Richard Garriott, shown above brushing his teeth in zero gravity, helped birth the world-conquering MMO genre. The success of his early Ultima games make him enough money to essentially rent a rocket to go into outer space. But, smart and rich as he is, the man known as Lord British can still get oodles of cash swindled from him. And, between 2009 and 2011, that appears to be exactly what happened to Garriott, to the tune of $US561,927.
What does one do after inventing one of the first virtual worlds ever to exist online? If you’re Richard Garriott, you try to leave Earth behind altogether, for a little while anyway. Lots of gamers know about Garriott’s quest to escape the bounds of Earth’s gravity via private space travel. What some may not know is the reason the man known as Lord British wants to do it so badly.
I was only young when I played Ultima VII but I had already ventured to the depths of dungeons that dripped with dread, partaken in interstellar war and defended my home planet from invaders. Like Roy Batty and all people who grew up with games, I had seen and done so much. Between adventures in space, I’d rezone my commercial districts or build a new bus route, leaving room in the schedules for occasional postal service functions. Yes, I had lived a full life already, but I had never watched a man clad in the finest clothes in Britain eat an egg and then belch in the face of a barmaid, so who can say I had experienced anything worthwhile at all?
Ask that question 100 times and you’ll get 100 different answers. Lucasarts. Sierra. Bethesda. Valve. Westwood. Ask me 100 times, though, and I’ll give you the same answer 100 times running: Origin.
Richard Garriott, space tourist, rat tail enthusiast and creator of Ultima and Tabula Rasa (RIP), may also be the first private citizen to have a legitimate claim to ownership of a good portion of the moon.
The whale that apparently killed a trainer today in front of a horrified SeaWorld audience was also connected to the death in 1999 of a drifter so obsessed with Ultima Online that he once wandered into Richard Garriott’s home.
Origin’s classic Ultima series was many things, but sexy it was not. It was anti-sexy. Which is what makes this sexy “Ladies of Ultima” calendar all the more surprising. And… sexy.
For the handful of you who may have missed the late October episode of The Martha Stewart Show with Richard “Lord British” Garriott, that show has finally been uploaded for all to enjoy.
