Richard Garriott Suing NCsoft For $24,000,000

What, Richey? Did this space trip cost a tad too much and you're a little short on cash?

Vidunder

@Quote: See, I hadn't even HEARD of it, so I looked it up on wiki, and then went to the game's official Korean website... and the first thing I saw was a Korean anime-style drawing of a chick in a skin tight Chinese dress with her nipples showing.

I am VERY EXCITED for this exciting new title. Whatever it was called, or about.

@RiotControl: Yeah, can't quite call it yet. "Fraud" could be something terribly serious, or it could just be a douchy way of pulling a mulligan.

@SanjiX: You know they got the memo!

The Avatar should come in and slain the good turn evil money hungry Lord British, Britannia is in danger

tingyu

sounds like he came back from space thinking "Is that it?" realised his wallet was a lot lighter, and decided to boldly go and sue his former company for money. whatta jerk.

Primebuster

@joshfigueroa: Yea...has-been gamer...listen facebook boy get the hell out of here. Richard Garriott has made more money in interest than your entire family lineage has ever seen.

TopcatF14B

Ahahahaha, good luck with that. I bet NCSoft has more money to throw at lawyers than some disgruntled has-been game designer.

@okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under): The troll sceems to be your picture....

I want to sue Garriott for being completely insane and not making a good game in over 15 years.

Papa needs a brand new spaceship.

@Ping5000 IS OUTRAGED BY BLIZZARD'S VOICE CAST: This sounds like an idea I can support.

Fuck this guy. I hope NCsoft wins this lawsuit.

@Mromson: Because Richard Garriott is a man of opulence. He will be rid of in the most dumbest, asinine and expensive way possible.

Shouldn't NCSoft be suing him for Tabula Rasa?

@Ping5000 IS OUTRAGED BY BLIZZARD'S VOICE CAST:

Why do people always take the most expensive way to get rid of someone?

<_<

@okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under): Not necessarily. You sue for a boatload more then what you expect to get. It puts pressure on the plaintiff to settle out of court for a more reasonable sum, especially if you have a strong case.

[ZTF]214A, 2A, 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, 214B, 214D

@lifeinthefridge:
agreed

mobetta

@Will Delaney: i lol'd it was awesome.

Michael J. Dotson

@ggodo: Probably - Lineage II has been sucking down worldwide funds for years now.

But still... that's an inordinate amount of money to lay claim to.

@ggodo: Aren't they successful as a game company? Or is 24mil still too much.

syafiqjabar

@Krytha: Uh. Me three, actually.

Guess he had a lot of time to think up there, despite how busy he said he was.

@hippo24: Damn, you beat me to it.

Wainut

@McClane: He's just following in his father's footsteps (astronaut Owen Garriot). And at least he did some scientific research up there.

syafiqjabar

@hippo24: urrr.... Ummmm... No I'm not! I swear... I own a picture of all three consoles!! I hate Halo... ummm... *sweating hard* .... rrod, Rrod, RROD!!!! >_>

@NeVeRMoRe666 RROD'd and is sad:
I suppose you're right, he's probably just trying to psych NCSoft into settling. Still, total dick move, no?

@hippo24:
No, no...okenny is just completely insane.

@Ping5000 IS OUTRAGED BY BLIZZARD'S VOICE CAST:
It certaintly would be a lot cheaper then bringing him back...

hippo24

@Hey_Blinkon:

Yes!!, one court date I don't have to attend.

hippo24

@art_zombie:
Its not Lord British anymore?

hippo24

@Ronin_Okami: The thing is that they have this multi-game deal with SCOE that must be worth a boat load and Guild Wars is pretty popular. I don't think he would sue for that much if he didn't think they had it... he was a pretty high-up employee.

@okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under):

He's a fanboy...I knew it.

hippo24

@ggodo:
No...are they going to pay 24mil
No...

Unless they ordered the murder of him and his family, using ideas he had petitioned for in a game, all while bathing in unlicensed copies of Ultima...then I see no way He can squeeze that much out of his old company.

Seriously 24mil is no small claim.

hippo24

@Archaotic: It's the nature of lawsuits. From my own experience, you often sue high, for one to intimidate the other side, and two, for a higher sum if they chose to settle. Fun, Fun!

