I am very grateful to you loyal players for sticking around through what I think we can all honestly say was a rough launch. I thank the development team for pushing hard to get polish, updates and new content out every month since launch...a feat that I think is unusual in MMO development. They have a lot to be proud of.

Many of you probably wonder what my plans are, now that I have achieved the lifelong dream of going to space. Well, that unforgettable experience has sparked some new interests that I would like to devote my time and resources to. As such, I am leaving NCsoft to pursue those interests.

We'll be following up with NCsoft and Garriott, but in the meantime we wish Lord British and his glorious rat tails the best of luck in his future endeavors.

An Open Letter from General British [Tabula Rasa - Thanks Seth]

Not sure if there's any experimenting on the "immortality drive" to be done or not, but that was the keystone of his pre-flight hype. The drive contains the digitized DNA sequences of a bunch of earth types — our editor included, along with Stephen Colbert and Stephen Hawking. It'll stay aboard the space station in case life on earth is wiped out or something.

Garriott reportedly paid $30 million for his flight but said he was able to recoup "a significant slice" of that beforehand. He gets back to earth Oct. 24.

US Game Designer Blasts Into Space with DNA Cargo [Associated Press via Wired, AP Photo]

So while we don't get to see Stephen's reaction to Garriott's majestic rattail, at least we did get to hear him chat with Richard about his testicles, and that's what it's all about, isn't it?

Be sure to set your favorite TV recording device to see if Colbert can possibly resist saying something about Garriott's magnificent hair.

It's one thing to adjust to life in Star City—but quite another to endure the confounding, confining, and sometimes just plain goofy training regimen. The first challenge is the language. Garriott is an autodidact wunderkind who persuaded his high school teachers that learning Basic code counted as fulfilling his foreign-language requirement. He won't be as fortunate at Star City. All of the instructions, instrumentation, and communications in space will be in Russian. So, for four hours a day, Garriott and Halik slave over fat, dusty language books in class, then tote them back to the Prophy to study more at night.

Great stuff. Click below to check out the full piece.

Going to Space? [Wired]

Consider any game you've played recently. At least some information was conveyed to you in a symbolic manner. What makes this information intuitive? What makes it counterintuitive? Studying these languages, even to a limited degree, made me more conscious of exactly what the difference is.

What is particularly fascinating is the fact that games have already formulated parts of a learned symbolic language for games. Consider the life bar. A life bar is completely alien and counterintuitive, but we'd all recognize and assimilate one instantly. By agreeing on a symbolic notation for health, game developers have acclimated players to it and taught them to recognize it whenever they encounter it. Developers have expanded their toolbox of symbols and added to what can be instantly expressed!

I'm far from arguing that the common video game conceits should be codified into a common symbolic language, but it's interesting to note that, without trying, we've done exactly that to a limited degree.

It's a quick read, but interesting. I can't say I ever pay much attention to in-game languages, other than when I'm more or less forced to, but that's probably one mark of a good one — something that adds color and 'authenticity' without being in your face.

In Tongues: Richard Garriott on In-Game Languages [GameCareerGuide]

”Mankind is at its best whenever we set our vision to the stars,” Hickman said. “One of my first memories was of watching Alan Shepard fly his Mercury capsule atop a Redstone rocket. I have lived my entire life dreaming of space. ’Operation Immortality’ is essentially a celebration of that same adventuring spirit and an offering of hope for the future. I am deeply honored to participate.”

Not only will a swab of his DNA be included in the "Immortality Drive" but samples of his work as well, so the aliens will have something to read on the space toilet while waiting for our impending doom to propagate in their labs.

Best-Selling Author to Send DNA Into Space
Tracy Hickman, Famed Author of the Best-Selling Fantasy Fiction Series Dragonlance Plans to Send His DNA into Space as Part of NCsoft’s Operation Immortality

AUSTIN, Texas—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Operation Immortality™, the project to create a digital time capsule of the human race, has joined forces with famed author and game designer Tracy Hickman. Hickman is best known for his work on the Dragonlance novels and the innovative Ravenloft module of the Advanced Dungeons and Dragons game system. As part of Operation Immortality’s mission to preserve the most talented and influential people of our time, Tracy Hickman will be sending his digitized DNA into space with video gaming luminary Richard Garriott as he travels to the International Space Station (ISS) on Oct. 12, 2008.

Hickman will not only be adding his digitized DNA to the “Immortality Drive,” excerpts of his writings will also be included on the storage device Garriott will store on the ISS as part of Operation Immortality. The Immortality Drive is currently in the process of being loaded with information from people all over the world at the OperationImmortality.com website. Hickman will be talking about the project as he addresses crowds at the Gen Con gaming convention today in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Visitors to the website can submit their suggestions for humanity’s greatest achievements, leave their immortalized message for future generations, and may even have their DNA selected to join Garriott and other luminaries on an out-of-this-world trip to possibly become the future of mankind.

Garriott is a game developer at NCsoft® and creator of the Ultima series of games and the recently released Tabula Rasa®. The goal of Operation Immortality is to have a space-borne record of human DNA and a record of humanity’s achievements in the event a global calamity dooms the human species, similar to what happens in the Tabula Rasa video game.

