sell anything. Yea, getting picked up as a <insert project role> at some other studio, happens all the time. But that's different from having to provide a list of business successes to get funding

[Draegan]

I'd pay to raid Exodus.

[Ratman_tf]

Good luck to him, I don't understand all the hate for the crazy guy.

I wouldn't say "hate" in my case. Mostly just that Tabula Rasa was such a clusterfuck that I can't see the guy getting trusted with any serious development money anytime soon.

But then again, game development rarely makes sense. So he probably will.

[Slyfeind]

Good luck to him, I don't understand all the hate for the crazy guy.

Me neither, dude make Ultima 6 and 7 for fuck sake.  Could spend the rest of his career churning out Puzzle Quest knock offs and still be a legend.

Those were definitely some good times...15 years ago. A lot of former Ultima fans are frustrated with his latest work, and I liken it to Star Wars fans hating on Lucas' latest stuff. For some odd peculiar reason, Garriott seems unable to produce a hit these days. He's always got some interesting, and rather frank, things to say in his post project interviews (I really wouldn't call them post mortems), but it's more like he's making excuses.

I thought it would be really keeno neato for TR to come out and make everybody -- including all WoW subscribers -- to go "OMG Garriott's Back LONG LIVE TEH KING!" and raise the bar and up the ante and shoop the whoop or whatever. But it just didn't quite work out that way.

[LC]

Those were definitely some good times...15 years ago. A lot of former Ultima fans are frustrated with his latest work, and I liken it to Star Wars fans hating on Lucas' latest stuff. For some odd peculiar reason, Garriott seems unable to produce a hit these days. He's always got some interesting, and rather frank, things to say in his post project interviews (I really wouldn't call them post mortems), but it's more like he's making excuses.

I thought it would be really keeno neato for TR to come out and make everybody -- including all WoW subscribers -- to go "OMG Garriott's Back LONG LIVE TEH KING!" and raise the bar and up the ante and shoop the whoop or whatever. But it just didn't quite work out that way.

Maybe if he got off of his ass and contributed more to these projects than just being a figurehead.

[Venkman]

So that's my question too: how much did he input on TR version 1? He created the language/Triskelion, and we sorta know how much input he had on TR version 2 (read: not much). But was the first version his swan song, or just something he happened to attach to when he started funding Destination Games?

Reason I'm wondering: has he been done since UO, or has he not really had full creative/production control over a game since and only suffered because he's been attached to failures?

Yea, I know what the easy answer is. But I'm curious anyway.

[Lantyssa]

Good luck to him, I don't understand all the hate for the crazy guy.

Jealousy.  I'm crazy, but people don't throw boatloads of money at me and I don't get to live in a castle.

There may be a little disdain for resting on one's laurels and people elevating him to god-like status.  Pretty sure it's mostly jealousy though.

[schild]

Good luck to him, I don't understand all the hate for the crazy guy.

Jealousy.  I'm crazy, but people don't throw boatloads of money at me and I don't get to live in a castle.

F13 isn't about jealousy. It's more about utter disdain for people throwing money around on dinosaurs who have a track record barely better than Uwe Boll in the last decade.

Though, I'm fairly sure Uwe Boll hasn't wasted as much money as Garriot did on TR 

Seriously though, he either needs to fund himself or disappear from gaming, forever. Now, if he funds himself, all the more power to him. If he doesn't, I think we should write our senators. Well, those of us in Texas at least.

[Signe]

It's the tiara.  I'm sure of it!

[Nonentity]

To be fair, I liked the rainbow-colored turd that was TR version 1 more than the current incarnation, but come on - this project was doomed from the start.

It was NCSoft wanting to make the robot jesus MMO, with a dream team of KMMO developers, and Richard on the Western front. The first incarnation they shitted out was at least so batshit crazy that it was interesting. When they pooped out the current version a year later, it was kind of a disappointment. They had to basically cut their losses and go back to scratch, trying to make something salvageable.

Richard, if given his own project and working on what he knows (Fantasy gaming), I'm sure could at least do something passable.

[Mrbloodworth]

Question, can he himself do anything with the UO franchise?

[angry.bob]

Good luck to him, I don't understand all the hate for the crazy guy.

He's the M. Night Shyamalan of videogames. In addition to that, he spends incomprehensible amounts of money on completely stupid shit that not even other raging supernerds would spend money on if they had it to spare. Enough with the fucking castles, the renfair villiage made out of toolsheds, the pointless trips to feel like an "adventurer" that a fucking 8 year old girls would be safe on. He spent what, $30,000,000 just so he can say he's the first second-generation astronaut? Sorry to break it to him, his dad was an astronaut. He was an ambulatory piece of cargo that they had to bring extra food for.

And seriously, much better games have been theorycrafted on this and previous boards than he's put out lately.

[Trippy]

Question, can he himself do anything with the UO franchise?

Only if he goes back to work for EA.

[Jain Zar]

If he wants to design again, I'd love to hear him working as "just" a designer on a project; contribute what he knows, and learn about what he doesn't know.

That said, I would kill for a Diablo clone set in Britannia, oh damn yes. He shoulda bought back Ultima from EA, instead of spending his money on a space ticket.

No.  No Diablo clones.  In fact I don't even want Diablo Fucking Three to play like Diablo.
TURN BASED OR FUCK OFF FOR ULTIMA PLEASE.

And especially given Ultima's track record when it comes to making an Ultima that plays like another game.

Ultima 8?  Shitty Landstalker clone.

Ultima 9?  Shitty Zelda Ocarina of Time clone.

Just give me games like Ultima 5 but with better graphics and an improved interface with automapping and quest notes.

[Ratman_tf]

In fact I don't even want Diablo Fucking Three to play like Diablo.