@Archaotic: We've both established I'm an idiot (check) but where was the troll? I'd like to think I presented a well constructed argument full of snap-research and snap-facts to show I'm quick-witted enough (despite being an idiot as established earlier) to dig up the truth others wouldn't dear dig up. I even used a pre-made form to make sure that the argument was sound. If you don't believe me then Here:

__________ --> Games

Games --> __________

.
.
.
__________ --> Tons of Money

***

There was also this logic tool available too:

Step 1) Make Game

Step 2) Go to Space

Step 3) ....

Step 4) Profit

This however seemed like a weak argument.

***

I hope you're not upset about the PS-HOME Movie Maker comment. I see that as our special thing we have together. That tender moment where we both talked about it together against that meanie "M...something-rather" made me feel more connected to you then ever.

I was hoping lighting would strike again in this story but I guess I didn't bring my A-game. I still believe that Richard Garriott is a scoundrel for wanting to steal $24 million dollars from Sony :(

How dare he sue NcSoft, they have to pay to make Guild Wars, not our fault your game sucked teh balls.

@UsernameOfTheDead:

I follow that notion!

That game had some potential...but no marketing or exposure.

hippo24

@crunks: Totally. If you want to pull a bitch move, this is how you do it.

Violent St. Cannon

@Shaneisonfire:

Yea you find the best lawyers in space.

hippo24

@Smash88:
Banana phone?

Ah ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring-ring...
banana phone
uhhhhdeusadusudasudaus
Thats enbough of that

hippo24

@crunks: maybe if he didn't spend all his money on dumbass space rides the he might have some already.

This to me is really entertaining since his DNA was placed into the space station (with an NCSoft logo no less), under a space program designed to leave behind some form of human DNA in the event of a world-wide disaster (along with other "celebs") - source: History Channel's "Life After People"

Jason Taylor

More than likely the number is high to spook NCSoft into settling for something much smaller, say, to the tune of 5 million. It's standard legalese for "yes, I AM willing to take you for everything you have an more, but maybe I can be reasoned with."

Troubador

@Smash88:

This shit is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S!

@Intellectualdiot: Honestly, after Tabula Rasa, it doesn't matter how many awesome Ultima games he did, he deserves to have this lampshade hanging over his head.

Same with a lot of other developers, honestly.

@Hey_Blinkon: I hear the general populace is counter-suing for libel and possibly psychological damages from exposure to Tabula Rasa or his general demeanor.

@PsycheE: It has to be, it's the reason why he was brought on board.

@okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under):
I don't know whether I should smack you for being an idiot or commend you for going through that much effort to make a troll.

I really don't know.

@RiotControl: We should all sue NCsoft for ruining Tabula Rasa.

UsernameOfTheDead

he's got the ...

SPACE MADNESS

ithyphallus

@Kenny: That's pretty much exactly what I was thinking.

Krytha

@lifeinthefridge: Anyone rocking Horstashio can't be wrong :)

@Archaotic: What's with all this shitty restraint behavior I'm seeing tonight.... frankly I'm disgusted. This has never been so clear: Richard Garriott wants money... SONY MONEY!! Blue Diod... Japanese-P... need I go on? Allow me to paint the picture for you who aren't man enough to make snap-judgements:

Garriott --> Games

Games --> Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa --> NCsoft

NCsoft --> Sony

Sony --> PS-HOME

PS-HOME --> Movie Maker

Movie Maker --> Dev Kits

Dev Kits --> Tons of Money


If you blinked then you might have missed it; right here: "...Sony -->..." Right There! BAM! He's after Sony's money... that bastard!

@Archaotic: And it will only cost twenty-four MILLION DOLLARS!

spannu

Come on people, don't let Tabula Rasa be the ONLY thing you remember Garriot for. Have a sense of history, please.

But yes, $24 million is exorbitant. I'm sure a few executives did spit takes into their assistants faces when they received THAT bit of news.

@HackJenkins:

and you know this? Space unicorns and harp power... yes they should have stuck with this.

optimusprym8

He is also suing the general populace for not buying his game.