”Mankind is at its best whenever we set our vision to the stars,” Hickman said. “One of my first memories was of watching Alan Shepard fly his Mercury capsule atop a Redstone rocket. I have lived my entire life dreaming of space. ’Operation Immortality’ is essentially a celebration of that same adventuring spirit and an offering of hope for the future. I am deeply honored to participate.”

The Tabula Rasa team is thrilled by Hickman’s participation in Operation Immortality. “Looking back to the influences that impacted my career, Tracy Hickman’s Chronicles series left a lasting impression on me,” said Tom Potter, Tabula Rasa’s lead designer. “His novels were my first exposure to epic fantasy, and even though I read them at an early age, the setting and characters he created still continue to influence me all these years later.”

We told you earlier about General British's (formerly known as Lord British) magnanimous move for the human race by offering to preserve the genetic material of a few lucky gamers aboard the International Space Station. In this brief video we take a look at the General's inspirations in pursuing the creation of this archive (flash drive) for the betterment of humanity in the face of a possibly impending global catastrophe.

Now let's think about this. Richard Garriott is going into space to save the world and preserve of all brilliant minds, the consumer market of Tabula Rasa. Sign us up!

Operation Immortality

NCsoft kicked off a contest today which will select five sets of eight gamers to have a digital form of their DNA sent into space with Garriott. The DNA will be stored on an "Immortality Drive", which will also house a digital archive of mankind's greatest achievements. The device will be stored on the International Space Station as a sort of "offsite backup" of humanity, NCsoft says.

“I’ve been able to do some very exciting things in the games business, but nothing of this magnitude,” said Garriott, executive producer for Tabula Rasa at NCsoft. “I’m thrilled we can offer the once in a lifetime chance to millions of gamers to virtually go to space with me. A select few will have their DNA digitized and sent. And, theoretically, if anything happens to the human race, it could be their DNA that is used to resurrect humanity."

But what happens with that DNA if and when you win?

NCsoft, likely aware of the many legal implications of having a batch of DNA floating about anywhere other than real space, promises that they will keep the results of the DNA sequencing anonymous and that not ever the lucky gamers will get a copy of it. Instead a licensed genetics lab will digitize the results and upload the code directly to the Immortality Drive.

The contest, which requires you to open a Tabula Rasa account, even a free trial, kicked off today and runs through the end of August. To enter just visit the site and participate in teh weekly polls on humanity's greatest achievements, the results of which will be included on the drive, perhaps with your DNA.

DNA? Space? Hasn't Garriott learned anything from Dr. Who? All we need are some cosmic rays or errant meteor and we're all doomed, dooooooomed!

Operation Immortality

We also launched in an insanely competitive time frame, with several well-known intellectual properties launching follow up products at the same time... We also launched in an insanely competitive time frame, with several well-known intellectual properties launching follow up products at the same time... This is standard in our industry - you ramp up to launch a game and then ramp down once it's live. This is what we are doing over the next several weeks, and it only affects the Tabula Rasa team. Once all is said and done, we will still have a substantial live team for industry standards... NCsoft has committed a lot of money and resources into continuing post-launch development of Tabula Rasa.

Because of this disappointing result, some downsizing in Austin is inevitable. We are going to revamp our Austin development organization... I should admit that the actual result of Tabula Rasa has been disappointing... If you talk about our development cost we spent in the past several years, probably we are not making any money from this Tabula Rasa project. That should be the reality.

NCSoft hasn't decided how many Austin Studio staffers it will let go, but plans to keep enough for Tabula Rasa maintence. Of course, rattailed Richard Garriott won't get the axe. However, NCSoft games will no longer be developed at the Austin Studio as individual projects.

According to website Massively, contacts at NCSoft say The Korea Times article blows things out of proportion and omitted key details about the conference call. For example, NCSoft CFO Jae-ho Lee stated that "some" downsizing was going to happen, but that he hoped Tabula Rasa would eventually improve its revenue. What's more, NCSoft is putting several more million dollars into the game, which is launching in Japan later this year. (Garriott's games typically have done well in Japan.) Only the Tabula Rasa team will be effected by the downsizing. It is not uncommon for MMO teams to ramp up during production and then reduce after launch. Glaring omissions, damage control and rattails. This post has it all!
NCSoft Downsizing Austin Studio [The Korea Times via Massively]
Tabula Rasa Not In Dumps [Massively] [Pic]

Space Adventures Offers Unique Opportunity to Participate in Richard Garriott's Orbital Spaceflight Mission as Back-up Crew Member

First time ever this training opportunity is commercially available

Vienna, Va. - November 15, 2007 - Today, Space Adventures, Ltd., the world's leading space experiences company, announced that for the first time the coveted opportunity to train as a private space explorer alongside one of its orbital spaceflight candidates, and among professional astronauts, is now available to the public.

"Participation as an official back-up crew member is a once in a lifetime opportunity for an individual, or a company sponsoring an individual, to experience first-hand how our clients train for spaceflight," said Eric Anderson, president and CEO of Space Adventures. "It is with great enthusiasm that we, along with Richard, offer this position to a member of the public. The individual selected will be someone who not only has a genuine interest in human spaceflight, but also one who is able to be an active participant in Richard's mission, to include being featured in a documentary TV series."

Famed game developer and son of former NASA astronaut, Richard Garriott, currently planning a mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in October 2008, will begin spaceflight preparations after the first of the year.

