Got news?   tips@destructoid.com  |  Never miss a story:   RSS + Twitter + YouTube
Hey! New here? Destructoid is a gaming discussion community, updated nearly every 20 minutes. Make a quick avatar to comment and enter our contests. Take the tour!

 


Home Science updates

Garriot comes back from space and quits NCSoft to pursue 'new interests'

7:39 PM on 11.11.2008, Brad Nicholson 18 comments

Garriot comes back from space and quits NCSoft to pursue 'new interests' photo
     Science

Ever come back from the Earth’s orbit and realize that you need to quit your job and take a new direction in your life? That’s exactly the conclusion NCSoft’s Richard Garriot came to upon landing on our pale blue dot.

In an open letter to NCSoft and fans of his latest MMO Tabula Rasa, Garriot said that the trip to space was an “unforgettable experience” that “sparked some new interests” outside of MMO development. He also thanked “loyal players” for hanging around TR during its horrendous launch, as well as his developers for pumping out content on a monthly basis.

So what will Garriot be doing now? He doesn’t specifically address that in his letter, but I have this suspicion that his next project will have something to do with space, rockets, jet fuel, Ultima, or powdered orange juice. If it’s not any of these things I won’t be surprised. I’ve never been able to predict what "Lord British" will do next.

Garriot’s letter is included after the break.

Fellow Soldiers of the AFS,

I am happy to finally be able to write the players and community of Tabula Rasa. We’ve been on quite a journey together. First in creating a game unlike any other on the MMO market, then growing a loyal community and finally launching the game and its players into space with Operation Immortality. It has been quite an unforgettable journey, one that I will treasure for the rest of my life.

I am very grateful to you loyal players for sticking around through what I think we can all honestly say was a rough launch. I thank the development team for pushing hard to get polish, updates and new content out every month since launch…a feat that I think is unusual in MMO development. They have a lot to be proud of.

Many of you probably wonder what my plans are, now that I have achieved the lifelong dream of going to space. Well, that unforgettable experience has sparked some new interests that I would like to devote my time and resources to. As such, I am leaving NCsoft to pursue those interests.

This news is difficult for me to deliver. I am honored to have worked with the team I’ve had and I’m grateful to the community who makes this game so unique and fun.

Thank you and farewell.

Richard “General British” Garriott

[via VG247]


Next page: More Science stories




RonBurgandy2010's Avatar
RonBurgandy2010 at 11/11/2008 19:42
He's going to try to build a very tall tower so he can reach God.
hellogoodbye15's Avatar
hellogoodbye15 at 11/11/2008 19:47
Babel?
Spartacus's Avatar
Spartacus at 11/11/2008 19:53
He's "General British" now?

Anyway, this is either the most badass or most eccentric thing I've ever heard of.
MrSadistic's Avatar
MrSadistic at 11/11/2008 19:54
Is he sure it's because of space? Is he sure it's not because of TR suckiing, and costing a single US dollar to buy over at Amazon.com?
Ben PerLee's Avatar
Ben PerLee at 11/11/2008 19:59
Wait, is his left ear pierced? Jeeze, everyone knows that the cool kids gauge both their ears. It's like he's walked out of 1994 high school insecurities.
Rucksack's Avatar
Rucksack at 11/11/2008 20:10
Bravo for him!
Coldbrand's Avatar
Coldbrand at 11/11/2008 20:49
That must be pretty hurtful to TR fans. Even if the game is pretty bad.
NotAZombie's Avatar
NotAZombie at 11/11/2008 21:08
Good night sweet prince... oh wait.
Wexx's Avatar
Wexx at 11/11/2008 21:37
Huh. That's...cool?
bluemeep's Avatar
bluemeep at 11/11/2008 22:01
I'd say he's been replaced by a pod person...but this is a man that owns his own castle. Garriott can do whatever the merry hell he wants and it's perfectly reasonable by comparison.
Magesx's Avatar
Magesx at 11/11/2008 22:06
Maybe one of these "new interests" could be making good games, since Tabula Rasa was definitely not a good game.
roninnogitsune's Avatar
roninnogitsune at 11/11/2008 23:01
He'll be an Egoist to the end. Too bad the days of the good Ultima games are gone (not online or any of the late ones) At least he had a partial reason for the ego back then.
Chronic Logic's Avatar
Chronic Logic at 11/11/2008 23:29
Tabula was mediocre at best, the game was supposed to be billed as an fps mmorpg, which makes no sense seeing how you don't even need to aim hardly, unseen dice rolls mechanics kills the fps part. Guess Garriot is cutting his losses.
Ballistic's Avatar
Ballistic at 11/12/2008 00:53
Is it just me, or does Garriot look a whole lot like Chris Elliot from SNL in that picture?
GoW's Avatar
GoW at 11/12/2008 07:11
I thought that fake middle names were only something that a third party could do to you, unless you're doing it in self-mockery.
John B's Avatar
John B at 11/12/2008 07:56
So, he was up in space with the Avatar and had a new vision of what to do?

EA should give Origin back to him so that he can bring us a new Ultima to reverse the abomination that was Ultima Ascension. He can bring back Wing Commander while he's at it. Hey, he was in space, so that fits the motif.
prev next

Returning Dtoiders: login now to post a comment

Destructoid is an open discussion community. You don't need to "audition" to post a comment - just Create an avatar now - it's fast and free: PLUS you also get your own gaming blog and begin posting stories and uploading videos in our open community area that may also appear on our home page. Sign up and we'll guide you through it, it's easy and 100% anonymous.




 Original Videos

 Reviews
Mad Dog McCree Gunslinger Pack
Overlord II
Yosumin Live!
Let's Tap
Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Wii)
View all Game Reviews

 Community blogs -   39759 Dtoiders!

This month's theme: Untapped Potential

New to Dtoid? Read the survival guide


 Originals

The best and worst '4th' videogames EVER!











more original Destructoid stories



 Popular now more













Destructoid is:
Nick Chester
Editor-in-Chief
Jim Sterling
Reviews Editor
Dale North
News Editor
Hamza Aziz
Community Manager
Anthony Burch
Features Editor
Rey Gutierrez
Video editor & director
Niero
Founder, publisher
Letters to the editors
tips@destructoid.com
Associate Editors
Ashley Davis Jonathan Holmes
Brad Nicholson Jonathan Ross
Brad Rice Jordan Devore
Chad Concelmo Matthew Razak
Colette Bennett Tom Fronczak
Conrad Zimmerman Topher Cantler
Dyson Samit Sarkar
Contributors
Adam Dork
Ben Perlee
Daniel Lingen
Joseph Leray
Joe Burling
Mikey
Will Maddock
Stella Wong




get involved

register or login
post a blog
post a forum
enter a contest
discuss a review
contribute a news tip
write a guest editorial
support

new member's guide
login assistance
tech support
report abuse
email our editors
read our dev blog
nuclear crisis?
keep in touch

RSS feed
Twitter
Facebook
Myspace
Flickr
Game nights
Meet-ups
seriously

about us
advertising
terms of use
privacy policy
jobs at MM
buy our crap
our network

Tomopop
Japanator




Destructoid is an independently-run publication forged by our love of video games and the gaming community's need of accountable enthusiast press
living the dream since March 16, 2006