Hey_Blinkon

@RiotControl: Weak!!! Real men don't need foolish things like evidence or childish tropes known as wisdom to comment! Those are lies implanted into us by society to make us easier to control. Hell, I read the headline and saw the picture and new in an instant that man is a liar who spent all of NCSoft's hard-earned money on expensive publicity stunts and after he blew what ever was left on heroin came to take what's left of the company he's abandoned. This man is clearly a monster and if you can't see that then something is wrong with you. I didn't read the article but I'm sure look feels the same way.

@Luke Plunkett: Oh, hi Luke...

No Richard garriot! I wont let a person who made a shitty game like Tabula Rasa ruin the greatness that will be Guild Wars 2

@[dockets.justia.com]

Oh, it's... Property fraud? Probably like intellectual property, but I don't know how you fraud something like that unless he made a game identical to Tabula Rasa and instead NCSoft made a game called Tabula Rasa and it was... Bad..

That clever bastard.

@Gregg Kroening: There's no way we could guess at this point what the "fraud" accusation means. If I were forced to guess, I would assume it would be because NCSoft cancelled the MMO, which Garriot obviously knew about ahead of time as shown by his leaving the company.

I suppose I would be upset as well. Tabula Rasa while a massive failure in terms of sales in comparison to development costs, was still turning a profit for NCSoft, but I read in an article that NCSoft prides its image and would rather cut under performing MMOs to maintain it. It's a shame that they decided to cut Tabula Rasa right as Garriot returned from his training/space trip. The game itself was great, but it was completely lacking content for max level players that was never really given to them. Though I do still blame Garriot for not being there to actually develop the new content for its year of existence.

RiotControl

@KillerBee: The first time I launched the game in beta is crashed... Then played for about 5 minutes and decided it wasn't for me.

@KillerBee:

You're all missing the point. Tabula rasa was significantly changed from the design because of ncsoft. It sucked because they made hime dumb it down.

HackJenkins

$24 million. Really. For fraud... That's gotta be a lot of fraud.

General British will not stand for dissent in the ranks, not when space calls to him with its siren song!

@KichiGuy: I'm assuming he's upset that his game tanked and no one liked it. And since NCsoft published it, I guess he's a little upset at them? Regardless, I hope this doesn't actually go through...

Gregg Kroening

I find it lovely on how two copies of Tabula Rasa still sit on the shelf at my local Wal-Mart for the "every day low price" of $29.99 + .6 MD sales tax. Guess Wal-Mart didn't get the memo.

Fraud?, the charges are quite tantalizing. I just hope Tabula Rasa is involved in the suit, because it will that much more tastier.

PsycheE

1. Allow Richard Garriott to man a space shuttle on his own.

2. Launch it.

3. Leave him there.

@direxnipe: Oh he better not... If I don't get Blade and Soul I'll have hell rain on the space dude... no shit!

@ggodo: hahaha, i was actually thinking the same thing. if this put them out of business i would have to hurt richard

Very interested in what this fraud accusation is about.

What oh what could it possibly be about?

@Bryce Montgomery:
He would build a giant "laser" on it, then start using it to melt the polar ice caps.

He would call it..."The Alan Parsons Project".

news of late makes ncsoft appear to be very week. if this suit actually stands, it will most likely kill them off all together

@ggodo: all answers point to....nope.

I want to set Reggie up with a base on the moon. I can see great things happening in that situation.

Bryce Montgomery

NCSoft should be suing him for that horrible fucking game he made. He spent all his money going to space and now he is trying to cover for his horrible game design ideas. He hasn't made a good, relevant game in a decade or more.

Tabula Rasa was wretched. It needed AT LEAST another year in development before it ever saw the light of day. I was in the beta and as soon as I launched the game and played for an hour, I knew it was going to bomb. I'll never forget that picture Kotaku had a while back of the trash bin full of new copies of the game.

What. Jesus, that's...not cool. That's a lot of money. Hopefully some more information will come to light that explains all of this.

Does NCsoft have $24 million?

@RiotControl: Your restraint is, in all seriousness, refreshing.

@Kenny: Sounds like ol' Richy has a good case of the RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGE.

