Originally posted by Wraithone

Originally posted by DevilXaphan

Originally posted by bmdevine

Originally posted by DevilXaphan

Garriot's ego is getting bigger the more he grunts and groans. I say it's time for him to just let it go.

Devil, do you intentionally try to make your posts hard to read???  I would recommend reading the complaint (I posted some links to the document in some other threads on this topic.)  I'm not claiming everything in it is true, because I couldn't possibly know, but if it is, then letting it go is not a reasonable option for anyone to expect.  Would you jut let tens of millions of dollars go?

 

You do realize he pull some major BS while developing the game and even cost over-runs to the mmo. After launch he was pig headed about needed changes the players voiced about but never planned to implement. It's only after he left did NCWest try to salvage the game, but with only so many subs the game was not profitable enough to keep it going. I for one was glad he got fired.

 

Devil...You do realize that your sentence structure reveals what your first language is?   I played TR for a few months after launch, then left. The game had potential, but it was just too badly flawed.  I went back last year for a few months. While they had corrected some of the problems, they had lost too many players to be able to recover.  Its too bad, as some of the basic concepts could have been fun.  Who is "right" in the current fight, who knows?.<shrug>. But it wouldn't be the first time that suits had backstabbed  a developer.  Looking at the personalities involved, ego no doubt played a good part on both sides.

Oh i have no doubt that both parties are responsible in it's demise, but RG has the majority of the responsibility for what happened.

Garriott was born July 4, 1961 in Cambridge, England,[3] and raised in Nassau Bay, Texas. Native Britain, scandalist American, well he is the best of both worlds.... NOT!  I don't care where he is from, he screwed the pooch this time round...

TR started off as a fantasy themed game then did a huge about face and became sci-fi.  Unfortunately, its release was very badly timed but NC really had no choice but to releast it when they did..it was so massively over budget, that backers would wait no longer.  By the time the game closed, its newbie area had been revamped and is what i believe it should ahve been in the beginning.  It had some cool concepts taht were not polished by the time of release and no end game content...I dont think NC thought people were gonna finish all the content in a week but they did and then teh complaints started.  The classes were itneresting but  a few of them were so expensive to operate few tried which caused the  profesion base to become lopsided. and before you start roasting me, I played from first beta to close.

This game closed because they coudlnt retain membership due to lack of content.  They should have used the GW marketing model and released add ons for it or do like they did with Dungeon Runners..that woulda retained members and probably saved the game

Those that think Garriott is a 'jerk' don't know him, he's the smartest game developer on the planet, if he thinks he has a case he's going to win. I'm sure NCsoft will claim he just wants some money to pay for the expensive space trip which I heard was either 20 or 30mil, but this is a too obvious excuse, Garriott isn't a greedy person, he's the type of guy that spends 1million dollars on making his house a haunted house over the years just for the kids free of charge, anyway I still think he's gonna win. About all of you claiming he isn't a genius because Tabula Rasa wasn't a financial success, the game industry is politics but even if the game was not great I would say it's because it's the first game Garriott had full control over since the Ultima series, and since he sold the rights to that series in the early 90's to EA he legally couldn't use his best ideas, he had to legally do something radically different, it just happened to be too different, I heard Garriott is going to produce a new next generation fantasy mmorpg to exceed UO, I believe this will take place, EA has no chance of exceeding UO because they never made it, Origin did and they laid off the entire staff of that original company like the idiots they are. WoW is crap because it's endgame content is capture the flag, WAR is crap because it's mostly capture the flag, Darkfall is crap for other reasons, but lets face it, no mmorpg has yet to even scratch the surface of UO, and I'm not talking about graphics for those too superficial to know what I'm talking about. For those who have played Ultima VII, you know that game is amazing, and for those that know Richard Garriott know most of his inspiration for the Ultima series was from Dungeons & Dragons, a game I've never played but, the inspiration for that game is generic fantasy myth and lore of old, lore that isn't copyrighted, Garriott can easily build a new Ultima-esque game without breaking any of the copyright laws, I'd like to help Garriott build this next generation mmorpg, do you know Garriott coined the term mmorpg? he did. He is the father of the mmorpg, UO was the first mmorpg, not online rpg but massive being the key, UO was the first online game that had 12k people on 1 server at the same time I was there when the historic event took place in 1997, don't remember the exact date but it was in phase 2 of the beta test. Garriott once said, and I paraphrase, 'to make a good game you need to be inspired', Perhaps his experience with EA drained a lot of his inspiration, but his trip to outer space likely jump started his inspiration, whether he wins this lawsuit or not I believe he will head the next generation mmorpg, blowing phoney superficial copycat mmorpgs like WoW out of the water.

