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General: Garriott to Make Online Fantasy Game?
Szark
News ManagerMember Posts: 4,420
BBC News has run an article interview Game industry notables, including Peter Molyneux, Paul Barnett, and Richard Garriott, where they talk about the year that was in the gaming industry.
In the article Richard Garriott confirms he's planning on coming back to the game industry to work on a new game that is "probably medieval fantasy and probably online."
"For me, the high point - quite literally - was spending 12 days on the International Space Station. As a result, I've been somewhat outside the gaming scene; I was in quarantine for nearly three months in 2008.
That said, Halo's sequel was a big deal. World of Warcraft continues to dominate the massive multiplayer arena - more power to them. If I had to pick a developer who has done a bang up job, it would be Blizzard [the development team behind World of Warcraft]. The number of people they have converted is just amazing. They have shown all of us what good game development is all about.
After 25 years at Origin, the last thing I wanted to make was yet another medieval fantasy game. 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."
Read more here.
Comments
I will look forward to this, Richard back doing what he is best at, medieval games, it's a pity that he never bought the rights to UO back, as I feel that there is a real gold mine to be found in the grand daddy of MMO's which just needs the creator to breath new life in to it, oh well wishful thinking will get me no where, but I shall be watching for news on Mr Garriott with bated breath.
"Soloists and those who prefer small groups should never have to feel like they''re the ones getting the proverbial table scraps, as it were." - Scott Hartsman, Senior Producer, Everquest II
"People love groups. Its a fallacy that people want to play solo all the time." - Scott Hartsman, Executive Producer, Rift
iwould watch a game made by Garriot FOR SURE.
If TR hadnt been such a huge bust, this would have mattered. As it stands, it really seems that Lord British is a washed up space cowboy who has absolutley no idea what the players of today's game market want to see. If this guy "really" thought TR was "a horizon expanding MMO", as he has been quoted as saying oh so many times, then his judgement is so impared he shouldnt be allowed to drive. And yes, I played TR.
A bit slow in reporting this, aren't you?
There's been a rather active thread on this site about this news for over a week now.
Personally, I think the bigger piece of news in the BBC article is the fact that Molyneaux is working on something - that guy would make an amazing MMO.
After seeing wat happened and how he left TR... Richard Garriott can go screw himself. I won't bother with any of his future games.
I hate to be this way, but I hope no one will back him after how he screwed the TR community. Players invested a lot of time and monthly fees to get to a good point in the game. Just when PvP is happening and other parts are coming online... It's gone. If I see his name on any game in the future I definately will not even try it. Good luck to you Garriott.
PS. You abandoned TR a disgraced the AFS. You have been decommissioned and brought up in charges of AWOL. You are no longer a General in TR communities eyes.
Meh, I've never been an NCSoft fan, never played their games. I am a fan of UO, though, so whatever he or Koster work on next with regard to MMOs I'll give a look.
Wasn't it NCSoft that made the decision to close the doors on TR and not Garriott? I thought he had left the company before they announced that.
"Many nights, my friend... Many nights I've put a blade to your throat while you were sleeping. Glad I never killed you, Steve. You're alright..."
Chavez y Chavez
LOL at any company that gives him money.
Yeah i understand people love him for what he first did but now he isn't worth bothering with, i honestly think he'll just screw over the next company he does business with.
"The great thing about human language is that it prevents us from sticking to the matter at hand."
- Lewis Thomas
I bought Tabula and played it because it was a Richard Garriot game
Now I'm suspicious that his next game might be a front for a trip to Mars.
Screw him. It's his fault TR cost so much to develop.
Eh, I disagree. He'd be great at hyping the game up, promising truelly unique dialogue, amazing multiplayer, deep combat, and engaging stories and a vast world you can do anything you like.
Then when the MMO comes out, all the dialogue is spoken by the same two voice actors besides the main villian.
They'll say something a few days before release that the party system isn't implemented yet so you'll be stuck going solo, then announce the day it releases they got it fixed, but you can only attack the mob the party leader is attacking, and can only buy or sell from the npc the leader is talking to.
The combat will seem great til you get a little further in, learn melee is a joke, and find out the best way to win any fight is time control and headshots.
