Tabula Rasa creator Richard Garriott claims that he was forced out by former employer NCsoft, and the publisher subsequently "re-characterised" the move as voluntary.

That's according to the suit for fraud Garriott brought against the Korean company this week. Gamasutra has obtained a copy of the court filing.

The suit says that Garriott was told of the decision by phone in October 2008, while he was still in quarantine in Russia following his space flight.

In his complaint, Garriott says he "objected to his dismissal". NCsoft's US head at the time Chris Chung "insisted the decision was final -- Mr. Garriott had to go". Then, Garriott says, NCsoft internally "re-characterised" the decision as voluntary.

In November last year, Garriott's departure from NCsoft was announced as a resignation. He apparently told players that the decision was all his own.

"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," read the statement.

Garriott says he approved this statement at the time, but now views it as a contrivance by NCsoft to make his decision appear voluntary.

Garriott's claims of fraud, to the tune of USD 24 million, rest on this accusation. He had to sell his NCsoft stock within 90 days of a voluntary resignation - whereas, if he'd been sacked, he'd have been able to hang on to them until 2011. Due to the weakness of the stock market at the time, Garriott claims this lost him millions.

Source: Eurogamer

How is this lawsuit not getting thrown out, and why does anyone care?

His damage theory is a real hoot.  How can he possibly prove that his stock would be more in 2011 than it was when he sold it?

This is all quite an old story actually that was going around when the game announced its closure. It was pretty obvious what was going on at the time. It's amusing that this is surfacing now.

LOL @ RG

In his complaint, Garriott says he "objected to his dismissal".

Is he nuts? So what? He can object all he wants but he created this huge public fiasco of a MMO. No sane person will think that firing someone who has done such a BAD job is inappropriate.

Tabula Rasa started out development as a fantasy-based MMO, then they changed the focus and made it a sci-fi MMO; that is why it took longer to come out. They all screwed up.

Originally posted by mlauzon

Tabula Rasa started out development as a fantasy-based MMO, then they changed the focus and made it a sci-fi MMO; that is why it took longer to come out. They all screwed up.

 

Well the main problem was that didn't just change focus, they completely changed the fundamentals of what TR was going to be. Then they didn't give themselves enough time to properly implement this entirely new foundation. It was a huge fiasco all around, I don't think anyone would disagree.

I will say though that it became quite fun in the few months before it closed. It got a pretty good amount of polish on it and was feeling pretty solid. I'm wiling to bet that if NCsoft had put a little more funding and time into it we would see a pretty good game by now. But NCsoft has extremely good business sense and the kind of money TR needed just wasn't fiscally sound.  They could work on it and re-release it down the line, but I doubt it.

Originally posted by rikilii

How is this lawsuit not getting thrown out, and why does anyone care?

His damage theory is a real hoot.  How can he possibly prove that his stock would be more in 2011 than it was when he sold it?

Its called Stock Projections.

And to everyone else talking about Tabula Rasa. Its not about the game. The lawsuit is about improper severance. The games being made can suck all the want, but if NCSoft improperly severed Garriott, he has the right to fight back for damages. After all, Richard Garriott is his own stock on the market... odd, but he did it.

He announced to the public that he was resigning.

If he wasn't resigning, then he should have said "No, I'm not announcing shit." and filed his lawsuit right then.

Poor useless bag of delusional, aluminum-foil crowned, drafty castle living, thumb sucking, space junk needs to fade from view and just be the laughable miniscule footnote in history that he is.

End of line.

This is kinda old news, it broke several days ago .. there's a thread about it here .. and the complaint document can be found at:

http://cdn2.libsyn.com/gamepolitics/Garriott-NCsoft-complaint.pdf?nvb=20090508212346&nva=20090509213346&t=03cbf0ace2971c12c43ab

I'm not happy about the debacle of Tabula Rasa and feel that RG sold out .. but if RG can substantiate his allegations then NCsoft is 100% in the wrong so you can't really blame the guy for wanting to reclaim his losses.

Originally posted by Ilvaldyr

This is kinda old news, it broke several days ago .. there's a thread about it here .. and the complaint document can be found at:

http://cdn2.libsyn.com/gamepolitics/Garriott-NCsoft-complaint.pdf?nvb=20090508212346&nva=20090509213346&t=03cbf0ace2971c12c43ab

I'm not happy about the debacle of Tabula Rasa and feel that RG sold out .. but if RG can substantiate his allegations then NCsoft is 100% in the wrong so you can't really blame the guy for wanting to reclaim his losses.

Unless RG can show there was an NCsoft employee holding a gun to RGs' head when RG publically announced he was resigning, RG has no case.

Originally posted by Zorvan01

Unless RG can show there was an NCsoft employee holding a gun to RGs' head when RG publically announced he was resigning, RG has no case.

RG didn't publically announce he was resigning, it was PR-speak along the lines of:

"I am leaving NCsoft to pursue other interests"

One can read that as "I have decided to leave.." or one can read it as "I have been asked to leave..". It could just as easily mean either, so shouldn't be taken as definitive.

