Richard Garriott Quits NCSoft 149
unc0nn3ct3d writes "In a shocking update on the seemingly endless troubles plaguing NCSoft, Richard Garriott — the king of online games, creator of The Ultima Series (and consequentially Ultima Online), as well as the recently troubled Tabula Rasa — has announced that he would be stepping down from his position at NCSoft. Apparently motivated by his recent trip into space, perhaps he has found a higher purpose while orbiting so high above the earth."
Breaking News... (Score:1, Insightful)
As they say, and nothing of value was lost.
Question (Score:5, Funny)
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If you were gaming in the 80s you are either -
A) trolling hard
B)living in an ignorant state of denial
C)lying
about the "washed up has-been" crap.
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No, Garriot is no longer the king. Sorry, to maintain the status of King in the arena, you need to keep innovating and creating new stuff.
And yes, I've been gaming for as long as people have been able to game electronically in their home.
I enjoyed his series, although I felt some of the ultima where way over hyped*. Ultima online was cool, for a while but The lag and getting jumped changing 'zones' got tedious.
*Geeks over hyping something? The deuce you say!
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As a fellow geezer, I hate to break it to you, but a fair portion of the population has never seen Ultima III, and even fewer know what M.U.L.E. is.
The kids these days, nothing before Halo ever existed.
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Centuries ago, Internet time (Score:2, Interesting)
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Beat me to it. "Who, what, when?" was going to be my title. An article about a guy who was remotely involved in this game-generation's Daikatana becoming un-involved? Yaaawn.
I'll save further comment for when kdawson dupes this article on Friday.
Re:Centuries ago, Internet time (Score:5, Informative)
"Whoa, Paul McCartney used to be in a band?"
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Not just a band, but a band on the run.
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wasn't Warhammer Online almost completely designed around battlegrounds? I've heard it was better, but that was by Warhammer players.
I have only had a 30 day free acct for WoW and played exclusively PvE so I don't know how the PvP is, but I played lots of PvP in the Warhammer beta and heard it was similar to battlegrounds.
OTOH, I've never played Tabula Rasa, and yes their decision to scrap most of the game and start over was probably the major
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WAR battlegrounds, or scenarios as they call them, are more designed around DAoC battlegrounds, which are what WoW is imitating, badly.
Not just a stab at WoW (but it's all that and more!), but DAoC was first with functional PvP.
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Oh God, no. PVP in MMOs goes back to Diablo, Ultima and Everquest, and even the AOL version of Neverwinter Nights. DAoC is a latecomer to that party.
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functional PvP
PVP, or rather, RVR(realm vs realm) was worlds better than anything that had come before it in terms of PVP. In fact, it made PVP more accessible to a larger part of the audience, which made for more varied encounters, which were more fun. Instead of Joe the Newbie, saying oh, what is this PVP stuff, I think I will go che.....
Dead!
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WAR is supposed t
Re:It is doomed (Score:4, Funny)
Instead I played WoW with crappy pseudo-FPS controls. About the only innovative feature was the cloning, and even the appeal of that was diminished by the near-Korean levels of grinding the game required.
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I haven't played every online game out there, but I have played a few - including WoW, Lineage ][, PlanetSide, and some others. I like Tabula Rasa, and I'll be dismayed if they call it quits. It has a nice balance of a lot of things, including the level of effort required to level. Although you can rally groups to do instances, they aren't so difficult that you have to. There are some nice touches - the sense of humor of the announcer at one of the main bases, mobs that actually look like they occupy their
Maternity Leave (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Maternity Leave (Score:5, Funny)
He can cure that with a little Mandrake Root and Nightshade.
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But there's no cure for love...
Re:Maternity Leave (Score:5, Funny)
And, uh, In Vas Flam!
Is that the spell? Damnit, all this time I've been casting In Vas Flan, which has entirely different, albeit delicious, results.
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Flan, not ham. :)
Re:Maternity Leave or alien invasion!? (Score:4, Funny)
Maybe aliens have already replaced him with a replica?
Maybe the Armadillo's are behind it!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armadillo_Aerospace [wikipedia.org]
Then again, maybe we have both had too much coffee today.
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Then again, maybe we have both had too much coffee today. :)
DDDDDDdoooonnn'nn'ttt bbeee sssiilllllllyyyy! Nnnnnoo sssssuuccchh tttthhhinngggg!!!!
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Maybe aliens have already replaced him with a replica? ... so he can help start the alien space invasion!... oh no!... This would also explain his sudden career change and it would also explain John Carmack's move into Aerospace!... see it explains a lot! ... they are both aliens!