Raz... your incompetence is frightening... I might of actually believed a bit of what you are saying then you said

"WoW's endgame is capture the flag"

... wow... just... no... didn't bother reading much after that.

{ Mod Edit }

Originally posted by Razimus

 

Sorry but it's just easier this way.

Originally posted by Razimus

"Those that think Garriott is a 'jerk' don't know him, he's the smartest game developer on the planet, if he thinks he has a case he's going to win. I'm sure NCsoft will claim he just wants some money to pay for the expensive space trip which I heard was either 20 or 30mil, but this is a too obvious excuse, Garriott isn't a greedy person, he's the type of guy that spends 1million dollars on making his house a haunted house over the years just for the kids free of charge, anyway I still think he's gonna win.

About all of you claiming he isn't a genius because Tabula Rasa wasn't a financial success, the game industry is politics but even if the game was not great I would say it's because it's the first game Garriott had full control over since the Ultima series, and since he sold the rights to that series in the early 90's to EA he legally couldn't use his best ideas, he had to legally do something radically different, it just happened to be too different, I heard Garriott is going to produce a new next generation fantasy mmorpg to exceed UO, I believe this will take place, EA has no chance of exceeding UO because they never made it, Origin did and they laid off the entire staff of that original company like the idiots they are.

WoW is crap because it's endgame content is capture the flag, WAR is crap because it's mostly capture the flag, Darkfall is crap for other reasons, but lets face it, no mmorpg has yet to even scratch the surface of UO, and I'm not talking about graphics for those too superficial to know what I'm talking about.

For those who have played Ultima VII, you know that game is amazing, and for those that know Richard Garriott know most of his inspiration for the Ultima series was from Dungeons & Dragons, a game I've never played but, the inspiration for that game is generic fantasy myth and lore of old, lore that isn't copyrighted, Garriott can easily build a new Ultima-esque game without breaking any of the copyright laws, I'd like to help Garriott build this next generation mmorpg, do you know Garriott coined the term mmorpg? he did.

He is the father of the mmorpg, UO was the first mmorpg, not online rpg but massive being the key, UO was the first online game that had 12k people on 1 server at the same time I was there when the historic event took place in 1997, don't remember the exact date but it was in phase 2 of the beta test. Garriott once said, and I paraphrase, 'to make a good game you need to be inspired', Perhaps his experience with EA drained a lot of his inspiration, but his trip to outer space likely jump started his inspiration, whether he wins this lawsuit or not I believe he will head the next generation mmorpg, blowing phoney superficial copycat mmorpgs like WoW out of the water."

Heh, thanks Sov, thats actually readable, though after reading through it all, I"m sticking by what I said in my previous post.

Edit: Bah, my previous statement was mod-edited, though if you are curious what I said, just youtube "Beelzeboss" from the Tenacious D movie, and the statement can also be heard somewhat when JB is trying to convince Kage to fight back against the devil's mad rifts, and before they start singing.

Originally posted by tuzalov

Yes Richard is a douche anyone thats met the man has had to greet both the man and the ego,anyone that wears leather pants cmon -_-

Him and his brother ruined TR,from the two people I know at NCSoft they both agree that Garriot left on his own free will,so it's gonna be an amusing court case Im sure.

Also NCSoft has lawyers for their lawyers,so I find it even harder to believe that they dismissed him in the manner purported in the complaint filed,located here.

I woulldn't call him a douche... Everytime I have ran into him here in Austin, he has always been polite and open.

I love these people calling him an "idot" or "retard" or whatever name their 13 year old minds can make up.  This guy has done more in his lifetime then any of the people here who think they could do better. I swear, no one even knows what exactly what went on behind the scenes.

Did Garriott make mistakes?????? Probably

But man, let the guy live. 

Funny thing is most people flaming him would switch spots with him in a second!