"I want to involve as many people as possible in my mission and this is one of the most innovative ways to do so," said Richard Garriott. "I encourage anyone who has ever dreamed of traveling to space to contact to Space Adventures. Not only will the back-up crew member be certified as a 'fully-trained cosmonaut' and be named to an official space mission crew, a distinction that less than 1,000 people have ever had; but, our combined participation is a step forward in the progression of our expansion into the cosmos."

"The back-up crew member's financial investment into this program can be credited in-full toward a future orbital or lunar spaceflight mission," added Mr. Anderson. The price of the program is $3,000,000 (USD) which includes the required spaceflight training costs, along with accommodations in Star City and other training locations. For more detailed information, please visit www.SpaceAdventures.com/backup .

"If I had not trained as a back-up crew member in 2006, then I would never have flown to space that year," said Anousheh Ansari, Space Adventures' fourth orbital client and first female spaceflight participant to launch to the ISS. "The training was exhilarating and ultimately prepared me for my flight which I'm thankful for."

Mr. Garriott's spaceflight is the first in a series of missions that will accommodate commercial activity aboard the ISS. Involvement from the private sector will range from scientific and environmental research to educational outreach programming. For more information, please visit Mr. Garriott's mission web site, www.RichardInSpace.com .

Space Adventures, the company that organized the flights for the world's first private space explorers: Dennis Tito, Mark Shuttleworth, Greg Olsen, Anousheh Ansari and Charles Simonyi, is headquartered in Vienna, Va. with an office in Moscow. It offers a variety of programs such as the availability today for spaceflight missions to the International Space Station and around the moon, Zero-Gravity flights, cosmonaut training, spaceflight qualification programs and reservations on future suborbital spacecrafts. The company's advisory board includes Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, Shuttle astronauts Sam Durrance, Tom Jones, Byron Lichtenberg, Norm Thagard, Kathy Thornton, Pierre Thuot, Charles Walker, Skylab/Shuttle astronaut Owen Garriott and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Usachev.

"Now the fun begins! I can't wait to join thousands of other players in this exciting galactic war," said Richard Garriott, the game's executive producer. "It is time for us to release Tabula Rasa to the players. I am eager to see player reaction to the game, and am ready to build on what we've started here. We've got plans for new features and expansions for the foreseeable future and I'm hoping the players will enjoy the game and get excited about what's in store for them next!"

NCsoft releases Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa Defenders of Earth band together to fight alien invaders in gaming legend's military-style online role playing game

Friday 2nd November/...NCsoft® Europe, the world's leading developer and publisher of online computer games, announced today that Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa™, a massively multiplayer online (MMO) game for the PC where players are thrust into an exciting intergalactic struggle, has launched its commercial service in Europe and North America.

"Now the fun begins! I can't wait to join thousands of other players in this exciting galactic war," said Richard Garriott, the game's executive producer. "It is time for us to release Tabula Rasa to the players. I am eager to see player reaction to the game, and am ready to build on what we've started here. We've got plans for new features and expansions for the foreseeable future and I'm hoping the players will enjoy the game and get excited about what's in store for them next!"

Tabula Rasa, one of the most anticipated PC titles of the year, is the vision of gaming legend Richard Garriott. The game combines a rich game world and deep storyline with military combat and fast paced action. Set in a near-future science fiction backdrop, players must fight to save humanity against hostile alien enemies trying to gain control of the universe.

The game introduces several innovative elements to massively multiplayer online games, including a Character Cloning System™ that allows players to explore different character classes without having to create a new character, and dynamic battlefields where players feel the frenetic action of combat in an ongoing war.

"We are all very excited about the addition of Tabula Rasa to our catalog of games," stated Geoff Heath, CEO of NCsoft's European operation. "One of NCsoft's goals is to provide different types of online gaming products - both within the 'proven' fantasy genre and outside the genre, as well. This game is truly unique; we hope that Tabula Rasa's science fiction background and military combat action proves to be enjoyable to many types of gamers."

when asked about his recent operation to remove a mole-like spot on his liver — the better to travel in space a year from now — he gamely raised his shirt to give everyone a gander.

We hope you enjoyed that quote. Because he talks really, really fast and that one line took us like 5 minutes to transcribe. We guess it was sort of funnier with the little man and the yellow background and everything.

Zero Punctuation: Tabula Rasa [theescapist]

"I am dedicating my spaceflight to science," said Mr. Garriott. "It is my goal to devote a significant amount of my time aboard the space station to science, engineering and educational projects. I understand the necessity for conducting research in extreme environments whether it is collecting microorganisms from deep sea hydrothermal vents to carrying out experiments in the continuous micro-gravity of Earth orbit."

Space Adventures Announces 1st Second Generation Astronaut Plans Flight to International Space Station

First private spaceflight open to commercial involvement in mission activities

Vienna, Va. - September 28, 2007 - Space Adventures, Ltd., the world's leading space experiences company, announced today that famed game developer Richard Garriott, son of former NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, has begun preparations for a "commercially active" mission to the International Space Station (ISS).

Mr. Garriott's spaceflight, currently planned for October 2008, will be the first in a series of missions that will accommodate commercial activity aboard the ISS. Involvement from the private sector can include scientific and environmental research and educational outreach programming.