Maybe the Armadillo's are behind it!
No way, man. Garriot was possessed by an alien when he went up to the ISS (it's occupied entirely by aliens now). Carmack is still human, he's one of the few who knows the truth and is trying
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Last October, an astronaut moved into my neighborhood... Simultaneously, all the leaves started dying.
-Upright Citizens Brigade
Comment removed (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:Does this surprise anyone? (Score:4, Informative)
TR is, IMHO, the best MMO available today. It's also pretty cheap compared to WoW.
I have played both pretty heavily, and my all time fave is TR.
I've been a fan of Garriott since the beginning (Akalabeth) and he has rarely disappointed (well, ultima underworld kinda sucked). TR doesn't seem to have much of his penchant for dramatic story telling (unlike Ultima, Wing Commander, and UO), so his departure may not change much.
I hope he goes off to do something fun.
If TR ends after this, it will be a shame. It's my favorite MMO, and probably the last one I'll play for the foreseeable future (since most of the rest are just... meh)
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Ultima Underworld (which was a truly pioneering game) wasn't really done by Garriott, but by Warren Spector who later worked on Wing Commander, Thief, Deus Ex, etc.
Re:Does this surprise anyone? (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm not a hardcore MMO player.. but I've played WOW, Anarchy Online, Guild Wars and TR (picked it up at a firesale at Target). TR SUCKS. I played 3 days out of the free initial month before I canceled billing.
The interface was backwards and counter intuitive, the mechanics of the game didn't make much sense nor did the story. Not to mention the performance was pretty horrible (MBPro, 256mb video, etc).
I read a bunch of reviews explaining the game and I know that point was that it was intended to reinvent what an MMO game is - and maybe it did so. But in doing that, it had next to ZERO mass appeal. The things that it changed to 'be different' didn't make sense why they were changed - and what was put in place instead felt tacked on, confusing and backwards.
Honestly, I can't think of a single thing I experienced during my limited run with it that was superior, or even on par with other MMOs. YMMV.
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Sometimes it takes another perspective.
Re:Does this surprise anyone? (Score:4, Insightful)
Guild Wars is even cheaper (pay for the software, no recurring fees). I've been playing it for about 3-ish years off and on and still enjoy it.
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What, you mention Ultima Underworld, but not Ultima 9?
I realize that the steaming pile that became Ultima 9 was largely driven by EA and deadlines rather than by Garriot, but Garriot had very little input on Underworld. He was far more creatively involved in Ultima 9, and couldn't manage to save that shipwreck from EA.
Then there's Ultima Online. Ok, being one of the earlier modern MMOs, I can forgive some of the quirks, but it was also ill-planned. I remember some of the marketing for the game was that y
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well, ultima underworld kinda sucked
Shut yo mouth!
TR doesn't seem to have much of his penchant for dramatic story telling (unlike Ultima, Wing Commander, and UO)
Huh, I must have quit playing UO before the added in the story.
If TR ends after this, it will be a shame.
I'm sure it will keep going as long as the revenue exceeds the costs to keep it running, as they attempt to recoup as much of their initial investment as possible.
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Uhhhh (Score:2)
MMOs have a shelf life? Really? Since when? Thus far, I'm not aware of ANY MMOs failing. Hellgate London probably will, but it'll be the first. Ultima Online, Everquest and the like are STILL online. Not just online, under active development. A new UO expansion was released in 2007, and there's another slated for 2009.
Thus far, it seems MMOs just keep going and going. They peak and then player count drops off, but it doesn't fall to zero it levels off and you just keep running. Even MMOs that were fucking d
Comment removed (Score:4, Informative)
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You have kind of an odd definition of "death spiral".
Regardless, only thing that matters is are you bringing in enough cash to cover operations, and then make a profit? If so, your game is still a success. While everyone would love to be the biggest/best you don't have to be #1 to be successful. While 50,000-100,000 subscribers isn't impressive compared to WoW, it is still a respectable amount of people and enough to have a profitable business.
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Thus far, I'm not aware of ANY MMOs failing. Hellgate London probably will, but it'll be the first.
Auto Assault
Sims Online
Space and Beyond
Motor City Online
Asheron's Call 2
Hellgate will certainly not be the first if it shuts down completely.
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There have been plenty of MMOs that have shut down, none of them really major though, except maybe Sims Online (though it was never that popular, just had the brand power that people expected more out of it).