Hope Garriot wins, he is a landmark in the industry  and his abilties are worth more then 24mil. NcSoft is the lamest company , and is pretty much the Korean version of Sony.  As far as john last sentence, the only anticipation for Aion , is by NcSoft. No one outside of the NcSoft circles gives 2 flying F#$%s about Aion.
 

My favorite R.G. game was Bioforge. that was an amazing title.

People here seem to be posting based on personal emotion rather then on cold hard facts.  It is a lot like the Bank pay structures that are being playing out, despite Governments stumping up billions to save them from collapse.  It is in the contract.  To break the contract would be to invalidate every contract everywhere.  If we can just wipe them away, then no one is safe. Not you with your local builder or plumber, not you with your employer, which you have a contact with, not with your school that is contracted to educate your children.

The same argument applies here.   RG is arguing over a contractual matter, a matter that relates to whether he is entitled to monies that were tied up in shares of NCSoft as a part of his pay package which became part of his severance package.  Whether NCSoft mistated his reasons for leaving and thus left him out of pocket by forcing him to unload shares before he was ready to do so.

The comments on here that he is a asshat or whatever are rather irrelevent and one has to wonder why so many people seem to have such high emotions about a man that, it is likely,none of them knew.  Simply put, why do you care about RG so much, regardless of his gaming history or what he has or has not done in the gaming industry, does this really compel you to make a post about him on a forum in an emotional manner?

I am more interested in the questions the Lawsuit raises and on whether NCSoft, a company I have a personal dislike for after dealing with them several times, gets stung for $24m dollars.  Personally, I hope he wins.

Originally posted by Dafong

People here seem to be posting based on personal emotion rather then on cold hard facts. 

...

I am more interested in the questions the Lawsuit raises and on whether NCSoft, a company I have a personal dislike for after dealing with them several times, gets stung for $24m dollars.  Personally, I hope he wins.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! You think those of us who dislike Richard Garriot are biased but then you turn around and say you hope NCsoft has to pay RG the money just because YOU don't like them. This seems to be the common attitude of nearly everyone rooting for RG, which leads me to beleive the only people who want to see him win are people that have decided they hate NCsoft more than RG.

Anyway, I would like to respond to a perticular question that Jon Wood made in his article:

"Why, if Garriott planned to leave the company only two weeks after returning from a trip to space, would he use the trip to promote the game?"

The anwser to that question seems simple to me. He DIDN'T use his trip to promote the game. He used the game to promote (and pay for) his trip which was really just an effort to promote himself. The whole trip was nothing but one giant ego booster for him. His father was a REAL Astronaut (and by "real" I mean that he actually spent a lifetime training to go into outer space and was sent there to conduct scientific exploration which would benefit mankind) and Garriot just wanted to hype himself up in such a way that he would appear to be an astronaut was well. That is why Garriot put up his "Richard in Space" website to brag about being a "second generation astronaut" even though he isn't a real astronaut, he is just a rich guy who paid for a trip on a Russian tin can.

And before someone like Dafong goes off on a rant about how I don't know anything and I'm just being unfair to Richard Garriot because I didn't like Tabula Rasa, let me tell you that I can PROVE exactly how Richard felt about Tabula Rasa. I asked him a question about Tabula Rasa on his space trip site and HERE WAS THE "ANWSER" HE GAVE ME. I think that tells us all we need to know about just how interested RG was in Tabula Rasa and how much concern he had for the people paying subscription fees.

Its my opinion that RG never gave a crap about Tabula Rasa. He created the concept for the game and sold it to NCsoft (for 40+ million dollars) but as soon as he got the money he ran off to Russia with it so he could buy his space trip and show everyone that he was just like his daddy by going into space. Its always been all about him and his ego. The game never had a chance, the customers never had a chance and NCsoft never had a chance. Richard has already gotten WAY more than his fair share out of this deal, he doesn't deserve another 24 million.

Originally posted by Cedia

Just to nitpick, it's "McQuaid", and I absolutely agree with you.

Though I despise McQuaid more because it's entirely his fault that all we have today are MMO's that follow the quest-level-getphatloot paradigm.