Well who cares bout RG  anyway. The Man is nothing but a dying Dinosaur , his creative prime is long gone specialy when Origin'we create worlds'  died. He did create some masterpieces thats out of question , but  the last few years he didnt even manage to provide average products. And this sueing against NC dunno its a bit smelly ..seems to me more like he spotted a possibility for the easy $$ and jumped right on it .

Originally posted by Lord_Ixigan

Originally posted by mlauzon

Tabula Rasa started out development as a fantasy-based MMO, then they changed the focus and made it a sci-fi MMO; that is why it took longer to come out. They all screwed up.

 

 

Well the main problem was that didn't just change focus, they completely changed the fundamentals of what TR was going to be. Then they didn't give themselves enough time to properly implement this entirely new foundation. It was a huge fiasco all around, I don't think anyone would disagree.

I will say though that it became quite fun in the few months before it closed. It got a pretty good amount of polish on it and was feeling pretty solid. I'm wiling to bet that if NCsoft had put a little more funding and time into it we would see a pretty good game by now. But NCsoft has extremely good business sense and the kind of money TR needed just wasn't fiscally sound.  They could work on it and re-release it down the line, but I doubt it.

If I was NC Soft I would've changed the concept as well, because what TR turned into was still way better than what it was.  Do you guys remember those early videos?  Fairies in Bikinis playing harps that shot lightning or pink hearts or rainbows.  And don't forget the dance fighting moves.  It looked really moronic.  Even though the revamp wasn't much better, at least it looked like a game I would've played.  The original concept would've scared people out the door=)

Originally posted by Ilvaldyr

Originally posted by Zorvan01

Unless RG can show there was an NCsoft employee holding a gun to RGs' head when RG publically announced he was resigning, RG has no case.

RG didn't publically announce he was resigning, it was PR-speak along the lines of:

"I am leaving NCsoft to pursue other interests"

One can read that as "I have decided to leave.." or one can read it as "I have been asked to leave..". It could just as easily mean either, so shouldn't be taken as definitive.

 

He announced it on a publically viewable forum. That's good enough for the courts. He did not say" NCsoft has fired me", NCsoft has asked me to step down", or anything else. He said, as you quoted,  "I am leaving NCsoft to pursue other interest". There is no other way to interpret that sentence. A court will not sit there and interpret 20 different things he could have meant. The court will go by what is stated in black and white. Again, if he was being forced out, he should have done something then.

Any court will ask him "How long have you been in this business? And yet, you don't know the proper time to file a grievance to protect your image or interest?"

Barring any sudden stupidity on NCsofts' end, Garriott will lose this, guaranteed.

I hope he wins. 

Hope he wins, ncsoft did absolutely nothing but hamper his creativity.

After costing NcSoft millions I would have forced him and his brother out at the same time too! Seriously though, if NcSoft is found guilty do you think that it will hurt Aion sales or perhaps Guild Wars 2 ? You also still have to remeber they are also being sued by Worlds.com. It is going to be rather interesting if NcSoft is found guilty on both cases. 

Originally posted by solareus

Hope he wins, ncsoft did absolutely nothing but hamper his creativity.

Sure, being gone for space-related BS 90% of the time couldn't possibly have had anything to do with his lack of creativity ( which i personally think he used up in the last Ultima game ).

Unless of course my /sarcasm detector is malfunctioning. In which case, you got me.

He announced it on a publically viewable forum. That's good enough for the courts. He did not say" NCsoft has fired me", NCsoft has asked me to step down", or anything else. He said, as you quoted,  "I am leaving NCsoft to pursue other interest". There is no other way to interpret that sentence. A court will not sit there and interpret 20 different things he could have meant. The court will go by what is stated in black and white. Again, if he was being forced out, he should have done something then.

Any court will ask him "How long have you been in this business? And yet, you don't know the proper time to file a grievance to protect your image or interest?"

Barring any sudden stupidity on NCsofts' end, Garriott will lose this, guaranteed.

The problem is though.... this is America.  Remember the "hanging chad" and all the discussion about looking at the "indents" on voting cards to try and interpret who the voter wanted to vote for?  It wouldn't suprise me at all if Dick got something out of it.  They should've ejected him into the cold black and let the MMO world forget about him.

Z

Originally posted by Zorvan01

Originally posted by solareus

Hope he wins, ncsoft did absolutely nothing but hamper his creativity.

 

Sure, being gone for space-related BS 90% of the time couldn't possibly have had anything to do with his lack of creativity ( which i personally think he used up in the last Ultima game ).

Unless of course my /sarcasm detector is malfunctioning. In which case, you got me.

They are just as guilty as he is. They had no problems at all letting him go into space because NcSoft was using this event as a marketing tool to make money. Operation Immortality was plastered all over plaync.com and the official tabula rasa website for marketing purposes.