And the deep story? The final raid would be you and the main villian, and you take him down with a music box while he goes on with his monologue.
And as for the last statement? Marrying will be useless, all jobs will come down to clicking "Enter" once the moving dot goes across the green part of the bar and Bartending will be the only thing anyone does. If you touch meat, you become evil, otherwise you'll be a happy blond hero (no matter what race you are), and the only differences between you and the next good guy is the collar of your generic dog.
Oh, as for the collector's edition of it? Everyone will be able to get it, just buy the normal one and say i didn't get the collector's edition code and they'll send ya it without needing any proof (trust me its happening with fable 2)
In short: The only 'amazing' part of an MMO made by Molyneaux will be the hype he drums up. :P
"Richard Garriott's Fantasy House" an MMO set in the bizzare world of his own house.
Seek out all the hidden passages.
Then when he gets board with it he can take a trip to the moon
and come back, sell his house to move to a new locatation.
Yep definately a story to watch.
Nope, his next game will be a reskin of TR. Instead of those wierd blue things you had to collect to use skills (can't remember the name of them for the life of me), they'll be red "Glyphs".
Instead of aliens, they'll be "orcs" (worked for the first warcraft game, no?"
Instead of bases and teleportation pads, it'll be fortresses and well... teleportation "stones" (ala Diablo)
Bit of cross posting, but I think it bares repeating..
Hell, if I won the lottery, I'd write the man a check right now. The contigent being that it's a spiritual successor to UO. Medieval theme, change the names, keep the idea (And the virtues, if you can get away with it), make it better. Skill-based. Sandbox.
I tried TR as well. It was something different than what was being offered. It's not that I didn't like the premise, or the story, but it just didn't have that certain SOMETHING to keep me hooked. Perhaps I'm just a medieval-game whore that just can't get into Sci-Fi. Wouldnt' be much of a stretch from the truth, actually.
And no matter what anyone may think, just because his name is on the box doesn't mean he called all the shots. His brother sits on a BOARD of directors.. Neither of them owned the company. They didn't act alone in a solitary cell of the company - The company knew exactly what it was doing when it scrapped and relaunched TR. In a corporation, no one stands alone. Not even Bill Gates could do whatever the flub he wanted with Microsoft. Even as the owner, chairman, founder.. He STILL had to work with others to make anything happen. And weather or not he agreed with what the company decided to do isn't particularly relevant, and will likely remain unknown.
Makes me feel a bit of empathy for him. I know what it's like to shoulder the blame for a host of bad decisions not entirely my own. If it's his to bare, I'd give him the shot at redemption in a nanosecond.
Part of the reason some people blame him is most likely cause they felt he left when TR really needed someone to help it. Hell, the guy went flyin around in space while the game was falling apart. He should of waited on his little "space wet dream" until TR was stable.
I'm sure as one of the people behind the game, they were at least partially aware that NCSoft was thinking of shutting them down.
While I understand this perspective, something tells me a trip to outer space isn't something that likely happens overnight, and like takes years to organize and prepare. His father was an astronaut as well, so likely he's always had an interest in space. He also has investments in privatized space programs, though unfortunately I can't recall where I read about it, but I'm 100% certain he does.
Could he really have done much, personally, to save TR? Was he going to say, "Screw getting ready for space this week, I'm going to fix this batch of server code and implement a hot new feature to draw in new people"? Again, people blame him for something that wasn't entirely under his control. I know you're not personally saying this, and perspective is everything, but people who think like you and I should realize that people who point the finger squarely at him aren't seeing the larger picture.
TR was scrapped and redesigned. Do you think it was entirely his decision? That he did this in a vaccum, with no outside influence, supportive or otherwise? We both know that's not the case.
The thing I like about RG's games is they are about the human condition. It's about people, and the nature of humanity, where it is, where it's been, and where it could go. They're about how we look at ourselves, and how we view our actions when painted againt a broader canvas.
That kind of thought, I can respect, and I can enjoy. Throw in some swords, arrows, armor, and magic, and that's the kind of game I'd like to see him make again. But no steam-punk, tanks and lasers, flying machines, dwarves, and elves. People in a simulated fantasy WORLD.