Lol blame Blizzard and WoW for that , if anything everquest was the last MMORPG that made you earn what you have.  Its very easy to trash Garriott for the TR debacle, ( thank god i got to play beta and see the trainwreck inc ). Garriot and McQuaid over all get a free pass from me for 3 simple reasons, EVERQUEST ULTIMA ONLINE AND the Ultima series of games.

Originally posted by Raltar

Originally posted by Dafong

People here seem to be posting based on personal emotion rather then on cold hard facts. 

...

I am more interested in the questions the Lawsuit raises and on whether NCSoft, a company I have a personal dislike for after dealing with them several times, gets stung for $24m dollars.  Personally, I hope he wins.

 

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! You think those of us who dislike Richard Garriot are biased but then you turn around and say you hope NCsoft has to pay RG the money just because YOU don't like them. This seems to be the common attitude of nearly everyone rooting for RG, which leads me to beleive the only people who want to see him win are people that have decided they hate NCsoft more than RG.

 

Anyway, I would like to respond to a perticular question that Jon Wood made in his article:

"Why, if Garriott planned to leave the company only two weeks after returning from a trip to space, would he use the trip to promote the game?"

The anwser to that question seems simple to me. He DIDN'T use his trip to promote the game. He used the game to promote (and pay for) his trip which was really just an effort to promote himself. The whole trip was nothing but one giant ego booster for him. His father was a REAL Astronaut (and by "real" I mean that he actually spent a lifetime training to go into outer space and was sent there to conduct scientific exploration which would benefit mankind) and Garriot just wanted to hype himself up in such a way that he would appear to be an astronaut was well. That is why Garriot put up his "Richard in Space" website to brag about being a "second generation astronaut" even though he isn't a real astronaut, he is just a rich guy who paid for a trip on a Russian tin can.

And before someone like Dafong goes off on a rant about how I don't know anything and I'm just being unfair to Richard Garriot because I didn't like Tabula Rasa, let me tell you that I can PROVE exactly how Richard felt about Tabula Rasa. I asked him a question about Tabula Rasa on his space trip site and HERE WAS THE "ANWSER" HE GAVE ME. I think that tells us all we need to know about just how interested RG was in Tabula Rasa and how much concern he had for the people paying subscription fees.

Its my opinion that RG never gave a crap about Tabula Rasa. He created the concept for the game and sold it to NCsoft (for 40+ million dollars) but as soon as he got the money he ran off to Russia with it so he could buy his space trip and show everyone that he was just like his daddy by going into space. Its always been all about him and his ego. The game never had a chance, the customers never had a chance and NCsoft never had a chance. Richard has already gotten WAY more than his fair share out of this deal, he doesn't deserve another 24 million.

Not really.

The whole point was, people were making comments about a man it is unlikely that any of them have had any dealings with, beyond simply playing the games he helped create.

I have dealt with NCSoft, quite a lot in my working career and I have come to dislike them based on experience of actually dealing with them.  Not walking past the building they work from.  Not from seeing their logo occasionally. Which is about the strength of some of the dislikes of RG.

So its not pot calling kettle black at all.  If you MET RG if you KNEW him had worked with him, dealt with him, then fair play if you don't like him then at least you have a reason.  Apparently people don't like him, simply because he is a somewhat celebrity in the gaming industry and people just love to hate people for reasons they have created in their mind, probably out of jealousy.

Originally posted by Raltar

Originally posted by Dafong

People here seem to be posting based on personal emotion rather then on cold hard facts. 

...

I am more interested in the questions the Lawsuit raises and on whether NCSoft, a company I have a personal dislike for after dealing with them several times, gets stung for $24m dollars.  Personally, I hope he wins.

 

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! You think those of us who dislike Richard Garriot are biased but then you turn around and say you hope NCsoft has to pay RG the money just because YOU don't like them. This seems to be the common attitude of nearly everyone rooting for RG, which leads me to beleive the only people who want to see him win are people that have decided they hate NCsoft more than RG.

 

Anyway, I would like to respond to a perticular question that Jon Wood made in his article:

"Why, if Garriott planned to leave the company only two weeks after returning from a trip to space, would he use the trip to promote the game?"

