Looks like Richard Garriott, the Executive Producer for Tabula Rasa at NCSoft, finally got his wish and is making his way to the ISS.  A great personal achievement.  Too bad his last game will not experience the same kind of achievement.

I recently turned down a job at NCSoft here in Austin and it looks like that was a good decision.  It was a hard choice though. I mean to work on MMORPGs world-wide sounded so appealing but the gaming industry is a cut throat sector, plus where I am at now has me on a project I am DETERMINED to see completed.

Congrats Mr. Garriott, I hope your journey will be a safe one.  Now that you got your dream, what will be next for you?  Another MMORPG? God I hope not, lately there are just not enough room in gamers’ mind for another game.

I was looking forward to finding out what all the hype was that surrounded Spore and was about to pick up a copy when I headed over to Amazon, talk about carpet bombing! It seems EA is taking another one in the gut for limiting the number of installs to three.  It seems like PC/Mac users that actually pay for game are subjected to harsh restrictions and though I hate to admit it, such draconian methods do entice many to look for the pirated version.  EA’s DRM solution is stiff and the community responded in the most profound way.  After reading about the bland gameplay from Ars and my personal distaste for DRM solutions, I am going to just skip this one and move on to what is next over the horizon, DC Universe Online! Hey I have to support my Austin developers, go SOE Austin!

Yes, I am one of those mindless fools that paid full price on the latest version of Soul Calibur for the ability to whack others over the head with a light saber though it should do so much more. My review of the game would be a bit jaded due to fanboyism. I will leave that to the capable hands of my all time favorite reviewer, Yahtzee Croshaw:

Oh man talking about belittling a franchise and the fans, but you had to admit, it was hilarious!

I had an opportunity to join the server team at NCsoft here in Austin. Though the salary negotiation did not work out, we left on great terms. I just read that the Austin studio may be shutting down. I wish Matt’s NOC team well. That was a killer group of guys with a down-to-earth leader.

There has been a long pause between posts here but I have a very good excuse. Actually I have several. Let me see if I can convince you.
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