RPS: First off, why Kickstarter? I mean, you’ve kinda been to space. You also owned a castle. Have all your years of extravagant Texan hedonism finally taken their toll?
Richard Garriott: I have and continue to invest millions into Portalarium. But to properly fund Shroud of the Avatar, we either needed to consider a publishing partnership with a large distribution partner, or go directly to the players.
As I reflect on my own work of the past, my favorites are Ultima IV, Ultima VII and Ultima Online. All three of those were different enough that my publisher – often my own company – did not support or understand what I was doing until it was finished. But since I finished it “my way” I’m pleased with the results, and they were landmark successes.
But there were some games I made where our publisher forced us to ship before the product was finished and those results were never good, even though they had plenty of potential. By going direct to the players, we can not only avoid becoming beholden to outside influences, but instead build a relationship directly with players, for whom we are building this game.
