Richard Garriott wants to get back into fantasy gaming

by Shawn Schuster Dec 31st 2008 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Real life, MMO industry

The impending closure and lack of expected success from Tabula Rasa is not going to deter Richard Garriott from giving the online gaming business another shot. In a recent interview with the BBC, Garriott expressed his intentions to get back into MMO business. "After 25 years at Origin, the last thing I wanted to make was yet another medieval fantasy game," he said. "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."

Also in this interview is a bit of insight from Warhammer Online's Paul Barnett into what 2009 may bring. "I expect to see some large studios go under and some big name titles fail," Barnett predicts. Whether this next year will see a fantasy MMO announcement from Garriott or Barnett's prediction of failure come true, you can't deny that it's an exciting time in the world of MMOs.

[Via Wired]

Tags: 2009, fantasy, genre, ncsoft, paul-barnett, richard-garriott, warhammer-online, wired

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

HexDSL said on 7:33PM 12-31-2008

Ah crap. i thought we had seen the back of that joker!

Temko said on 9:05PM 12-31-2008

my sentiments exactly. he made ONE game, coppied it - applied it 10x times and was hailed lord of all things RPG.

...really, i could do a better job and look less gay doing it. garrtiot: GTFO.

conquests.of said on 9:33PM 12-31-2008

The man made at least 3 games universally (with no need to agree, they just are) accepted as masterpieces.

Ultima 7
U7: Serpent Isle
Ultima Online

To this you may add the wonderful Ultima 4, 6 and the 2 underworld games and others i forgot. Then he contributed to the greatness of many other origin games.

I'm very glad He's back, even tho I was very disappointed by TR. I just hope his new MMO (or offline game whichever) will be a really new gaming experience and not oriented to the average young casual mmo player... but a deep and fun game for mature folks.

That's what we are missing since the good old times, my dear liege of Britannia. Games for older persons, just as U7 was. Cause you'll find that there are people who own a PC and are potential gamers, these are new and vast slices of market still uncovered and undervalued.

Please read this, We still love you, the fisher/knight parable is always in our hearts. :)

Mr Angry said on 10:01PM 12-31-2008

...and that's why the MMO genre will become stale, and slowly die.... These guys were new kids on the block once so to speak and produced astounding games. Now, it's all ego and bluster, with nothing of substance.

I think it's fair to say when I say new talent, I didn't mean what you implied 'new kid', there are a hell of a lot of people in the MMO industry who could push the envelope, and you've fallen foul of the main problem with current games, they are the product of "teams", not individuals and the longer we have assclowns like Garriott telling us what he is doing next, the worse it is for MMO players...

Malixu said on 11:39AM 1-01-2009

Myst by Cyan worlds was hailed as a masterpiece. Anyone missing Uru?

Zork I, II and III was incredible in their time. Anyone remember Return to Zork?

RG made the same game several times, and I'm sure they're all fantastic. Personally, I beta'd TR, and I bought TR, and I'm sorry but it just never held my attention. I'll give whatever he does next a chance, but right now I still think he's an overpaid budget liability.

Mr Angry said on 9:35PM 12-31-2008

Yep there is something very powerful about getting people together, so you can fund a space trip, fuck everyone over and leave, then decide to make a come back.

Please remember Mr Garriott, you are only as good as your most recent game, and in MMO's it's almost impossible to get a second shot.

You go down on my list of MMO losers, with other notables such as John Smedley and Brad McQuaid. How about you stand down and give some new talent a shot?

Conquests.of said on 9:45PM 12-31-2008

I disagree, I don't want some new kid whose favorite game is prolly devil may crap to make a new game... Unless the He tells me his favorite games are Torment, Fallout and Bloodlines I stay with the one whom i know made great games in the past.

Mr. Pickles said on 9:45PM 12-31-2008

Paul Barnett: "I expect to see some large studios go under and some big name titles fail."

And with that, I'll fill in the blanks for Mr. Barnett: "I expect to see Funcom go under and Age of Conan to fail in 2009."

There, I said it..what of it? Other than that, it's possible that Stargate Online could go under as well as more of NCSoft (they've been stretching their resources too damn much and have suffered highly because of it).

Darkfall has got 22 days before launch and has only been know on the back end networks because of lack of advertisements and word of mouth other than "VAPORWARE". It's highly possible that it'll be just like Too Human where the developement was too long, the hype was too much, and the end product just don't live up to what it's supposed to be.

Also....I don't "entirely" blame Tabula Rasa's shutdown on Garriott, but I certainly give him credit in having a large part to do with it.

