Apparently while I was out of town last week, the lawyers were busy.
I think I’ve posted quite enough opinion about NCsoft and Tabula Rasa to sit this one out.
No, Really, I Heard
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How Am I Wasting My Time?
#1 by Abalieno on May 12th, 2009
Who cares? Give us Star Trek review instead!
#2 by Gx1080 on May 12th, 2009
Yeah. Richard Garrot become senile and NCSoft does backstabbing law-fu. Thats isnt new.
#3 by heartless_ on May 12th, 2009
This video has so much more significance all of a sudden: http://hgamer.blogspot.com/2007/12/tabula-rasa-why-all-delays.html
#4 by Scott Jennings on May 12th, 2009
It’s pretty good!
#5 by Klaitu on May 12th, 2009
Way to pander to the masses, Scott! haha
#6 by Merkwurdigliebe on May 12th, 2009
Where were the lawyers when Ascension came out?
#7 by geldonyetich on May 12th, 2009
I wonder how much of Lord British’s kingly resentment is due to economic recession pushing the nobles of the game industry to thoroughly ditch what little chivalry they had. Tis even more difficult to handle from those who hail from days of yore, verily.
That said, I know I’d be ticked and want to sue if I went on a life changing journey of following in my dad’s space boots and found out my business partners stole everything I held dear back on earth. He should probably start his own company. Oh, wait…
#8 by ethereal.wolf on May 12th, 2009
Lord British should summon the Avatar to deal with the unscrupulous corporate creatures that threaten the stability of Britannia!
Seriously, RG is still kool. I believe in you Lord British. We need a PC gaming renaissance, and who better to usher it in than one of the icons of the PC gaming golden age (90s for you people who weren’t there).
No I didn’t buy TR for those of you asking, I’m not a fanboy, just a fan.
#9 by Not Richard Garriot on May 12th, 2009
Am I the only person that still plays Ultima Online? This blog always references it like a long-dead uncle.
Come back, Lord British! All is forgiven!
Also, come back, Lum! The Hand of Mondain can be reborn!
#10 by Joey on May 12th, 2009
I’d love to still be playing it, ’cause I haven’t yet come across an MMO that tops it.
Well, the pre-Trammel/Felucca version of UO, that is. (That seriously poor decision from the dev team pretty much ruined it for me. Not to mention the ton of weak changes introduced by the various x-pacs over the years.)
#11 by hitnrun on May 12th, 2009
Most still-running MMOs can be considered long-dead uncles killed by poor decisions introduced in various x-pacs. Heck, even WoW for some of us. The games are still running but it’s hard to come “back” to something that doesn’t resemble what held your attention in the first place.
Ironically (and sadly), hooking up the NES and blowing on old cartridges makes for a more productive gaming afternoon than going back to comparatively recent MMOs that have been buried alive by haphazard decisions of the B-teams charged with rushing out the expansions.
As for Garriott, I’m no big fan but I think he’ll win a settlement. His story sounds a lot more plausible than NCsoft’s likely contention that Garriott just walked away from 25 million for the hell of it and now is suing them on a lark.
#12 by Freakazoid on May 13th, 2009
@Joey
Let’s just not go down that road again, ok?
I prefer to just let my mind sit on the thought that he could use this money to buy back the ultima franchise and make single player adventure games again.
#13 by Iconic on May 13th, 2009
John Romero, I choose you!
#14 by Rog on May 13th, 2009
There’s just not much to say on this topic. There’ll be fans on both sides of the fence but it’s really just a legal matter.
#15 by pharniel on May 13th, 2009
y’know, i could be tempted to do horrible things for new ultima on the level of IV or V or VI.
I could be tempted to war crimes for something as good as VII(one or two).
Sadly the best actual storytelling in games that i’ve played recently has been F.E.A.R (original and project origin) and half life 2. Runner up goes to BioShock and Sword of the Stars.
For those keeping score at home that’s 3 FPSs and a 4x TBS.
Where my RPGs at?!
#16 by Joe Post on May 13th, 2009
I bet there was a going to space clause he broke in his contract =)
“Should Richard Garriott leave Earth this will constitute a voluntary release of contract.”