The anwser to that question seems simple to me. He DIDN'T use his trip to promote the game. He used the game to promote (and pay for) his trip which was really just an effort to promote himself. The whole trip was nothing but one giant ego booster for him. His father was a REAL Astronaut (and by "real" I mean that he actually spent a lifetime training to go into outer space and was sent there to conduct scientific exploration which would benefit mankind) and Garriot just wanted to hype himself up in such a way that he would appear to be an astronaut was well. That is why Garriot put up his "Richard in Space" website to brag about being a "second generation astronaut" even though he isn't a real astronaut, he is just a rich guy who paid for a trip on a Russian tin can.

And before someone like Dafong goes off on a rant about how I don't know anything and I'm just being unfair to Richard Garriot because I didn't like Tabula Rasa, let me tell you that I can PROVE exactly how Richard felt about Tabula Rasa. I asked him a question about Tabula Rasa on his space trip site and HERE WAS THE "ANWSER" HE GAVE ME. I think that tells us all we need to know about just how interested RG was in Tabula Rasa and how much concern he had for the people paying subscription fees.

Its my opinion that RG never gave a crap about Tabula Rasa. He created the concept for the game and sold it to NCsoft (for 40+ million dollars) but as soon as he got the money he ran off to Russia with it so he could buy his space trip and show everyone that he was just like his daddy by going into space. Its always been all about him and his ego. The game never had a chance, the customers never had a chance and NCsoft never had a chance. Richard has already gotten WAY more than his fair share out of this deal, he doesn't deserve another 24 million.

Interesting and quite revealing rant you have there, Raltar. Of course, it couldn't be envy/spite thats coloring your perspective on this... After all, you'd not wish to have a trip into space yourself, and know that you are very unlikely to ever have that opportunity...

Of course, we can thank our Dear Leaders for a good part of that missed opportunity. Absent governments heavy handed intrusion into the space area, we'd likely be MUCH further along. Look at the development of the personal computer as just one example.

Left to government, we'd likely still be using something like the Commadore PET, and it would be so expensive that only a relatively  few people would be able to afford it.  There are gigantic profits to be made in space. Look at the VAST riches to be had in the asteroid belt, as just ONE example.  But it does take a large upfront investment in R&D, said investment being unlikely, as long as government is spending billions and billions(not to mention strangling the private space industry with an endless tide of red tape and regulation).

As for RG, I suspect its always been his dream to go into space. Growing up with his fathers example(and first hand tales of his fathers experiences in space)  would be quite the motivation. But such is entirely understandable.

As for the conflict between RG and NCsoft, I suspect that ego is involved on both sides. Many. MANY people who have dealt with NCsoft have come away with a BAD taste in their mouth from the experience.  In general, lacking specific details, I tend to come down on the side of individuals, when the other  side is a corporation like NCsoft.

Originally posted by Wraithone

Originally posted by Raltar

Originally posted by Dafong

People here seem to be posting based on personal emotion rather then on cold hard facts. 

...

I am more interested in the questions the Lawsuit raises and on whether NCSoft, a company I have a personal dislike for after dealing with them several times, gets stung for $24m dollars.  Personally, I hope he wins.

 

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! You think those of us who dislike Richard Garriot are biased but then you turn around and say you hope NCsoft has to pay RG the money just because YOU don't like them. This seems to be the common attitude of nearly everyone rooting for RG, which leads me to beleive the only people who want to see him win are people that have decided they hate NCsoft more than RG.

 

Anyway, I would like to respond to a perticular question that Jon Wood made in his article:

"Why, if Garriott planned to leave the company only two weeks after returning from a trip to space, would he use the trip to promote the game?"

The anwser to that question seems simple to me. He DIDN'T use his trip to promote the game. He used the game to promote (and pay for) his trip which was really just an effort to promote himself. The whole trip was nothing but one giant ego booster for him. His father was a REAL Astronaut (and by "real" I mean that he actually spent a lifetime training to go into outer space and was sent there to conduct scientific exploration which would benefit mankind) and Garriot just wanted to hype himself up in such a way that he would appear to be an astronaut was well. That is why Garriot put up his "Richard in Space" website to brag about being a "second generation astronaut" even though he isn't a real astronaut, he is just a rich guy who paid for a trip on a Russian tin can.

