Ten Questions with the Academy: Richard Garriott

Richard Garriott is a member of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences.  He was inducted into the Academy’s Hall of Fame in 2006.  He spoke at the D.I.C.E. Summit® in 2006, and will speak again in 2010.


Q: What game are you most jealous of?
 
A: Diablo was the game that I was most jealous of. They made the action RPG I wished was at the core of some of the later Ultimas.  I would have then added all the Ultima depth to it and had a great time!


Q: Tell us one of your recent professional insights.
 
A: The cost of space travel will come down between 10x and 100x very soon! (I know I am cheating with a space travel example, but it’s true!)


Q: How do you measure success?
 
A: As an artist, I make art both for myself, but also hoping others will like it. I have found my best successes came when I believed devoutly in a game often never understood by the company until near or after release. I have made my worst failures when I listened to critics along the path of creation and watered down a vision into something that was no long the pure vision it began with.


Q: What's your favorite part of game development?

A: Reality Crafting is the part I enjoy and find I have unique ability to contribute to. Virtue systems, story craft, cultural histories, social relevance, languages and maps – these are my favorite parts.


Q: What’s the one problem of game development you wish you could instantly solve?
 
A: Development time. In the movie industry you can buy everything but the good idea off the shelf. In ours, we are reinventing the tools constantly, so it’s much harder.


Q: On a practical basis, what’s the one thing you’re going to tackle next?

A: Bring quality design and technology to social media games.


Q: Are games important?

A: Absolutely! As important as books, film and television. Perhaps more so, due to their ability to engage us much more deeply.
 

Q: Do you think it’s important for developers to continue playing games?

A: Yes.
 

Q: What's the biggest challenge you see facing the industry?
 
A: Keeping up with changing platforms and tastes, while keeping costs and dev times under control.


Q: Finally, when you look at the future is there one great big trend that affects everyone?

A: The broadening of the market to include vast numbers of “casual” gamers. I believe there are great games that everyone will love, but it will take a few cycles for developers to figure it out. But it is already shifting the economics of the game dramatically.