Ultima 7 Part 1 - The Black Gate - Garriott Interview Pt. 2 @ Crispy Gamer

Dhruin

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Crispy Gamer writes in to say the second part of their Richard Garriott interview is up, continuing the conversation about Ultima:
Crispy Gamer: I know you’ve talked about it in the past in other interviews, but if you could, would you do another Ultima game?
Garriott: Absolutely, no doubt about it.
Crispy Gamer: So where would you start? Would you want to create a brand-new story with new characters?
Garriott: Well, I’d probably include a number of the key companions, but I probably would star in what I call a brave new world — in the sense that I would build new cities, and new storylines around the same characters.
Crispy Gamer: I know you probably have a design document lying somewhere around your house…
Garriott: While there’s been plenty of discussion on the subject for years, with myself and my team, frankly there’s nothing written — just a lot of thoughtful talk amongst many of us who were involved in the Ultima property who would love to continue to be involved with it. It’s hard to say what the future holds with that.
...and there's a sort of third-part bonus section:
Crispy Gamer: So what are you doing with your time now? Are you taking some time off or planning something exciting?
Garriott: I'm extremely embroiled in the privatization of space travel. Technically I am now a Space Adventures employee. My job title is Astronaut, and I'm now helping them work with other companies that are out building rockets to take people to space -- and that's everyone, from people you know well, like John Carmack of id Software -- who's got a company called Armadillo Aerospace -- and Elon Musk of PayPal fame, who's got a company called SpaceX, etc. I'm a big believer in both the importance and viability of taking people into space and lots of other people in our industry seem to be getting into this these days as well. While by no means is my time in gaming done, I'm spending time on this while it's fresh to me.
More information.
 
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He has no intention of ever making another Ultima again. I know I've said this many times before, but the only thing we'll see from "Lord British" is another MMO and that is only if he runs out of money. I guess he is more interested in killing NASA than the industry that made him rich in the first place.
 
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Why not. The new Star Trek shows you can remake the past successfully. Why not remake new old Ultimas, in some way?
 
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He has no intention of ever making another Ultima again. I know I've said this many times before, but the only thing we'll see from "Lord British" is another MMO and that is only if he runs out of money.

Well unless you have some kind of crystal ball or an audio tape with Richard Garriot discussing his sinister plan to lead the gaming audience into believing that he intends to make another Ultima someday but it's really all just a big charade, I think you can only go by what he actually says. I'm just glad that FINALLY the question was asked and I was happy to hear from R.G. that there is a possibility he could make another Ultima someday.

I guess he is more interested in killing NASA than the industry that made him rich in the first place.

You really react to R.G. with a lot of cynicism and it's unclear why. And if NASA finds that it can't compete with the growing reality of privatized space flight then perhaps it's destined to go the way of the dinosaur... that is the nature of free markets.

And I am particularly enjoying the benefits of free markets as much as I can because the way this world is going free markets themselves may go the way of the dinosaur...
 
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I don't know why you think he's trying to kill NASA. I have several friends that work at Mission Control in Houston and while none are very happy about the Russians selling seats on their trips to the ISS, all of them uniformly agree that if space travel is going to push past our current level, it's going to take private investment and private innovation. The government can only do so much.

As for future Ultima's, I'm not sure I care to have another tryst in Britannia. What I would love to see him do is another single player RPG that has the depth and interactivity of Ultima, but in another setting. Heck, I'd be happy as hell if they decided to resurrect Ultima Worlds of Adventure: Arthurian Legends.
 
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I'd love to see another Ultima but its not going to happen. He had a patch up with EA largely to promote Lineage some years back but I can't see them completely forgiving him and vice versa.

At this point I'm sure EA only thinks of Ultima in terms of marketing UO but they already have Bioware and their new IP and new studios in TX so another Ultima would be redundant if Bio decides they don't want to pick it up.

I wonder just how many friends involved in Ultima does RG have left considering his lawsuit with NCSoft. Weren't they all ex Origin people?