Jess said on 10:01PM 12-31-2008

Maybe Richard Garriott and Bill Rober can make a fantasy game together....since both their sci-fi MMO's were failures.

Brian! said on 10:29PM 12-31-2008

Ugh. Garriott. What crap-tastic work will he put his name to next?

I give the guy credit for being an early game designers when games were rare. His game designs were not unique but the sheer lack of competition vaulted him into somewhat of a famous status.

It is clear in this modern day of game design that he produces failures. I have zero confidence that he will produce anything worthwile and think it is a shame that press is wasted upon him in any serious manner.

He does make for great humor stories though!

lethality said on 10:53PM 12-31-2008

Funny when Barnett's predicition turns out to be true about Mythic.

conquests.of said on 11:12PM 12-31-2008

Haha damn right! That'll be the best laugh of the gaming year.

World of warhammer online craft is a pitious game, even worse than Tabula Rasa.

torak said on 2:52AM 1-01-2009

"World of warhammer online craft is a pitious game, even worse than Tabula Rasa."

But Warhammer has ELVES!

Soooo....Garroitt supposably leaves NCSoft because his little trip to space opened up these awesome new interest...and within 2 months he is already saying he wants to make games again????

I stick with my hunch NCSoft asked him to leave gracefully because his recent work SUCKS.

JBFire said on 5:37AM 1-01-2009

Although Garriott has not made some of the best decisions with how he handles his peers, I think he still has some potential still in him. I'm not ready to crucify him out of the gate because his last work was a failure and it's put a sour taste in a lot of mouths who seek to place the blame solely on his head.

He has made superb games in the past, and I feel that he can do it again. It was not just because there were no other games out at the time, that's just simply false. He gets shunned on almost every one of these types of sites for what? Having an opinion formed about him because some want to believe he's a douche? Unless you've personally met him and he's proven to be that way towards you, I don't think that's a fair assessment of his person or his ability to make video games. Let's see what he's going to offer first.

Paul Barnett's comments are a resounding echo in our current state of economy. I think he's spot on and there probably will be casualties in the coming year. He's a fairly apt guy and definitely has a good head on his shoulders. My intuition wants me to say AoC might not survive 2009 either, but you never know. It may surprise us with a comeback of sorts.

JBFire said on 6:09AM 1-01-2009

Just another little tidbit I'd like to add. I'm mostly interested in just seeing a good fantasy MMO come about that doesn't have a specific set IP already behind it. I love Warcraft and Lord of the Rings. They're both exceptional properties and have great games behind them. I'd like to explore a new world with new lore though. Thats why I loved games like Everquest and Ultima Online. Not necessarily because they had the best gameplay, they were good at the time, but we've evolved in design since then.

A brand new story with current design philosophies and some good gameplay decisions could be a breath of fresh air in a genre that some believe is becoming well past saturated.

Malixu said on 11:28AM 1-01-2009

> Having an opinion formed about him because some want to believe he's a douche?

No, because I think he's overpaid and not that good. I think he's a liability to any project he works on because he's a massive draw on the budget in an industry that's already having financial difficulties (*cough* Stargate Worlds *cough*).

Personally, I think any games company still willing to go near him should pay him as they do devs (so, pitifully), and put royalties on the subscription rate as his extra pay.

Psychotic Storm said on 6:55AM 1-01-2009

I don't trust him, his words say to me at least "my sci fi attempt was not a massive success so I crawl back at the safety of fantasy genre".

No, I do not believe a captain who left his ship for a vacation on its maiden voyage then came back took the only lifeboat and left it sing all hands aboard, I wouldn't trust anything from him ever again.

as far Tabula Rasa goes, loath it, hate it, accuse it and us for playing it as "the average young casual mmo player" (while in fact most of us are around or over 30 and veterans of quite a few MMO's) I love it and the small yet dedicated core of players that are in it still love it.

sorry for that parentheses, I will just restate that for me Richard Garriott is not a man to trust with the fate of a game or to trust a game made by him, yes I hated NCSoft (and still do) for their decision to kill TR in the moment it gained momentum, but after this announcement RG has a special place in my hatred.

NeuroMan42 said on 8:14AM 1-01-2009

I have lost all respect for this man, when he walked away from TR. I could care less about ANY game he makes now.

Jack said on 8:25AM 1-01-2009

Here I was thinking That Garriott left Tabula Rasa to work on other things and maybe get back in space again but now he want make a other game again more proof there he just turn his back on Tabula Rasa!!

"Paul Barnett into what 2009 may bring. "I expect to see some large studios go under and some big name titles fail," Barnett predicts."

Well Paul not have a clue whats going on at Funcom but he known s all about his own studio and his own big titles :P