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No, they don't. MMOs have died, but because they were screwed up, not of old age. Many of the oldest MMOs are still around. With no real data points, it's difficult to say what the life-span of a well-run MMO might be, but my guess would be somewhere around 20 years.
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"MMOs have a shelf life and expire after a (very few) years."
*Bill Lumbergh's voice* I'm uh.. going to have to sort of... disagree with you on that one.
Actually it seems like these games have an amazing shelf life. EQ1 is still around, as is UO. Heck games that should die like SW Galaxies and Enter the Matrix that just never seemed to catch on are still gasping for breath. The game I play, FFXI, I've been hearing for years people saying "the game will be dead in 6 months" and is still going, even if it'
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Overview Effect (Score:5, Interesting)
This actually is a phenomenon known as the overview effect [dailygalaxy.com]. Space travelers often report a transcendental sense of connectedness.
Re:Overview Effect (Score:5, Funny)
More likely he realized that outer space is the only place with enough room for his ego.
This is another name for... (Score:2)
The Total Perspective Vortex
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_of_Gold_(spaceship)#Total_Perspective_Vortex [wikipedia.org]
Think of what it does. From the book:
"When you are put into the Vortex you are given just one momentary glimpse of the entire unimaginable infinity of creation, and somewhere in it a tiny little mark, a microscopic dot on a microscopic dot, which says, "You are here."
Which is like putting someone in a space ship, have them look back at the earth, and understand how small earth is, and how small each
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Why bother with a space ship? All children, whilst being taught about religion, should be supplied with a copy of Celestia [shatters.net], and made to slow zoom out until they're able to see the Milky Way and Andromeda, to get some sense of perspective.
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Re:Overview Effect (Score:4, Funny)
And when he dies, on his deathbed, he will achieve total consciousness, so he's got that going for him.
Contrary results (Score:2)
Interesting that this is in almost total opposition to the Total Perspective Vortex [wikipedia.org].
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This actually is a phenomenon known as the overview effect [dailygalaxy.com]. Space travelers often report a transcendental sense of connectedness.
For those of us in the cheap seats, LSD can do this too.
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yea, i recall hearing some astronauts talk about it in a space/NASA documentary. it's too bad more people couldn't experience such a n eye-opening/life-changing spiritual epiphany. if people could just take a few steps back and rise above the rat race of modern society for a moment, they'd be able to see how petty much of their greed, selfishness, xenophobia/hatred, etc. are.
the world would be a much better place if more people could pull themselves out their myopic and solipsistic existence and develop a s
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Of course, like space travel, it's not for everyone. The experience might make you vomit and it might make you crazy (see Daniel Johnston [wikipedia.org]), but your perspective is forever changed.
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Also, regarding the celestia comment above, does anyone have an idea of how far away from Earth you woul
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I'm re-re-re-rereading Thomas Covenant at the moment, and I can relate to being able to "see" health and likewise ill health.
I'm reading the second book in the third trilogy right now. The health sense is broken now. (Don't worry, that's in the first few pages of the first book).
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I think that's a pretty lofty expectation for it. I am a thoughtful and intelligent person and psychedelics have had a profound impact on my life. I've met people who use them who are not quite as thoughtful or intelligent and they seem to get little from the experience besides pretty colors.
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Interesting idea, because of course, there's never been a self-indulgent druggie!
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Well. The real question is, do we have anything to gain by requiring all politicians to take a space flight prior to taking office?
Yes, provided that the trip is on the B Ark.
Damnit Richard! (Score:2)
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I heard him. I also received some of his SSTV pics. Unfortunately I was at work, so I couldn't call him myself. There was one local-ish guy calling him on the downlink frequency, which really isn't going to work.
Pics (and audio) from space here: http://www.gjcp.net/space/ [gjcp.net]
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I think it was a bit silly wasting time sending dull (IMO) SSTV images back when Richard could have been QSOing with thousands of amateurs worldwide. He was up there for 10? days, and probably had lots of time spare (as he wasn't part of the crew). The image equipment can be left there, switched on at any time.
Receiving an image is a one-way communication, a
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Feel free to mirror it. I'm not sure if Richard Garriot is going to claim copyright on it ;-)
What's particularly annoying is that across in Edinburgh there is a VHF AM group who all sit on 145.8 and nicely stomp any ISS transmissions! That said, I was amazed how loud NA1SS was - those pics and the audio were received with an old Trio TR-7730 (which is actually a damn good rig) and a homebrew J-pole at all of 12' elevation in my back garden. A couple of the pics show deep nulls, caused by tall trees. One
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Wow, I'd be pretty miffed about the use of 145.8+ for non satellite work. Are they even allowed [rsgb-spect...rum.org.uk] to do that? There are 2 whole MHz of 2m bandwidth for them to use, and satellites can't exactly be changed easily.