PS - if he thinks U7 was so great why did he do U8? If the various Ultimas were so different from each other as some old fans pushed (pre-U4 not canon?) then why was so much effort spent putting even the UU's into continuity. The shards in UO were a way of having alternate universes and running parallel with that official canon so that's an easy one there - but all Ultimas are supposed to be canon.

My point is, I just think its a little convenient just to agree with fans. These aging devs seem to be very interested in promoting their legacy these days.
 
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I'd love to see another Ultima but its not going to happen.

The second time stated in this thread. Is there some crystal ball everyone has that sees into the future? I want one.

PS - if he thinks U7 was so great why did he do U8?

From everything I've ever read on that subject, it boils down to R.G.'s greatly reduced direct participation with U8. While that may be true and the primary reason U8 was so much 'lesser' a game than U7, R.G. *IS* Ultima and he should have taken more care that U8 held up and even exceeded the standards set by U7.

If the various Ultimas were so different from each other as some old fans pushed (pre-U4 not canon?) then why was so much effort spent putting even the UU's into continuity. The shards in UO were a way of having alternate universes and running parallel with that official canon so that's an easy one there - but all Ultimas are supposed to be canon.

Again, I've read a lot of material that covers the history of early PC gaming which includes interviews with R.G. and the Ultima team(s). In a nutshell, R.G. in this interview talks about the early Ulitimas (1, 2, & 3) from a development standpoint - that essentially there were *not* canon. However, as the series evolved, they sorta strung the first trilogy together with the 2nd and 3rd trilogy not via an in-game experience, but through lore. R.G. explains this time and again in various interviews but he wasn't too clear in this interview.

My point is, I just think its a little convenient just to agree with fans. These aging devs seem to be very interested in promoting their legacy these days.

I think you've read into his statements more than is actually there. R.G. is simply answering the question, 'do you think you'll ever make another Ultima' where he essentially replies that it's a possiblity and that he talks about it time and again with people involved with developing past Ultimas. He even goes out of his way to explain that it's all just 'talk' and that nothing is even written down. It's a stretch to take from this that he is promoting anything.
 
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MG, as LB doesn't own Ultima anymore, I think EA would have something to say (most likely in a court of law) if he attempted to create another Ultima!!
 
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MG, as LB doesn't own Ultima anymore, I think EA would have something to say (most likely in a court of law) if he attempted to create another Ultima!!

You are correct. I figured when R.G. answered he may someday do another Ultima, he'd either buy back the rights to Ultima or create a 'spiritual' successor to the Ultima series. Maybe he's keeping himself busy with other things until UU runs its course completely and the brand drops in value. Just speculation.
 
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What was asked was: ...if you could, would you do another Ultima game?
What he replied: Absolutely, no doubt about it.

I don't see anything self-promoting or dishonest there... just a man answering a question without going too deep into all the "ifs" and "hows".
 
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Why not. The new Star Trek shows you can remake the past successfully. Why not remake new old Ultimas, in some way?

The new Star Trek shows you can violate the past, make pointless but entertaining crap, and earn money doing it, but we're well of aware of that already. This is the gaming industry, afterall.
 
What was asked was: ...if you could, would you do another Ultima game?
What he replied: Absolutely, no doubt about it.

I don't see anything self-promoting or dishonest there... just a man answering a question without going too deep into all the "ifs" and "hows".

Agreed, and I don't see why not.

EA was never about acting hurt or having principles - they're all about making a buck. They'd do it in a second if they smelled the cash.
 
The new Star Trek shows you can violate the past, make pointless but entertaining crap, and earn money doing it, but we're well of aware of that already. This is the gaming industry, afterall.

I think that's the first negative review I've seen on Star Trek so far!
 
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I have a pretty low threshold for movies, so I'm sure I'll love it.
 
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I don't think you can put too much emphasis on this sort of thing. There are jobs I don't want to do again but with the right combination of circumstances - money, company, team, timing...who knows? That said, Garriott has definitely said before that he is much more interested in online than SP and I don't see any sign he still has his mojo, so I have pretty limited interest in the idea.
 
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