The only thing better than T and A is Q and A, and we ve got a humdinger for you. Richard Lord British Garriott knocks back five revealing answers to five eclectic questions.

Garriott, one of the most famous game designers of all time, founded Origin Systems and went on to create the Ultima role-playing games. In 1997, Garriott created Ultima Online, the first real mainstream massively multiplayer online role-playing game.

In 2001 Garriott joined Ncsoft to work on a new project, called Tabula Rasa, and to help bring smash-hits Lineage II and City of Heroes to North America. City of Heroes, developed by Cryptic Studios, has since garnered numerous awards and is considered by many to be one of the best PC games of the year.

Garriott, who still lives in his Austin castle, took some time out of his busy schedule to answer our questions.

Qs:

What is your favorite room in your house?

Wow, that s a tough one! I am very fond of many: Observatory, Dungeon, Secret Staircase, Study (two floors of display area), Dining Room (with lots of glass for viewing thunderstorms), my Office (full of automata and exploration artifacts). If I had to pick one, I would have to pick the Study. Guests come in on the upper floor on a balcony over the lower floor. The upper floor has numerous items to explore such as travel artifacts and personal childhood memorabilia. To get to the lower floor you must open a secret passageway via a clever magnetic puzzle. A secret stair case takes you up to the kitchen or down to the lower study (or the dungeon or the wine cellar). The lower study has numerous antique science and technology items including a bunch of quack medical devices.

What do you consider the most creative game you weren t involved with creating?

Hmmm for most creative I d vote for one of: Myst, Parapa The Rappa, Abe s Oddworld, or perhaps American McGee s Alice To select one, I d pick Abe s Odd World The combination of unique characters and environments amazed me at every turn!

What is your best near-death experience?

Fortunately, I ve not had very many real near-death experiences. But being a thrill seeker I love doing things like throwing myself out of airplanes, taking MIG s to the edge of space and other things that appear to be unsafe, while being statistically safe. I really enjoy being part of an expedition to the edge, even when things go poorly, when I can exercise my crisis management skills to help get through the event. So, I might pick either getting stuck in the Amazon when the river we were on dried up, and we had little chance to get out when fortunately rains came, or getting stuck in Antarctica due to inclement weather as our food supplies dwindled!

What is the next big thing in gaming?

Physics Simulation

Which would you choose to be: the knight in shining armor or super hero?

Darn, I want to be a knight with super powers! But, if I had to pick a knight!

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