And before someone like Dafong goes off on a rant about how I don't know anything and I'm just being unfair to Richard Garriot because I didn't like Tabula Rasa, let me tell you that I can PROVE exactly how Richard felt about Tabula Rasa. I asked him a question about Tabula Rasa on his space trip site and HERE WAS THE "ANWSER" HE GAVE ME. I think that tells us all we need to know about just how interested RG was in Tabula Rasa and how much concern he had for the people paying subscription fees.

Its my opinion that RG never gave a crap about Tabula Rasa. He created the concept for the game and sold it to NCsoft (for 40+ million dollars) but as soon as he got the money he ran off to Russia with it so he could buy his space trip and show everyone that he was just like his daddy by going into space. Its always been all about him and his ego. The game never had a chance, the customers never had a chance and NCsoft never had a chance. Richard has already gotten WAY more than his fair share out of this deal, he doesn't deserve another 24 million.

 

Interesting and quite revealing rant you have there, Raltar. Of course, it couldn't be envy/spite thats coloring your perspective on this... After all, you'd not wish to have a trip into space yourself, and know that you are very unlikely to ever have that opportunity...

Of course, we can thank our Dear Leaders for a good part of that missed opportunity. Absent governments heavy handed intrusion into the space area, we'd likely be MUCH further along. Look at the development of the personal computer as just one example.

Left to government, we'd likely still be using something like the Commadore PET, and it would be so expensive that only a relatively  few people would be able to afford it.  There are gigantic profits to be made in space. Look at the VAST riches to be had in the asteroid belt, as just ONE example.  But it does take a large upfront investment in R&D, said investment being unlikely, as long as government is spending billions and billions(not to mention strangling the private space industry with an endless tide of red tape and regulation).

As for RG, I suspect its always been his dream to go into space. Growing up with his fathers example(and first hand tales of his fathers experiences in space)  would be quite the motivation. But such is entirely understandable.

As for the conflict between RG and NCsoft, I suspect that ego is involved on both sides. Many. MANY people who have dealt with NCsoft have come away with a BAD taste in their mouth from the experience.  In general, lacking specific details, I tend to come down on the side of individuals, when the other  side is a corporation like NCsoft.

You understand that the Internet, GPS, HTML....a handful of items that were created by the "Government".

What is it about some people that they seem to think Government project = Lack of Creativity or Innovation? 

Originally posted by Terminus-Est

Originally posted by Khalathwyr

Originally posted by Shadow786

I hate Richard Garriot So Much this is not helping him at all

 

Edit: Also after reading the article again i believe NCSOFT wont ever hire an american to spearhead their games anymore, i know this may sound a bit racist, but when so much money is involved it will leave a bitter taste in anyones mouth. Especially when Aion another korean developed game is a highly anticipated game in US/EU.

 

Richard Garriot

So now the US gets blamed for the actions of the British? Fascinating!

 

Garriot isn't British. I am quite sure his passport is American.

 

 

Garriott was BORN in England. He was RAISED in Texas. He's an American.
 

Originally posted by Dafong

Originally posted by Wraithone

Originally posted by Raltar

Originally posted by Dafong

People here seem to be posting based on personal emotion rather then on cold hard facts. 

...

I am more interested in the questions the Lawsuit raises and on whether NCSoft, a company I have a personal dislike for after dealing with them several times, gets stung for $24m dollars.  Personally, I hope he wins.

 

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! You think those of us who dislike Richard Garriot are biased but then you turn around and say you hope NCsoft has to pay RG the money just because YOU don't like them. This seems to be the common attitude of nearly everyone rooting for RG, which leads me to beleive the only people who want to see him win are people that have decided they hate NCsoft more than RG.

 

Anyway, I would like to respond to a perticular question that Jon Wood made in his article:

"Why, if Garriott planned to leave the company only two weeks after returning from a trip to space, would he use the trip to promote the game?"

The anwser to that question seems simple to me. He DIDN'T use his trip to promote the game. He used the game to promote (and pay for) his trip which was really just an effort to promote himself. The whole trip was nothing but one giant ego booster for him. His father was a REAL Astronaut (and by "real" I mean that he actually spent a lifetime training to go into outer space and was sent there to conduct scientific exploration which would benefit mankind) and Garriot just wanted to hype himself up in such a way that he would appear to be an astronaut was well. That is why Garriot put up his "Richard in Space" website to brag about being a "second generation astronaut" even though he isn't a real astronaut, he is just a rich guy who paid for a trip on a Russian tin can.