I hope he has a good reason, or he may have hurt his reputation in the games industry forever.

Need more information before any commenting.

However, he still sucks for abandoning his game for a trip to space.

RiotControl

Financial Security.

I hope this doesnt affect development on their games. if we dont get blade and soul i will be really upset

So thats what his master plan was all about.

Shaneisonfire

Garriot needs more moneys to fuel his next trip to OUTER SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE.

That's just wrong, he already hurt them enough with that terrible game lol

Will Delaney

What can I say? All that comes to mind is, B-A-N-A-N-A-S.

@ggodo: Between Lineage 1&2, and Guild Wars, I would say that they just might.

@RiotControl: Who wouldn't want to continue to sink money and personnel into a product that is just barely making a profit? I mean, so what if it means more HR headaches and allocation decision-making. The game is making pennies on the nickel. Can't beat that kind of mediocre return.

@RiotControl: While the knee-jerk is to call him a dick, primarily for abandoning his MMO and making NCSOft take a huge hit in the wallet, there really isn't enough info to draw a solid conclusion. Waiting for an update to see what all the brouhaha is about.

@UsernameOfTheDead: You do realize that they are the PUBLISHER, not the DEVELOPER, right? The bugs and all the horrible crap is the fault of developers. It's also nice that Garriott just said, "fuck it" and left his game high and dry.

@Dangeresque Wants to Take You For a Ride: Hmmm from what I've seen, I can see why.... artwork from "that guy".... count me in.

Zantagor

Price of rocket fuel must have risen.

coolguyface

@okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under): You've won my love and affection for all of eternity.

@tingyu: Ha, I just finished that show. Neato.

@BryanH: And the guy behind him is definitely holding in a fart.

That picture is the picture of the happiest anyone will ever be in their life.

Or he just peed his jumpsuit.

@hippo24: In Tabula Rasa, he was General British.

I remember being on UO one time when Lord British came out to talk about something. But I was young and didn't care so I didn't listen and went to the wall to level swords or something.

@okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under):

Exactly...everyone wasn't having any restraint when it came to Valve doing the suing.

Guess no one like Richard enough.

@okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under): I enjoy what you have to say and wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

@syafiqjabar: That's not funny though.

@ggodo:

NCSoft owns approximately 75% of Korea, yes, they have money.

expansionsss

Kotaku doesn't know the story? Shame on you :)

The deal was that when Tabula Rasa ships Richard can fly to space (and NC Soft pays) and advertise Tabula Rasa from the space shuttle.

Problem was the game was shut down before the flight (which was aleady booked) but Richard insisted on the free flight. NC Soft doesn't want to pay though, thats why richard sues NC Soft currently.

Teut Weidemann

@Archaotic: Hopefully this does not affect Guild Wars in a negative way.

DukeOfPwn

If this negatively effects Guild Wars in any way, there will be hell to pay.

My guess is that what emerged from ncsoft was not the original version of Tabula Rasa that he had planned. I remember seeing a lot of early screenshots and design concept renders that were far different than the final product, and I conjecture that he is suing them for not fully backing his original decision, leading to Tabula Rasa ultimately tanking.

I have no idea if this is the case, but I can't imagine what other reasons there could be. Lack of advertising is the only other possibility, unless it's something financial, where he didn't get as much money as he was promised because the game died or something.

He must need to build a new castle.

Thrillkiller

what a putz. If anyone should be suing anyone, NCSoft ought to sue Garriott for pissing away their money on such a lousy game

Dan King

@HackJenkins: That's misleading, I think. I was rabid about this game back when it had interative glyph-spell-things. NCSoft didn't dumb Garriot down. He kept coming up with great ideas for certain aspects of the game (like said spell-glyph-thingers) but nothing coherent. Sort of like he kept coming up with a really cool new rear-view mirror when his job was to make the car. NCSoft kept saying, OK, but what about the car? How does this fit into the car? What will the car look like?

It was Garriot's lack of proper vision, imo, that led to the shoddieness that it came to be.

@KillerBee: "He hasn't made a good, relevant game in a decade or more."

I beg to differ! ULTIMA ONLINE baby, top quality MMORPG. Just under a decade ago I think?