"It has always been Space Adventures' goal to open the space frontier. Now, with Richard's flight, we have designed a series of missions devoted to increase commercial involvement in manned space missions," said Eric Anderson, president and CEO of Space Adventures. "It is a very rare occasion when so many commercial opportunities are available in one space mission. We encourage interested parties to contact us."

Space Adventures made history in 2001 by organizing the mission of the first private space explorer. Now, the company continues to bring innovation to manned spaceflight by enabling corporate and non-profit entities to participate in commercial endeavors on the planet's only orbiting outpost.

"I am dedicating my spaceflight to science," said Mr. Garriott. "It is my goal to devote a significant amount of my time aboard the space station to science, engineering and educational projects. I understand the necessity for conducting research in extreme environments whether it is collecting microorganisms from deep sea hydrothermal vents to carrying out experiments in the continuous micro-gravity of Earth orbit." He continued, "We need to be adventurous in mind and simulate our intellects to answer today's most daunting scientific questions and to invent tomorrow's technological marvels."

The first commercial research partner involved in Mr. Garriott's mission is ExtremoZyme, Inc., a biotechnology company co-founded by Owen Garriott. The company plans to conduct protein crystallization experiments in space with proteins that have important cellular functions and are usually associated with common human diseases. Having access to these superior crystals will enable researchers to learn more about the molecular details of these proteins which is essential for protein engineering and structure-guided drug design.

"Because of my career, it was almost natural for Richard to be interested in space and exploration. I am so pleased that he is able to embrace this himself and that he is dedicating his flight to research. I am very proud of him," said Owen Garriott, Mr. Garriott's father and former NASA astronaut (Skylab II/SL-3, STS-9/Spacelab-1).

Interested parties, including commercial and non-profit entities and space enthusiasts, can get involved in Mr. Garriott's spaceflight via his web site (www.richardinspace.com). Mr. Garriott will be updating the site continuously via photos, blog entries and individuals can submit questions and suggestions for his mission activities. "I want to involve as many people as possible in my mission," said Mr. Garriott.

On the way to the event in our two busses, we suddenly got a pretty good idea as of what to expect as both of our busses were pulled over to the side of the road by the police. As the cops questioned our drivers, a guy dressed in a Men In Black outfit entered our bus and slowly walked the aisle. In his hand was a photo of the man who handed me the note at the hotel. I caught a shot of him as he was leaving, empty-handed. Ah, so it was going to be *that* sort of event. I think we were LARPing!

After a bit of a scare as one of the busses couldn't make it up a steep hill near the Garriott Estate (in the other bus we were cheering them on) we arrived at stately Britainnia Manor, where Lord British himself was waiting to greet us.

The group was led to a large tent set up behind the house, where drinks and some pretty amazing barbeque were waiting for us. The barbeque was so great in fact that no less than three spiders skittered across the table for a bite at mine, causing me to bravely jump like a little girl, knocking my chair over and nearly upending a table. This all happened with Richard Garriott sitting with us, who found the whole ordeal highly amusing. So I hate spiders. They are tiny, and I have a lot of surface area.

Soon a presentation started, and Garriott took the stage to get the event started. He explained that Tabula Rasa wasn't entirely based on fiction. While excavating the site of his new house he uncovered certain artifacts covered with strange, alien symbols that would be familiar to anyone who has been following the progress of the game. He introduced a UFO-obsessed professor to the audience, who further added to the story, introducing three key characters we would meet later. After the presentation we were divided into three groups and sent off on a tour of Britainnia Manor. Make sure you look through all the galleries, as four camera batteries gave their life to take those pictures.

Our first stop was Garriott's two-level study, filled with artifacts of days gone by. Weapons, old books, astronomy and medical equipment filled the walls. Garriott's collections include pre-published versions of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, a piece of the Great Wall of China, and a nasty looking Victoria bleeding device, with spring loaded blades and a suction pump for removing bad spirits from the blood. Ouch. To get to the first floor we had to use a magnetic device to unlock a secret door, which led to a spiral staircase leading to the first floor of the study and beyond.

On the other side of the staircase we encountered Garriott's famed dungeon, which our tour guide called "Richard's Room of Dead Things". At the center of the room was a casket with a human skeleton affectionately named Pedro. The walls were lined with bones, skulls, shrunken heads, and even a preserved human fetus. It was a very unnerving feeling, being that close to so much death. I needed a moment to calm down. Luckily that was just around the corner.

After dancing with death, we were led into a small tent where a man dressed as a swami taught us the magic of bodily control. The core of his act involved stopping his own pulse. The whole affair had a campy vibe, but it did introduce the theme of the evening: Unlocking human potential. Tabula Rasa is the story of extraordinary humans finding power within themselves to go on after the Earth is invaded and nearly destroyed, so we were being tested to see if we were worthy.

After a short break and a demo of the game, which I had seen before, our group was led up a spiral staircase to Garriott's Automaton room. This was by far my favorite room in the house, filled with old wooden, wire and mechanical toys that our guide told us were the original video games. Even more impressive than the collection was the fact that we were encouraged to play with them. For a good ten minutes the entire group was transformed into a bunch of giggling children, but there was more testing to be done.

The next performer was testing the powers of divination, using diving rods to answer questions, culminating in an elaborate card trick that involved one person from the audience using the rods to guess a card that another audience member had chosen.