I've heard that he often refers to UO as a fluke - A social experiment that took unexpected directions. I say, let him make another with modern techniques and technologies. Give me a more thought out, well rounded UO2. It's a niche market, I know - Most just want an amusement park ride like WoW (Don't get me wrong, I play WoW too.. Great game), but I'd really like to see a true "World" brought to life. I think he's the man to do it.
maybe hes making a new game because he wants to.
You can blame teh failure all on Garriot if you want but it just looked like a weird game to begin with.
If Garriot wants to make a new mmo i'll look at the mmo for its value not what he did on some weird messed up sci fi mmo that I could personally tell wouldnt be something i'ld ever touch.
After the failure that was TR, I'm amazed anyone still gives a shit.
Now with 57.3% more flames!
with all that said about richard G and TR
I would have much liked to play the first incarnation of TR man that looked sweet
I wish he could some how work with EA and create a UO2 would be nice to see the guy working on the game he started in.
just imagine a 3d UO even if the game has a pvp and pve server it would be interesting.
Playing: Nothing
Looking forward to: Nothing
Read more here.
Well this news is already stale by now :P However, as I said in the previous thread discussing this article, Richard Garriott was an extremely talented developer. He was able to make magic happen from the garage at his parents house and get his mom to photocopy the manual he wrote up. Ultima's 1-4 and Ultima Underworld are some of my all time favorite games (UU was less his and more Warren Spectre I believe) but, since those days.... he hasn't really done a whole lot. He had a great eye for talent during the early days of Origin and when they first moved in with EA but his track record with NCSoft is less than encouraging.
I will give whatever he comes out with a try, but only a trial. I have little to no confidence in him and his brother anymore and he has to earn that back.
http://www.speedtest.net/result/7300033012
I think you guys are being a bit harsh to be honest. He has released some cracking games in the past, you can't just write him off because he has made one bad game. If that was the way the industry operated none the companies you lot normally fawn over would exist, even Blizzard has released stinkers in the past and probably will do again.
lol..
Can see it now...
"Garriot Goes to Mars: A Medieval Tale"
and the cash shop selling asphalt..." - Mimzel on F2P/Cash Shops
I am no expert on the creation of an MMO game, but I can tell you I am not entirely sure that the failure of TR was entirely Mr. Garriott's fault. I think the biggest mistake he made was going with NC Soft.
You can look at a game and tell its an NC Soft game. IMO their games are like the $1.99 2-pack fake wanna be GI Joe toys you find in the 1/2 of a toy toy aisle at varios drug stores, next to the 50 piece puzzle of a country side farm with a water wheel.
Folks I gotta tell ya I don't do a lot of forum reading and posting, so I don't know what people aksed for in the forums durring beta or whatnot of TR. I did have the opportunity to beta and actually speak to him in chat , and offer a suggestion. The suggestion I made was to put in PVP. Obviously not the aliens, but make a human player faction that worked with the aliens in the form of apeasers, who historicaly would feel it would spare them. An Idea I thought would fit into the story / cannon, which would be simply executed by calling this faction something akin to either French, or Democrats.
Anyhow with the lack of PVP, and because its an NC Soft game by look and feel, beta was as far as I got. Also like Warhammer and PoTBS, it looked amazing on paper but in appplication, not so much.( I did enjoy the interface though)
My point is Im not sure how much feedback Mr. Garriott ignored, or the controll he had, but I stand firm in MY OPINION that It may have been a better game in design look feel and application, if it was put out by someone else. So with all this being said, I would be willing to give the guy another shot, just as I would try another Mythic game.
Just remember folks, everyone makes mistakes. I know I did. The day after Reagan got shot in 1981 I was in 4th grade I misspelled a word in a Spelling Bee. The point is one day it will be you. In your profession, you would not want one mistake to hound you for the rest of your professional career. A great architect can design, and watch 100 of his buildings become a flawless reality, but then he sucks one cock and the rest of his life he's known as a cocksucker...Not sure thats enirely fair. LOL I say silly things but I'm sure you can understand what I'm getting at.