From Gameinformer:

An Austin, Texas, court has awarded Ultima creator Richard Garriott $28 million over what it determined was his forced departure from NCSoft in 2008.

At the time of his departure, a letter was posted on the Tabula Rasa website saying he was leaving the company due to his interest in spaceflight (Garriott spent 12 days in space as a space tourist). In his legal complaint letter, Garriott said that although he approved the letter, in hindsight (after conversations with NCsoft’s head of North American studios, Chris Chung) he felt the letter was actually a set-up to try and prove that Garriott left of his own free will. Garriott says he never wanted to leave the company, and that he was forced out. This distinction is important, because Garriott’s assertion was that he lost $28 million in stock options simply because NCsoft claimed he left voluntarily versus being fired.

This story is lighting up the Twitterverse this morning, and I doubt it’s the last we’ll hear on the matter; NCsoft’s lawyers are already said to be working on their “next move” in what I’m sure will turn into a lengthy legal battle.

For myself, I just hope Garriott puts some of his winnings toward the Portalarium project and the development of a new title. He’s been talking about his ideas in this regard for some time, and it’d be nice to see them come to fruition.

Forum user Saxon1974 alerted me to the existence of the two MP3s linked from this forum thread, which feature an interview that Ultima creator Richard Garriott gave during the production of my personal favourite entry in the series, Ultima 6.

It’s not really the sort of thing that would merit a standalone entry here at Aiera, but I’ve uploaded the mp3s to the site and present them here for your listening pleasure, good reader.

Part 1:

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Part 2:

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This is an “exact” re-creation of Akalabeth for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch, which even goes so far (as can be seen in the screenshot) as to re-create the Apple II interface (or, at least, the parts of it necessary to play the game). Graphics and sound are the same as were in the original game.

This port boasts a few “helper” features, however, some of which were apparently designed with input from Richard Garriott himself. These include an autosave option (which also continues the game from where you left it, if you have to quit the app for any reason), an option to start near castle, an in-game minimap, and the ability to carry way more food.

It’s available for $1.99 USD on the Apple App Store.

And if not: have you been living under a rock, and/or what colour is the sky on your planet, and also…welcome to Earth.

Okay, somewhat more seriously, Portalarium is “an online ecosystem of shared relationships, connecting endless gaming experiences, via seamless portals,” a social-networking gaming platform and development company co-founded by several people whose names should be familiar to Ultima fans, including none other than Richard Garriott.

You can read their founding press release…here.

There’s really not a lot more that can be said about this initiative for the moment, apart from the fact that it certainly represents a very new gaming frontier for Garriott. Social networking games — think FarmVille — are inherently browser-based games, dependent as they are on social networking frameworks like Facebook or Twitter.

At the same time, there’s a fair bit of potential for some truly interesting games to emerge from this. One notes that the company’s first title is using a web-based version of the Torque 2D engine; their information page about the “Portalarium Player” also mentions Unity 3D and a couple of other frameworks. Those are pretty powerful development toolsets; one could craft a web-playable RPG of Garriott’s caliber using Unity, for example.

Is that the direction that the company is going to go? Who knows at this early stage. With that many former Origin guys at the helm, though, there might just be a glimmer of hope.

(hat tip)

Apparently, if the burst of related Tweets is anything to go by, Lord British is the subject of a new documentary called “Man On a Mission.”

It’s not available to the public yet, according to Garriott himself, but that will hopefully change soon. From what I can gather, “Man On a Mission” focuses on Garriott’s recent trip to space, his preparation therefore, and his ongoing advocacy for space exploration.

From WCNews, via a reader email: the creators of, respectively, Ultima and Wing Commander, Richard Garriott and Chris Roberts, are now on Twitter!

Roberts hasn’t posted much, but Garriott is getting into the swing of things with his articles regarding space advocacy.

So if you happen to be a Tweep, good reader, do give these fellows a follow, eh?

(A frothy mug of ale goes out to reader Mark Mitchell for bring this to our attention!)

GameDaily has an exclusive interview with Richard Garriott — the creator of the Ultima series — in which he laments the end of Tabula Rasa (the MMORPG he helped create) and hints at a return to the gaming business in the wake of his departure from NCSoft.

Apparently, some of the “new interests” that he suggested that he wanted “to devote [his] time and resources to,” following “the unforgettable experience” of space travel, includes the possibility of a return to gaming.

And just to sweeten the pot:

BIZ: If you did return to games, would it definitely be an online game?

Garriott: I wouldn’t use the word definitely. I think that if it were today, it’s most probable. That’s just what I find the most interesting, still. That being said, I am still a huge fan of solo-player games as both a player, and as a storyteller. I just think there’s an intimacy in solo-player games that is much easier to do in a solo-player environment than it is to shoehorn it into a multiplayer environment. One of the things we were trying with Tabula Rasa was to offer more storytelling in an MMO setting. And we made some strides in that direction. But I still don’t think it was nearly to the level that the middle Ultimas did.

BIZ: If Electronic Arts wanted you to return and author a single-player Ultima for the consoles, would you do that?

Garriott: Conceptually? Sure. The property Ultima is still very near and dear to my heart. I think that if, by hook or by crook, I had access to that property, either in solo-player or multiplayer, I would absolutely love to continue to play in the Ultima universe.

Yeah, I know…it’s not a formal announcement of his triumphal return to the Ultima franchise in the wake of recent shifts in EA‘s game development strategies and policies. It’s still interesting, all the same, to see just what Lord British is up to these days, and what his vision for the future might just be.

You totally didn’t read it here first, but there it is: Ultima series creator Richard Garriott has parted ways with Tabula Rasa (also his creation) publisher NCSoft in order to pursue new interests.

Apparently, his recent trip into space (a “lifelong dream” of his) has prompted him to look for a change:

“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.”

Well, here at Aiera, we wish Lord — now General — British all the best in whatever new venture he strikes out toward, whether those interests exist within, or outside of, the gaming industry.

Interesting factoid I did not know previously: Lord British is apparently the son of an astronaut.

(thanks to Reader mageguru for the link to this article)