Our next stop was the actual grounds, which were lush and green thanks to the unnaturally large amount of rain Austin has gotten this summer. There was a dog obstacle course that were sadly not able to run through, a butterfly garden in the middle of a pond complete with a statue that shot water at you when you stood on the dock, but by far the most impressive fixture was the carousel. Carousel horses are scary, and standing in the dark of night on the Garriott Estate somehow made them creepier. Soon we were ushered inside the house once again, but not before I caught a snap of the pirate flag flying high atop the manor. Damn pirates.

I feel bad for any criminal caught breaking into Richard Garriott's house. As we were led upstairs to the second floor I counted no less than 20 readily available medieval weapons ready to defend the house from intruders, along with several full suits of armor. If a knight were somehow magically transported from the olden days to this house he'd positively pee himself with happiness. As it stands I myself felt a little trickle coming on. We stopped by the kitchen for a glass of wine and some peanuts, where I snapped the picture of the evening. Browse the gallery for an exclusive close-up of Lord British's sink. Breathtaking. Also on the second floor was a dining room complete with a giant mechanical pepper mill and a small, magic-themed den, where our last performer was waiting for us.

I've seen spoon bending on countless television shows over the years, but it was pretty nifty to finally see it done in person. Completely fake, of course, and during the act I noticed a woman in the audience who hadn't been with our group for the two previous acts. A plant? At one point in the act the spoon bender had her check his hands extensively, so I would definitely say it was a plant. An impressive display nonetheless!

Finally our tour was over, and we all piled back into the busses for our final stop of the evening, ground zero. We were heading for the construction site of Richard Garriott's Britannia Manor MK III, where the alien artifacts had been excavated. We were all issued hard hats and waited patiently while our bus went back to fetch the other group, whose bus had broken down. As you can see in the gallery, I doubt we've ever looked quite as dorky as we did that night.

We were escorted through the construction site by Garriott himself, as confused construction workers (actors probably) wondered what was going on. We passed the deep pit that had been drilled to create a tunnel to the nearby river, wound through an unfinished building with dinosaur bones and a model of what the manor would look like when finished. The smell of spent explosives was heavy in the air. We were in for something large, and loud. We past a mysterious alien tower before arriving at a covered alcove facing the main building, which housed a floating metallic sphere, apparently a relic of an alien culture.

The professor from earlier in the evening took the stage next to the strange object and announced that five of the people attending the event were singled out as having high power potentials. Those five were challenged to climb on stage and touch the floating sphere. One tried, only to be knocked back by a large spark. The remaining four banded together and with some struggle, and finally touched the object. The alien tower lit up, and then all hell broke loose.

Electronics around the alien tower exploded into showers of sparks as the tower - a control point straight from the Tabula Rasa game - went live, and the lights dimmed. The face of an alien creature appeared projected on a black curtain in front of us. We had drawn their attention by activating the orb, and now we would be destroyed. The strange girl from the bending spoons presentation was called to the stage by the alien, reporting that the Logos instructors had been taken care of, holding aloft the severed head of the swami as proof. Suddenly the roof was ripped off of our tent and a circular lighting structure meant to simulate an alien walker loomed over us. In the distance another similar light blinked on. Then came sirens and explosions as the aliens began their attack. Luckily for us, it was then that the cavalry arrived.

What happened next was a pitched battle between unseen alien forces and a human strike force. Gunfire rang in our ears and heat from large explosions washed over us as we looked on in awe. A helicopter did a fly by, and we learned later that it was piloted by none other than Richard's brother and President of NCsoft, Robert Garriott. It was a fantastic spectacle filled with smoke and lights that seemed to go on forever. Finally one of the soldiers shouted an all clear and the crowd burst out into cheers.

As the smoke cleared, Lord British thanked us all for coming, urging us to either buy or sell Tabula Rasa once the game hit stores, announcing a release date of October 19th, which I mentioned previously. While the Logos Academy event might not have changed my opinion about the game, it certainly got me thinking about it in a different way.

As I piled into the first bus to leave, fireworks exploded, filling the night sky with color and light, and I realized I had just spent the night LARPing. Dammit.

I need my own cameraman.

Why a giant elevator? Well it figures in to the design of the attached main hall. It will be a massive, ,three-story structure comprised of a dining area on the second floor and a balcony on the third floor, overlooking said dining area. Not content to have just two stories for dining, the second floor will be able to transform itself into a balcony overlooking the first floor for maximum dining occupancy. The attached elevator will be used for entertainment. He could use the first floor for a dressing area for performers, having them rise to the second floor via the elevator to surprise guests. When the dining hall is opened up for all three floors, the elevator room could house the main dining table, allowing the host to visit any of the three levels as he entertains guests.

Underground passageways also figure big into Garriott's plan. The house will eventually consist of three separate buildings, connected via a network of underground passages. Then the swimming pool will also have passages you can swim through to come up in any area of the house. The manor's air-conditioning system runs underground as well, and Garriott had it built with 3-and-a-half-foot cement ducts, so the entire thing is crawlable.

Many other surprises will lie in wait for visitors to Britainnia Manor MK 3 when it is finished. Guests rooms will have swiveling walls to allow beds to move from room to room in the middle of the night. Secret doors will contain elaborate lock mechanisms that require you to reach into a hole to fiddle with the lock, with a pneumatic clamp snatching your arm until the lock is properly open. He's dug a 100 foot pit on the property to make a tunnel that leads to the river bordering the property.