@Kalamaty: At my local Walmart, there are still copies of the collector's edition for $40...

@okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under): This is grade-A batshit crazy. Hearted. :D

@HackJenkins: I really don't believe that happened. Tabula Rasa was supposed to be "innovative" and "revolutionary" to the MMO market, and it simply wasn't. I think that the only somewhat new mechanic was their system where you could clone a character at points in the job progression tree and create alts that way. That's not even that interesting. I also read a review that detailed how grindy it was, and how you basically had to do quests to get the money to buy your ammo... even though your character is a soldier in the army!!

By the time TR was released, City of Heroes already had more innovations in it. The only thing interesting about TR was the basic premise and possibly the setting--the entire system reeked of simply being a scifi adaptation of generic fantasy MMO systems.

Wouldn't he just ensure that no other publisher would want to work with him ever again? :(

@Will Delaney: Please to stop reading my mind.

No sympathy from me. Him and his ego made a shitty game and caused a whole bunch of people to get laid off.

mondog

Here is more case details if anyone is interested:

[www.gamepolitics.com]

Limafoxtrot

Errr I want Guild Wars 2 and NOT to fund Garrotts castle in Austin TX.... (angry typing leads to frantic errors)

prowlinger

The picture certainly needs some floating dollar bills shopped into it.

PirateSquirrel

First Sony now Garriott... this must be official DICK MOVE DAY!

I want GW2 and now to fund Garriotts castle in Austin TX...

prowlinger

@Legendary Hoamaru: At my local Fry's Electronics, they still had copies of the collector's edition up until it got canned :D

Kalamaty

Texas? Is either the plaintiff or the defendant located in Texas? Sounds like something fishy if neither is the case.

pressstart

@Will Delaney: yeah, he should have stayed in space.

ariete

@Hey_Blinkon: That reminds me of that Mr. Show sketch where movie producers sue the general public for not seeing their movie. Hilarity.

gaijira

I really think that "Lord British" has yet to realize that he isn't actually THAT important.

Hell, when was the last time he actually made a good game anyway?

soulmonarch

@okenny :) ...building bridges (to hide under): Your both idiots.

sereal

@RiotControl: You would turn down a trip to space so you could finish a game?

sereal

@sereal:
Yep.

@sereal:
Not cool, dude.

@Zantagor: Full seriousness? The gameplay videos look AMAZING, but I find them hard to believe. There's a reason combat is never very involved or impressive in MMOs- it just doesn't WORK when you make an action MMO, unless you abandon the rpg side of things. It feels more like a concept video than representative of the final product. I am intrigued, though.

@TopcatF14B: "My dad's stronger than your dad."

an skyline

@dr1v3n: Launched 12 years ago.

@sereal: What is it that you're trying to say boy? Timmie is caught in the motherfucking well again? C'mon asshole, I don't speak retard! Out with it already! What are you trying to say? I want to know what your both idiots are up to, or what that's even supposed to mean! All kidding aside, I find your post hilariously ironic. Though given the climate of this particular discussion string, I can't quite make out whether your post is meant to be satirical, or you're just a huge dipshit. So what's the deal with your post junior?

SudhamayiKabong

I guess being a legend in the gaming world, having 1000 times more money than Ill ever see in my life and actually going into space just wasnt enough for him.

@BryanH: lol, Put that rich bastard in his place I see! ;)

@PearceShea: Nice analogy. I dig it. :)

And you're right. That does seem to have been the case. I remember loving the setting of the game, the premise and promise. But it didn't deliver. It wasn't, as you say, coherent.

@SudhamayiKabong: Your stupid.

Satirical response, or serious insult?

You decide!

@stupid_mcgee: uber pyro > zerg rush: The article says NC Soft is both the developer and the publisher.

@syafiqjabar:
and ? so because he followed his fathers footsteps its ok to blow money ? What if his dad was a rapist too?

anduin1

Richard created the most awesome MMO I've ever played. It just turned out to be too geeky too romantic for masses to understand and love it.
If NCSoft did shit to him, that's his opportunity for payback. I'm on his side.

Artem Vladimirovich Smirnov