So many reading comprehension failures in this thread. Also he's not saying that social games are the height of his stated 3rd era of gaming, he is saying they are the beginning and will continue to evolve into much more complex games and he wants to be one of the ones helping them evolve. I personally will reserve judgment until I see New Britannia in action. So many people who never played UO or played it much later don't understand.

It seems that Richard has fallen into a trap that gets most people that have been sucsessful.  He is taking himself to seriously.

Its over Richard.  Deal with it.

I just finished lunch and I think I am going to throw up.

Sic transit gloria

Originally posted by ltank

So many reading comprehension failures in this thread. Also he's not saying that social games are the height of his stated 3rd era of gaming, he is saying they are the beginning and will continue to evolve into much more complex games and he wants to be one of the ones helping them evolve. I personally will reserve judgment until I see New Britannia in action. So many people who never played UO or played it much later don't understand.

I was among the first players to log into UO, and played it for many years. The issue is that this is going to play on mobiles, and so I expect that it's going to be very limited options for the player at any moment. Much like all the other new games that are going after the box crowd. And that makes for a far lesser gaming experience. Then add FTP on top of it, and that spells cash shops, and spells crappy game economy. This may be a leap towards Sandbox in that market, but it won't be anything like UO and fall far short of an advancement in MMO gaming.

I'm not against it, it's at least a movement (like in "bowel"). But it's for the new, totally casual, would-be-gamer that won't stick to it like Farmvillagers unless they can make some spare cash on the side.

I'd love to be wrong. But I've been around this world for far too long to not see the hype and a pretty clear view of what will really be made. Anyone who falls for this chit, yet again, might as well spend some money on that bridge too. You can try to sell it, maybe you'll make some money!

They have no interest in attracting the people on this site, unless you are one of the masses that play Farmville and other games like that on Facebook.  They are looking to make a bit more complex game that will just up the ante enough on the X-ville offerings to make it more interesting and pull more people into slightly deeper browser games.

They aren't looking for hardcore MMO gamers.  It's a great business plan, but doesn't apply to me.

Later on though, these lines will eventually blur, especially with nVidia's plans for cloud gaming.  Things are going to change quite a bit over the next five years.

Wow- George Romero and NOW Richard Garriot?  How Lord British has fallen.

What next, will I be told Tom Sellik was Gay? Or Chuck Norris really is a Hippy?

God Damn, the entire 1980s and 1990s was a LIE.

He talks alot about markets, reaching new players, eras of gaming, where he positions himself in the front of what he percieves as a new era.

To me it sounds like he is very focused on analysing the business aspect, in order to strike gold by analyzing what players want next.

What about just making great games, Garriott? Focus on that, and the players will come.

Originally posted by NightBandit

Originally posted by adam_nox

Garriott's a hack, sad to say.  I give fans the benefit of the doubt since I wasn't into PC gaming at the time of Ultima's, and have only limited experience with the NES version which was horrible trash.

Tabula Rasa was one of the first mmos that only took me 5 minutes to tell it would get shut down or go f2p. 

He's just trying to make a buck, and I think in retrospect, that's what it was always about.

 couldn't agree more he is looking for others to pay for his fix for another flight into space....

So you didn't really play any of the games that he is most known for yet you call him a hack. Seriously??? Ultima Online to this day is still the most diverse game to ever be created. Every other game has always been centered around 1 specific thing.. whether it be combat, farming, creating a city, etc. This game had it all. You wouldn't know, because like you said.. you weren't there. 

The people who actually played Tabula Rasa were die hard fans of that game. Sure.. you tried it for 5 minutes and didn't like it. Thanks for your extensive review, and well written knowledge of this person you called a hack. I have no idea if his new idea will be any good, but one thing is for sure.. he deserves the respect. This man has accomplished more in his life than most of us ever will. 

Not sure how they intend to fund a MMO except with an item shop and that will kill any pvp option.  I just do not see how these developers intend to fund MMO's on the mobile market.  That market segment does not like spending much on their games hence unless they have millions playing it, I do not see where the funds to support the development will come from.

I wish them luck.  

I think his "vision" is sitting on a sandy beach somewhere retired...

Originally posted by CujoSWAoA

Everyone knows that when you get older you get less "edgey" in everything you do.

Look at Eddie Murphy.

yah too  bad. george carlin held up though.

The new generation of social web-browser games is what Gameboy was to Consoles.  Hand-held gaming might appeal to more people, but it doesn't hold their interest in the long term, as a PC or Console game might.

Oh how the mighty has fallen. The person who was central in moving gaming into the era of persistant, virtual online worlds is now jumping on the bandwagon to create simple mobile games. 

I guess it is similar to George Lucas and SW. He was a genious with the original SW but with the prequels? A disaster...

I loved Ultima 4 (probably one of my all time favorites) and the rest of the Ultima series was good.   Ultima Online was my first MMO, and I played it for 4 years.  RG was definitely a visioniory, and some of the aspects of UO have never been captured by another MMO.

But his time is past.  Maybe his success has changed him, or maybe he is just out looking for a buck now... but he is now longer visionary.. instead he is just throwing his name on very mediocre stuff and raising capital to make games that aren´t interesting.

Congratulations, you combined Farmville with Sims.  Here is the thing RG.. the people who actually know who you are aren´t going to be interested in these types of games.  My goodness, the market is SOOOO ripe for a quality sandbox game that focuses on housing, crafting and openworld PVE and PVP.  Use your name to get funding for that, and you will also suck in all those UO people too.   I am sorry, my nox mage who loves you just is not interested in inviting my facebook friends.

I know it is my own fault... but in this age of advertising and generaly bad reviews/articles, I tend to read everything, but very quickly. As such, I thought the pictures shown here were Portalarium, and I was wondering how anyone could be excited for it!

I would recommend not posting four pictures of a game that is not the one you are writing about. Its especially important when there are no pics of the game itself, nor are pics shown labeled.

This guy has not done anything worth mentioning since UO, what a shame how far he has fallen.

Originally posted by madazz

I know it is my own fault... but in this age of advertising and generaly bad reviews/articles, I tend to read everything, but very quickly. As such, I thought the pictures shown here were Portalarium, and I was wondering how anyone could be excited for it!

I would recommend not posting four pictures of a game that is not the one you are writing about. Its especially important when there are no pics of the game itself, nor are pics shown labeled.

Well if you had actually read the article you would know that it is second step in their platform development.  That is likely the reason they posted pictures.

I don't play games on my phone at all.  There are better devices and platforms to game on.   That is just how I feel about that.

I've played several different types of Facebook games, some better, most just crap.  The closest to something sort of interesting was Civilization game and a similar RTS pvp sim.  It was almost good.  The problem is, that at their core, they all rely on gathering more people on your "friends" list, clicking static objects repeatedly, sending your friends gifts/requests, timer monitoring and of course the limited engergy pool.   Most all of them stink from a gaming perspective and do nothing that any other platform doesn't do better.  In short there is nothing really compelling about most any of them.

The most interesting thing about social games is trying to beat the intended system.  How can I accomplish things without having to get more friends, send/receive items, or buy my way through.  But even that doesn't hold my interest for long.

I'll give hime the benefit of the doubt and will try his game (New Britannia) when it comes out if it's F2P, but I don't have high hopes.  Maybe he really will drive social gaming to its next evolution.  I don't think so, but maybe.

No big Garrett fan here, but he's neither as great a genius as some claim (for his early work), nor as lame as some assume (for his upcoming plans).

Way too many people projecting....

Show some goddamn respect for a man with more accoplishments then 100 of us here together.

I want to, but I just can't get myself excited about this at all.