I too, was amazed at how strong the signal is from the ISS. It was maxing out my meter, and that was with a 6/2/70 mobile antenna in the carpark at work. Sounded like at the beginning and end of the recording that you were slightly off frequency - do you start 3kHz up,
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Sounded like at the beginning and end of the recording that you were slightly off frequency - do you start 3kHz up, and go down, ending at 3kHz below, due to Doppler?
The radio I was using only tunes in 5kHz steps. I tuned it down towards the end - you can hear a quick burst of Morse as I switch off a preprogrammed channel and then spin the VFO back to 145.795 ;-)
For the SSTV stuff I wasn't actually there, just left the laptop running to record the pass. So, I couldn't tune to chase the Doppler.
Plaguing NCSoft?? (Score:4, Interesting)
What sort of troubles that aren't related to Tabula Rasa?
Is Guild Wars 2 at risk?!
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I was wondering the same thing. Guild wars has been pretty profitable (and I enjoyed it...until they stopped coming out with new content and no one was in any of the lowbie areas).
They've already pushed the beta to not be this year ('08). I know one thing, I'm signed up as soon as they start it. ...until then I've started WoW.
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I care because I like GW. A lot of your complaints sound like that it isn't more WoW-like.
My biggest fear for GW2 is that it will be too WoW-like. I like GW, nerfbats and all.
The King is Dead... (Score:1)
... Long live the King!
Thank you for everything. The Ultima series over the years has brought me countless joy(and a bit of sorrow as well). Good luck in all that you do, Lord British.
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That name - Lord British - makes me cringe every time I hear it. General British is slightly better, but not much.
As a rule of thumb, consider that pretty much every person who could be considered British does not think of themselves as such - we're English, Scots, Welsh, Northern Irish, Cornish, Manx, and so on. Only someone not from here would call themselves something like that.
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Despite being raised in the US and sounding American, Richard Garriot was born in Cambridge, England. He also did not give himself that name, it was given to him by others who thought he had British mannerisms.
Will he (Score:2)
go and live in a monastery?
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EA (Score:2)
Garriott should buy back the rights to Ultima single player games and develop remakes of the Ultima series.
uh oh.... (Score:1)
who wants to bet he is going to start screwing up WoW next?
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they haired Kalgan and Ghostcrawler.....
Space Ace (Score:3, Funny)
'The Man Who Sold the Moon'? (Score:1)
"General" British? Did I miss something? (Score:3, Interesting)
Did he... (Score:2, Funny)
Now he can get back to... (Score:1)
Making games that don't suck.
Oh wait... that hasn't been since Ultima Online, pre-UO:R. It was all downhill from there.
*poof* (Score:3, Funny)
makes sense (Score:2)
Software executives R moving to aerospace in droves. Once cashing in on their employees success, they almost never reinvest in the business which made their money.
Ego? (Score:2)
Maybe when he realized that you could see his ego from space he decided that his work was complete?
King of online games? I think not. (Score:4, Insightful)
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Ok, not king, but he can be emperor, since some watery tart threw a scimitar at him.
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I think Richard has a sentimental position of favour in many people's minds. I have money fond memories of playing Ultima 1-4 on the AppleII back in the early 80s and then Ultima Online was the largest and most populated (and profitable) MMORPG for many year in the late 90s. There were other online games but none as enduring or with as many userds as UO. I used to love sifting through te source code that came with those early Ultima games to see how they were done (in AppleBasic and 6502 Assembler).
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Simple: he played the king in the Ultima Series. Thus he's called The King ;)
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Er... ever heard of "Ultima Online"? You know, the game that essentially defined the MMORPG genre as we know it today.
But he has the distinction of being... (Score:2)
...the only video game developer who can truthfully say "My worst day was when I got killed by an exploiting terrorist".
Ironically, "exploiting terrorists" encapsulates all that was awesome and frustrating about UO in a compact two-word phrase.
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Or John Carmack [armadilloaerospace.com]...
-l
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Playing TR beta, I never really got the feeling he was involved beyond them using his name left and right.
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I was wondering the same thing... How long would it take for them to fire him for not showing up... It may be a while before they figure out how to get that big head of his out the door of the Soyuz.