Garriott is an 8-year old with no parents and a ton of cash to throw around, and I think it is just fantastic. He creates these places some would call silly and others would call magical, purely out the passion for adventure that drives him. When we get our own Kotaku castle built, we are totally going to war with him.

NCsoft Reveals Contents of Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa Limited Collector's Edition Game Pack

Austin, Texas, August 20, 2007-NCsoft(r), the world's leading developer
and publisher of online computer games, announced their plans for the
Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa(r) Limited Collector's Edition, which
will be released to stores in North America and Europe when the game
launches this fall.

This special retail box offers customers exclusive in-game items,
including a special character emote, exclusive dye recipes players can
use to create unique armor colors, and a unique pet. Players who
purchase the Limited Collector's Edition box also receive a briefing
from Richard Garriott's alter-ego in the game, General British,
classified maps, an Allied Free Sentients (AFS) field guide, Tabula Rasa
dog tags, an AFS challenge coin and a special edition poster.

The Limited Collector's Edition also includes one month of free game
play and a "Making of Tabula Rasa" DVD.

One of the most anticipated PC games of the year, Tabula Rasa is the
latest title by gaming legend Richard Garriott and offers a strikingly
new approach to the design of multiplayer online games by combining a
vast, persistent game world and rich storyline with fast-paced action.
The game introduces several innovative elements to massively multiplayer
online (MMO) games, including a Character Cloning System(tm) that allows
players to explore different character classes without having to create
a new character. Dynamic battlefields and ethical parables make this
MMO game incredibly immersive, where players really feel a part of the
ongoing war effort.

"The Limited Collector's Edition we have put together for Tabula Rasa is
loaded with cool things for players who really get into the role-playing
aspect of the game," said Executive Producer Richard Garriott. "Regular
players will find the maps and field guide useful as they move
full-force into the game's fast-paced action. Other items, like the dog
tags and challenge coins, bring home the 'brothers in arms' feeling of
this game even when you aren't playing."

When the game launches later this fall, players will find the Richard
Garriott's Tabula Rasa Limited Collector's Edition at most local and
online retailers and at the PlayNC store
(https://secure.plaync.com/cgi-bin/Store.pl).

"I think it (AI) has a lot more to offer the MMO genre than a lot people has given it credit for. The richness it offers in helping create the world and making sure that players are not the only moving part in that world is really important for the MMO category."

He certainly has a point there. I'd love to see NPC interaction move past scripted events and the old 'if faction = X then' formula into something much more dynamic. Even now, ten years after the first MMO games began popping up they aren't much more complicated than graphical MUDs.

Of course he then went on to explain how his new game, Tabula Rasa, would be addressing all of these issues, giving the whole proceeding an air of, 'look at me, I am innovating, just like I did ten years ago,' but when you get right down to it the man has every right to come off like that. The genre has been swinging from his rat tails for years now and the time for innovation is upon us. To arms!

'MMO design has not changed in a decade' - Garriott [Developmag.com]

How do game developers spend their Saturdays? They probably gather at Richard Garriott's lakeside estate, feast on BBQ, listen to live music, engage in padded sword fights, toss water balloons, and start very small bonfires.

You are driving down a road. Ahead of you are two immense wrought iron gates. Normally they are closed. Today, they stand open and deserted. On either side, the rock walls are dripping water. The canyon descends at the end of the road, the road itself appears to drop off into space. Slowly, you drive through the gates...

This isn't some role-playing game. This is, in fact, Richard Garriott's real-life estate in Austin, Texas. The Ultima designer has built a little piece of Britannia-on-earth. And on this Saturday, it's hosting the local International Game Developer's Association BBQ picnic.

The road winds and descends impossibly for some time. It narrows and turns to gravel. On the left is a sheer wall of rock. Finally, volunteers in bright yellow shirts can be seen up ahead. They're directing cars to parking spaces on the flat bottomland, under enormous pecan trees. "Hey!" one of them calls, "The party's down here."

Once parked, the first thing to explore is the miniature village. There's a jail, lighthouse, tavern, church, watermill, town hall, and endless houses. Across a brook, there's a lawn with a castle facing off against a ship. In the distance is one small house, nestled by a large rock.

At the edge of the woods, there's a sign warning of the haunted forest, and noting the witch's castle is one mile away: I'D TURN BACK IF I WERE YOU.

Richard Garriott told Kotaku the full story behind the buildings. "A lot of the early Ultima characters - Iolo, Dupre, Sentri, Mariah - they were all my college buddies here at the University of Texas, which is where I wrote the first few Ultimas."

He'd borrowed their personalities, likenesses, and Society for Creative Anachronism names. "Years later when I bought this property, a lot of them were still pretty active in the SCA, so I built these cabins in homage to the history we have together."

"The first one that I hand-built myself with my girlfriend Kelly was for Iolo," Garriott said. "Then, this gypsy wagon you see over here was for Mariah. Iolo was really a guy who makes crossbows here in town. Mariah is my assistant Michelle who's worked with me since Origin, and now NCsoft."

Garriott builds another cabin every three months or so. And the bigger structures, such as the theater, the castle, the ship, those are built once per year. "Based on whatever party theme we're throwing that year, I'll add another structure for that event," he says.

