| Mail |

You might also like: WoW Insider, Massively, and more

More Sites You Might Like

Richard Garriott is selling the manor

by Justin McElroy on Oct 19th 2011 11:30AM

"We'll be honest Claudette, we both just love it. When you told us the home used to belong to Richard Garriott and that the asking price was $4.1 million, we were unsure. But this is one of the most beautiful homes we've seen in Austin. And the walk-in tunic closet? Just lovely."

"Oh, I'm so glad to hear it. There's just one other ... small thing. Teensy really."

"...What?"

"Well, I'm legally required to tell you the home ... is constructed on a Tabula Rasa burial ground."

"Surely not!"

"No, no, it's true. The Neph, the Bane, the AFS, all jammed under the floorboards. They're hermetically sealed, but still ... pretty grim."

"How could --"

"Now, on the plus side. That lamp over there? He stole it from the International Space Station."

"So you're saying I have to live over the remains of an entire MMO, NPCorpses stacked on top of each other like cordwood, but on the bright side -- space lamp?"

"... So, maybe ... $3.9 million? You think?"

"We'll ... we'll get back to you."

Source: KUT News

Tags: nc-soft, richard-garriott, tabula-rasa, ultima

Reader Comments (20)

I really liked that game. ;_;

Garriott is one of the most overblown "figures" in the gaming industry, he made a few good games - then road those curtails into the hard, thick ground.

I hope he gets 50% of asking price, take that you Molyneux acolyte!

@Raehj
Moreso companies like EA rode him into the ground. And I don't mean that as a "whiiine EA ruins everything" excuse. Just look at what happened to Ultima IX.

@EtherealMoon You're exactly right.

@Raehj

Molyneux acolyte? The man came up with Ultima for god-sakes. Learn your gaming history before typing things like that. Garriott may not have a recent hit, but consider how many games came about directly or indirectly because of him and his role as co-founder of Origin Systems. He deserves some credit there...

@Raehj Bow down to the man who is responsible for the original Ultima series, so he can kick your unappreciative young ass with his specially made shoes from Britannia.

@Famous Mortimer

I know my "gaming" history. I played several single player iterations, as well as gave UO three long, bloody years of my life.

I guess my frustration here is that the gaming community will escalate people to super-star status - but they don't seem to want to tear those idols down when they make grandoise promise after promise, and don't deliver.

Garriot did this several times, not just with Tabula Rasa. No one agrees?

@Raehj

No offense but there is a big difference between "few good games" and creating an empire. Ultima was a major influence in so many games.He also had a hand in the Wing Commander series. UO showed that an MMO could be popular and as a direct result influenced games like EQ and WoW. Let's not forget Origin published System Shock. Garriott had a hand in all of this.

Granted even though EA shuttered Origin Systems, I doubt RPGs would be where they are today without the Ultima series, especially Ultima 3.

I get that Tabula Rasa was a flop, but you saying he is "overblown" is kind of like saying Dan Marino wasn't a good quarterback because he can't throw a 70 yard pass anymore. Garriott could stop working today and his mark has been left.

@Famous Mortimer
And he's a f*ckinig ASTRONAUT.

Wait, so as much as I love the Joystiq humor...where was the story? Did he have to sell his home because of financial troubles or something? Is he actually even selling the home? Is he moving to Russia to be closer to space flight stuff?

Information would have been nice :|

pretty low price for a place like that. There's pretty average/normal mansions I see that go for sale around the same price

His house is full of secret passages and hidden rooms.

Seriously!

His house also comes with access to the secret Moongate Travel Network where you can travel anywhere in the world, as long as you leave in the middle of the night.

As long as the gargoyles don't come around to check the Codex, it'd be a nice place to live.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britannia_Manor

This is 1 of 3 houses. There is a link to a video.

His version of broke would be having to worry that he may only be able to have Steak 5 days and Lobster 2 days in the week. He might have to wait a month between new car purchases.

Did anyone read the wikipedia entry part on "Burglary"

"In 1997 the house was broken into by a deranged fan. Garriott held him off with an Uzi, firing a warning shot while waiting for police to arrive."

IMO, the house itself seems relatively tame, given the credentials of its owner. Also, it's in Texas. (

@sigma8
hm. some symbols got dropped. Anyway, that last bit was bait.

@sigma8

No, it is in/near Austin, which is not Texas but surrounded by Texas.

LOL!!! Nice one. On the serious side...I think that bailing on Tabula Rasa was a bit premature, and marketing could have been a LOT better.

You can't ignore or discount the man's contribution to PC gaming, and ultimately console gaming, during the 80s and the 90s. He's a relic of the bedroom game programmers of that era. Thankfully, we're starting to see them again with the explosion of independent game development.

That being said, he's definitely been sidelined and has faded from the picture, and hasn't come up with anything new and compelling lately. His glory days ended with the release of Ultima Online, though arguably the ultimate pinnacle of his game craftsmanship was Ultima VI, because that was the last product that he has actual design credit on.

Breaking News

Richard Garriott is selling the manor

Reader Comments (20)

Posted: Oct 19th 2011 11:44AM Rollins said

Posted: Oct 19th 2011 11:54AM Raehj said

Posted: Oct 19th 2011 12:23PM EtherealMoon said

Posted: Oct 19th 2011 12:38PM VIVIsectVI said

Posted: Oct 19th 2011 3:06PM Famous Mortimer said

Posted: Oct 19th 2011 3:53PM JCat said

Posted: Oct 19th 2011 4:00PM Raehj said

Posted: Oct 19th 2011 4:32PM Famous Mortimer said

Posted: Oct 19th 2011 8:08PM MystcLazrDragon said

Posted: Oct 19th 2011 12:26PM sammo21 said

Posted: Oct 19th 2011 12:31PM aray48 said

Posted: Oct 19th 2011 12:40PM Kamalot said

Posted: Oct 19th 2011 12:47PM Cranky Penguin said

Posted: Oct 19th 2011 1:00PM Gibbeynator said

Posted: Oct 19th 2011 1:04PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 19th 2011 1:47PM sigma8 said

Posted: Oct 19th 2011 1:48PM sigma8 said

Posted: Oct 19th 2011 6:41PM (Unverified) said

Posted: Oct 19th 2011 4:48PM RaQin said

Posted: Oct 19th 2011 5:16PM (Unverified) said

Info

Description

MSRP

Release Date

Genre

Developer

Publisher

Rating

Breaking News

WB conjures up Harry Potter for Kinect this fall

Featured Stories

Weekly Webcomic Wrapup is a stranger in a strange land

Silver Lining: I Am Alive's unfeeling world

Game Of Thrones and the paradoxes of adaptation

Engadget

TUAW

Massively

WoW