And before someone like Dafong goes off on a rant about how I don't know anything and I'm just being unfair to Richard Garriot because I didn't like Tabula Rasa, let me tell you that I can PROVE exactly how Richard felt about Tabula Rasa. I asked him a question about Tabula Rasa on his space trip site and HERE WAS THE "ANWSER" HE GAVE ME. I think that tells us all we need to know about just how interested RG was in Tabula Rasa and how much concern he had for the people paying subscription fees.

Its my opinion that RG never gave a crap about Tabula Rasa. He created the concept for the game and sold it to NCsoft (for 40+ million dollars) but as soon as he got the money he ran off to Russia with it so he could buy his space trip and show everyone that he was just like his daddy by going into space. Its always been all about him and his ego. The game never had a chance, the customers never had a chance and NCsoft never had a chance. Richard has already gotten WAY more than his fair share out of this deal, he doesn't deserve another 24 million.

 

Interesting and quite revealing rant you have there, Raltar. Of course, it couldn't be envy/spite thats coloring your perspective on this... After all, you'd not wish to have a trip into space yourself, and know that you are very unlikely to ever have that opportunity...

Of course, we can thank our Dear Leaders for a good part of that missed opportunity. Absent governments heavy handed intrusion into the space area, we'd likely be MUCH further along. Look at the development of the personal computer as just one example.

Left to government, we'd likely still be using something like the Commadore PET, and it would be so expensive that only a relatively  few people would be able to afford it.  There are gigantic profits to be made in space. Look at the VAST riches to be had in the asteroid belt, as just ONE example.  But it does take a large upfront investment in R&D, said investment being unlikely, as long as government is spending billions and billions(not to mention strangling the private space industry with an endless tide of red tape and regulation).

As for RG, I suspect its always been his dream to go into space. Growing up with his fathers example(and first hand tales of his fathers experiences in space)  would be quite the motivation. But such is entirely understandable.

As for the conflict between RG and NCsoft, I suspect that ego is involved on both sides. Many. MANY people who have dealt with NCsoft have come away with a BAD taste in their mouth from the experience.  In general, lacking specific details, I tend to come down on the side of individuals, when the other  side is a corporation like NCsoft.

 

You understand that the Internet, GPS, HTML....a handful of items that were created by the "Government".

 

What is it about some people that they seem to think Government project = Lack of Creativity or Innovation? 

LOL... You obviously mistake the internet as it exists today for the VERY limited system that was ARPANET... Do you really believe that it would exist in ANYTHING like its current form, lacking the free enterprise profit seeking of millions upon millions of people?  As for the second, DECADES of personal experience. I've seen the waste, fraud, abuse of power and CYA mentality that defines government operations.  It would be wise to remember the old saying; "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach, and those who can't do either work for the government"...

Originally posted by...  

Dafong: Everyone who doesn't like Richard Garriot is wrong because they are letting their personal feelings get in the way. I hate NCsoft and I can tell you for sure that makes Richard Garriot correct and he deserves to get tons of money delivered to his house in dump trucks.

Raltar: Um, wow. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. You say we are wrong for not liking Richard Garriot but then you go on a big rant about how you hate NCsoft and that clearly makes you right and all of us wrong.

Dafong: NOT REALLY! You see, I've had PERSONAL EXPERIENCE with NCsoft in my line of work. And I HATE THEM. Thus, that clearly means that they will always be wrong and anyone who tries to sue them for any reason deserves to win! SO TAKE THAT!

Raltar: If I could have just a moment to explain why that makes no sense...

Wraithone: THE GOVERMENT!

Raltar: W...What??

Wraithone: THE GOVERMENT IS KEEPING US OUT OF SPACE! THEY ARE BEHIND ALL OF IT! THEY ARE KEEPING US AWAY FROM THE TERRIBLE SECRET OF SPACE WHICH RICHARD GARRIOT AND HIS FATHER HAVE DISCOVERED! THERE WERE SECRET MESSAGES IN TABULA RASA WARNING US ABOUT THE THINGS THE GOVERMENT DOESN'T WANT US TO  KNOW! RICHARD GARRIOT NEEDS TO MONEY TO SAVE THE UNIVERSE! AND DAFONG IS A SECRET AGENT WORKING TO FREE SPACE FROM THE EVIL OF NCSOFT AND THATS WHY HES RIGHT!