That infrastructure comes in handy when Garriott has various parties, from his big Fourth of July event, to company parties, to the SCA, or, like today, the IGDA event, where the developers got cold drinks, spots in the shade, and talked shop while waiting for BBQ.

While a Frisbee was seen, the most popular pastime was Chanbara, which is a very fancy way of saying "hitting each other with padded sticks." Or, fencing with non-metal swords. Which is all a very therapeutic way to challenge co-workers to a duel, and still be able to work when Monday rolls around.

Things took a surreal turn when a dozen-and-a-half costumed crusaders arrived. They happened to be in town to audition for the Sci-Fi original series "Who Wants to Be a Superhero?" One of them was good enough to make the cut (we can't tell you who), and will appear in the July 26th premiere. And when it came to super powers, all of them had Chanbara skills.

Moments before lunch was served, a small speech was given to the crowd of 300. Rodney Gibbs, a studio head of Amaze Austin who acts as the IGDA-Austin front man, thanked the vendors - barbeque from the Saltlick, drinks from Opal Devine's, and ice-cream from Amy's - as well as the sponsors and volunteers.

Richard Garriott said a few words, joking about being the "old fogey" of the Austin game industry, having worked with some of the assembled developers before, adding "if I haven't worked with you, it's a pretty small community, and I'm sure I will in the next decade or two."

Garriott then introduced the event sponsor by saying, "I don't know about you guys, but at NCsoft, we're a 100% Dell shop. In addition to being a great sponsor, these guys really do make great products."

Glen Robson, Dell's director of gaming was brought up in a small town in Scotland. He joked that, were it not for the game industry and coming to work in it, his career choices were limited. "I'd be tossing a caber, or worse, I'd be knitting."

An indescribable BBQ lunch was followed by a lazy afternoon of talking, water balloon fights, and ice-cream. As evening settled in, torches were lit, and people began to gather in the replica Shakespearean theatre for a musical performance by The Captains of the Chess Team.

The band is a spontaneous game-industry ensemble consisting of famous audio guru George Sanger, his intern on keyboard, game designer Josh Hamrick on drums, Linda Law on bass, guitar by W. Scott Synder, and fronted by Midway Austin's audio director, Marc Schaefgen.

"You've all been beautiful," Schaefgen told the audience between songs, adding, "We are the captains of the chess team, and we will pwn you!" The set list included Safety Dance, a rousing performance of Video Killed the Radio Star, the ever popular Numa Numa (originally "Dragostea din tei"), and the Star Wars-centric parody Yoda.

There would be a warming fire later on, following the encore, and people would slowly go home. But the band was the culmination of a good day. The audience was into it, and the feeling prevailed upon one developer so hard he just had to mount up on the stage and get to gigging with the band.

The ones that get into it are definitely the kings of the party.

Special thanks to Clay Hillhouse and John Henderson for additional photographs.

"This is an exciting time for the Tabula Rasa team," says Garriott..."With closed beta testing now in progress, we're excited to hear more what our players think. With fast-action and tactical combat in an RPG setting, a deep and interesting fictional universe, and many feature innovations, we think we've created a game that represents the next generation of MMO games and will revolutionize the way people play online games."

NCsoft Announces Closed Beta Testing for Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa

Massively Multiplayer Online Computer Game from Legendary Designer Entering Final Stages of Development; Plans in Place for Fall Launch

Austin, Texas, May 2, 2007—NCsoft today announced that closed beta testing is beginning for the company's highly anticipated online computer game, Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa . The start of closed beta marks the game's final development stages as Tabula Rasa approaches an anticipated launch this fall in North America and Europe.

Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa is a massively multiplayer online (MMO) role playing PC game that places players in an epic sci-fi story where they will be challenged by dynamic and fast-paced adventures on alien worlds.

Garriott's signature creative vision introduces several fresh features to the MMO genre such as a character cloning system, role-playing on the battlefield and a mystical "Logos" language and powers system. They are the types of touches that players have come to expect over the years from a Richard Garriott game.

"This is an exciting time for the Tabula Rasa team," says Garriott, executive producer at NCsoft and the Austin, Texas-based Destination Games development team. "With closed beta testing now in progress, we're excited to hear more what our players think. With fast-action and tactical combat in an RPG setting, a deep and interesting fictional universe, and many feature innovations, we think we've created a game that represents the next generation of MMO games and will revolutionize the way people play online games."

Garriott is best known for creating the best-selling Ultima computer game series, including the first commercially successful MMO game, Ultima Online. In 2006, he was presented with two industry honors for his work in the games industry. That year Garriott was inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame and later was presented the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Game Developers Choice Awards.

More details on Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa and closed beta testing for the game can be found at http://www.PlayTR.com. More information on NCsoft can be found at http://www.PlayNC.com.

Game designer Richard Garriott blogs about his weightless experience with Professor Stephen Hawking:

On Thursday, April 26, the weather was great and we were all excited to go on the day's journey. The event ran even smoother than the rehearsals, and the pilots flew the best parabolas I have experienced in my few trips. The Professor was grinning widely throughout the whole experience. He not only floated weightless but completed several spins while floating free inside the cabin. Professor Hawking did all this while free of his wheelchair for the first time in over forty years!