That’ll teach him…
=)
#17 by dartwick on May 13th, 2009
#18 by Slyfeind on May 13th, 2009
I wonder how well he’d do making “casual games” in the vein of the old Ultimas. I mean let’s face it, today’s casual games are really just the core games of yore, but with cartoony graphics.
#19 by Zuzax on May 14th, 2009
My favorite theory is one that was posted over on Game Politics:
“Hey, Garriott, we need you to get out there and promote this game that isn’t selling nearly as well as we had hoped.”
“Nah, I’m going into space.”
“If you do that, don’t bother coming back.”
“You’re bluffing because I’m totally awesome and live in a castle.”
Ok, it probably didn’t happen quite that way.
Seriously though, this kind of stuff happens all the time in the rest of the business world. After a few months/years of legal wrangling, a very low-key press release will come out in which they make happy and both parties look forward to a world in which they can one day work together in peace and harmony. In other words they settle on a dollar figure that will make him STFU and go back to storming his own castle.
#20 by Angelworks on May 14th, 2009
@Zuzax
Well actually:
http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2009/05/123_44665.html
"However, industry sources say that the company's upper management had grown frustrated with Garriott's work ethic, wondering whether he was spending too much time on his space adventure and other socialite activities rather than dedicating time to his Austin game studio."#21 by hanshotfirst on May 14th, 2009
Something just isn’t adding up. Garriott claims his Korean overlords fired him, effectively robbed him of $20+ million, forged his signature… and he waited 6+ months to say boo about it?
How long does it take to come up with a courtroom LARPing costume?
#22 by Iconic on May 14th, 2009
I can think of at least one reason why you’d wait to file. If part of your complaint is that you were forced to exercise your stock options within 90 days, and because of that you were financially hurt, it wouldn’t make much sense to file your lawsuit until at LEAST 90 days had passed.
After all, you do want to be able to show that the value of those options has gone up after the 90 day window has passed.
#23 by Drakks on May 14th, 2009
apparently it takes six months.
#24 by hanshotfirst on May 14th, 2009
So what’s his latest make-believe identity now, Barrister British?
#25 by geldonyetich on May 14th, 2009
Nah, Astronaut British.
On the upshot, Stephen Colbert will probably vouch for him.
#26 by Zuzax on May 14th, 2009
I suppose the obligatory Phoenix British, Ace Attorney photoshops are out there somewhere.
#27 by UnSub on May 15th, 2009
The six months may have also been spent trying to get NCsoft to do things without getting the lawyers involved.
#28 by hanshotfirst on May 15th, 2009
Six weeks? Sure. Six months? C’mon. You know that’s a stretch.
I’m gonna go out on a limb here and assume someone who can afford an interstellar joyride and a plurality of mansions has at least one attorney on constant retainer. He’s not exactly distributing software via ziplock baggies anymore.
#29 by Zuzax on May 15th, 2009
I’m inclined to believe the six months part even with legal involved the whole time. The legal process moves at a glacial pace at best, and what with preparing phone-book-sized briefs, getting depositions and all that, six months seems pretty sprightly. Remember, attorneys bill by the hour so they have no motivation to move expediently.
#30 by ethereal.wolf on May 15th, 2009
sry anything that comes from a korean weekly smells strongly of nationalist bias. do you have something like that from an american source?
#31 by Vetarnias on May 15th, 2009
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09Gj7mJbPPc
Feel better?
I will concede that it’s a justified concern over Korean/Chinese sources, but at the same time, that cited paragraph isn’t exactly news or a theory nobody in the Western Hemisphere had formulated before. Just reading this blog and places linked to from here, you get pretty much the same impression, without the need to wrap it in the star-spangled banner.
Just witness how his space trip was turned into a joke at the time, when he was by no means the first one to do it; this alone should mean something.
#32 by Iconic on May 16th, 2009
@ethereal.wolf
Garriot alleges that he was fired, while NCsoft claims that he resigned. Either way it’s clear that he wasn’t wanted any more. Surely it’s common sense that execs at NCsoft were unhappy about something, right?
I don’t see how you can see bias when all that’s being reported is that NCsoft execs had a certain perception. The article offers no opinion on whether or not this perception was accurate.
#33 by dartwick on May 16th, 2009
I thought the interweb was the meta place?