Raltar: ....okay....

@Wraithone: First of all, I don't care about space. I don't care if the goverment is keeping us out of space. I don't want to go there. I don't feel "envy/spite" (I think "jealousy" was the word you were looking for there) towards Richard Garriot for having gone into space. None of that has ANYTHING to do with the discussion at hand or Richard's lawsuit aginst NCsoft.

The reason why I dislike Richard Garriot and the reason why I feel he does not deserve to win his lawsuit are based on the facts of the events that took place during the development of Tabula Rasa. Richard Garriot SOLD the rights to Tabula Rasa, the rights to use his name and his services as a game developer to NCsoft for 40 million dollars. That part I'm okay with, although I surely wouldn't have paid him that much money. Then Ncsoft put another 70 million into the game for development costs. Again, while it might seem a little excessive to me, I'm okay with that part. Here comes the part I'm not okay with. Once Richard Garriot had his 40 million dollars in his pocket he lost all interest in Tabula Rasa. While the game was in development he ran off to Russia with his money and started training for his trip into space. While he was doing this, Tabula Rasa had no direction or leadership as far as their dev team was concenred. As a result of that huge sums of money were wasted on the development which went slowly and poorly. When the game finally released in a largely unfinished condition with no end-game content of any kind, where was Ricahrd? Space. Where should he have been? On this planet, hopefully doing his job.

You see, I do not mind that Richard went into space. He had the money to afford the trip and apparently the motivation to do it. Good for him. My complaint with him is that he was in space during the time when Tabula Rasa needed him most and the game failed as a result of his negligence. Ncsoft invested over 100 million dollars into his game with the understanding that he would be there through the entire development process using his expertise as the famed creator of Ultima Online to ensure the success of the game concept which he had created. Instead he went off to screw around in space.

When Tabula Rasa failed it was not only a disaster for NCsoft who ended up losing all the money they had invested into the game but MUCH MORE IMPORTANTLY it was a disaster for the customers who bought the game. If a rich guy screws over a Korean game publisher that is not really my problem. But when that same rich guy also screws over thousands of paying customers (of which I happened to be one) then that is when he goes down in my book as being a very bad dude.

So its my opinion that he does not deserve to win his lawsuit aginst NCsoft based on the fact that he failed to do a proper job as the creator and developer of Tabula Rasa. If he left the company of his own free will (as he himself originally claimed before changing his story) or if he was fired for failure to do his job seems beside the point to me. He didn't do his job, so I don't think he deserves to get paid. If anything he should give back some of the money he took from NCsoft or use it to give refunds to people that bought his failed game.

@Dafong: Unless you are about to reveal that you were one of the employees who worked on Tabula Rasa, I can't imagine how your "personal experience" with NCsoft could be relevant to this lawsuit. You may not like NCsoft but that does not make them wrong nor does it make Garriot correct.

For example, lets say you have two neighbors who live on either side of you. Across the street lives an old lady. One day the old lady is found murdered and both of your neighbors are suspects. You tell the police that although you didn't witness the crime you never liked the neighbor who lived in the house to the right of yours. Do you think that alone will be enough evidence for the police to charge him with the crime? Do you beleive your dislike of this man is enough evidence for him to be convicted in court? Probably not.

The case between Ncsoft and Ricahrd Garriot is the same. You may not personally like one side or the other, but unless you have actual evidence to back up your opinion that one of them is wrong, you really have nothing to offer this discussion. Your personal feelings are not evidence. So unless you are about to blow us all away be revealing that you personally witnessed every single agreement between Richard Garriot and NCsoft then I have to say that nothing about your "experience" is going to change my mind, nor should it change the minds of anyone else here.

Raltar, thats a cheap stunt(the colored text) and it reflects poorly on you. I said nothing of the kind. I stated quite clearly why we are no further along in space development than we are, and compared it to the development of the personal computer. Your raving about some government conspiracy is entirely a figment of YOUR imagination. Further attempts by you to proceed in this fashion will only make you look more immature and dishonest.