Professor Hawking himself is also an incredibly engaging and responsive individual. His enthusiasm and enjoyment of the event was always evident. His ability to handle the crush of activity and interest was impressive. He met innumerable people, prepared and gave a variety of presentations, and answered numerous press questions. Between each event, he would be extremely busy preparing his notes for the next presentation in order to present his feelings before and after each phase properly. Extraordinary!

Extraordinary, indeed! Brian Ashcraft

Garriott Blogs Space [Tabula Rasa via Game|Life]

Yesterday famed astrophysicist Stephen Hawking joined game developer Richard Garriott for a ride into the edge of space.

The two were among about two dozen who boarded a modified 727 at Cape Canaveral that then performed eight parabolas.

The commercial vomit comet flight gave Hawking a chance to float free of his wheelchair, the first time he has been physically boundless in four decades.

"Six parabolas really was the intended cutoff point," said Richard Garriott, son of former NASA astronaut Owen Garriott.

"But he was having so much fun, we went for two more, and then we thought we'd better quit while we're ahead."

Hawking said he wanted to make the flight for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is the fact that he believes Earth is headed for disaster and that the humans species will need a new home in the cosmos.

"I believe that life on Earth is at an ever-increasing risk of being wiped out by a disaster such as sudden global warming, nuclear war, a genetically-engineered virus or other dangers," Hawking said.

"I think the human race has no future if it doesn't go into space. I therefore want to encourage public interest in space."

He also said he wanted to prove that people with disabilities can aspire to spaceflight, too, and Diamandis said he did a good job.

Pretty damn cool. I wonder if Garriott was able to talk with Hawking at all during the flight. I'd love to hear what sorts of things they'd shoot the breeze about. Brian Crecente

'Space, here I come' [Florida Times]

It looks like the nine twits who broke into Richard Garriott's village in Austin, partied, stole thousands in liquor and then left photographic evidence have been identified.

No real surprise there.

The Travis County Sheriff's Office issued arrest warrants on criminal trespass for Amy Adams, 19; Christopher Erich Ambrosius, 20; Jamie Marie Anderson, 18; Jeffery Steven Figge, 22; Ryan Keith Hess, 20; and Abraham Cazares, 21.

Travis Lynn Foxell, 20; Steven Andrew Silva, 20; and Scott Berner, 21; were charged with burglary of a building.

None have yet been arrested, though at least one of the men seen in the image has his very own MySpace on which he brags, when asked if he stole anything in the past month: "Borrowed with out intent of returning it!"

Hmm, whatever could he be talking about? Hit the jump for details from the warrant, courtesy of the Austin-American Statesman.

According to Rios and the arrest warrants, about 12:30 a.m. Feb. 1, the group parked three cars near the Pennybacker Bridge on Loop 360 (Capital of Texas Highway). They followed trails on a hillside, crawled under a fence and walked two miles to Garriott's property in the 7400 block of Coldwater Canyon Drive. The 70-acre property has a two-mile metal fence around it.

Foxell told Berner that he had previously broken into a building on the property, an arrest warrant said. Foxell showed Berner some coins and tavern pipes he had taken from the building, according to the warrant.

The group called Garriott's property Midgetville because of several small buildings on it, warrants said. Several resemble playhouses, including a fake jail and treehouses with rope bridges, Rios said.

Once the suspects entered Garriott's property, some of them broke the exterior locks on two buildings to get inside, the warrant said.

They also broke into a bar, the warrants said. The group piled an ice chest so high with expensive Scotch, port and several kinds of wines that the top wouldn't close, Rios said.

They left behind several empty beer cans on a trail, the arrest warrant said.

A few days later, Adams and Foxell went back to get Adams' camera, Rios said. When they got to Garriott's property, however, they found photos of themselves posted on the buildings, he said. Garriott had printed photos from the camera in an attempt to identify the burglars, Rios said.

Investigators took the pictures to several high schools in western Travis County, posted them on the Web and gave them to area homeowners associations.

Garriott wanted to offer a reward, but investigators decided to release the pictures to the media March 16, said Roger Wade, a spokesman for the department.

Five days later, Adams walked into a sheriff's office with her attorney and identified herself and other people involved, according to an arrest warrant.

Pouring over the comments in the MySpace accounts I found a one reference to a village by ScottyBoy, who wrote the day after the incident occurred: "Dude Last night . in the weeble village ... fallin of cliffs ... HIT ME UP." Brian Crecente

Nine who left pics at crime scene identified [Austin-American Statesman]

Richard Garriott and Stephen Hawking are teaming up, unfortunately, it's not for a game.

No, the developer and the physicist are going to be taking a trip on the vomit comet in a few weeks.

The April 16 zero-gravity flight will be Garriott's fourth (he's an investor in the Zero Gravity Corp.) and Hawking's first.

He said he's taking his first non-grav flight to show "that people need not be limited by physical handicaps, as long as they are not disabled in spirit."

I can't think of a better person to prove it. Brian Crecente

Game Creator, Physicist to Leave Gravity Behind [Austin-American Statesman]

Until police found their digital camera, still on the scene, filled with pictures of them committing the crime. Bloody brilliant. Said Lord British,

"We we're joking to ourselves about tomorrow morning, when they wake up with a hangover, they're going to wonder where that camera is," he said. "This is one of those Darwin-style kind of awards, where people leave the self-incriminating evidence behind at the scene."

Digital camera left at scene of crime [KVUE Austin - Thanks Chef Booyadee!]