The Adventuress

Richard Garriott Interview

by Amber on June 22nd, 2007

I think it’s always a good idea to keep up with the old school gaming greats… you know, those developers and game creators that have either invented a whole genre of games, or those people who have changed the face of gaming as we know it. That’s why I like to keep up with what Richard Garriott, AKA Lord British, is doing these days. Why? Because, honestly, I can almost say that this man invented the RPG genre and anything that comes from that guy has been awesome. So, that’s why I’m excited that he’s working on a brand spanking new MMOG called Tabula Rasa, which “…will expand gaming’s horizons and bring to reality his singular vision of making games in which morality has meaning and characters are more than just extensions of the player’s mouse” according to this article by Escapist Magazine.

This is a great interview, as it gives us insight into what Garriott was thinking when he created the best RPG series of ALL TIME, Ultima. Okay, YOU might not think it’s the best of all time. I bet you think that the Final Fantasy series is the best, or perhaps you’re one of those weirdos who likes the Chronos series and if you are, I kindly ask you to leave this blog right now before I start crying. Okay, you don’t really have to leave. I’m just being over dramatic, as usual. Just give the Ultima series a try, okay? Cripe.

Anyways… in the article, Garriott goes into detail about the creation of his Ultima series and how the story evolved as the man got better and better at programming… at least that’s what he says in the article:

I finally sat down and said that I now at least believe I can do the physical aspects of making a game, I now need to pay much closer attention to the content

And thank God he did, because the first Ultima had references to Star Wars and crap like that! My heart can only take so much.

Garriott also talks about Tabula Rasa, a game that he’s hoping will change the way people play video games. It sounds like him and his team have put a lot of thought into the story, characters and world:

It wasn’t going to be Tolkein-esque; we were going to avoid medieval fantasy, because we’ve done it for 20 years. It might be sci-fi, but it was not going to be Star Wars-ian or any other obvious touchstone you can pick up.

But, can the man possibly make an MMO that can change the way people play games? I guess only time will tell. I can only hope so, because all these MMOs coming out nowadays are just something I’m not all that interested in. Why? Because they’re ALL THE SAME.

If you’re interested in learning more about Tabula Rasa (and there’s a lot in that article), then follow this link to the article.

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POSTED IN: Interviews