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Garriott says he was forced out by NCsoft News
MMO PC News by Oli Welsh
Tabula Rasa creator Richard Garriott claims that he was forced out by former employer NCsoft, and the publisher subsequently "re-characterised" the move as voluntary.
That's according to the suit for fraud Garriott brought against the Korean company this week. Gamasutra has obtained a copy of the court filing.
The suit says that Garriott was told of the decision by phone in October 2008, while he was still in quarantine in Russia following his space flight.
In his complaint, Garriott says he "objected to his dismissal". NCsoft's US head at the time Chris Chung "insisted the decision was final -- Mr. Garriott had to go". Then, Garriott says, NCsoft internally "re-characterised" the decision as voluntary.
In November last year, Garriott's departure from NCsoft was announced as a resignation. He apparently told players that the decision was all his own.
"Many of you probably wonder what my plans are, now that I have achieved the lifelong dream of going to space. 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," read the statement.
Garriott says he approved this statement at the time, but now views it as a contrivance by NCsoft to make his decision appear voluntary.
Garriott's claims of fraud, to the tune of USD 24 million, rest on this accusation. He had to sell his NCsoft stock within 90 days of a voluntary resignation - whereas, if he'd been sacked, he'd have been able to hang on to them until 2011. Due to the weakness of the stock market at the time, Garriott claims this lost him millions.
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Comments: 1-24 of 24 in total
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kangarootoo
07/05/09 @ 10:00
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"Garriott says he approved this statement at the time, but now views it as a contrivance by NCsoft to make his decision appear voluntary."
Make your mind up dude. |
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NCsoft should sue Garriot for fraud too; he was supposed to make a good space MMO for them, but instead he spent all the money on going to space himself. Tabula Rasa was crap. Lord British sitting in his space ship or in his medieval castle in Texas is so far out of touch with anything, it has become obvious that he must not be listened to or trusted or (heaven forbid) be allowed to lead a company.
Getting rid of Garriot was the smartest thing NCsoft has done in a long time. And he should not have lied about wanting to quit in the forst place and then come back and sue. Stock prices change, dude, get over it. Sell off some of your antique suits or armours or maybe some sports cars if money's tight after blowing all that cash on the spece trip. What a moron. |
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Maybe Garriot just needs the money after spending such a rediculous amount on going into space. Now that he's back (physically not mentally) and no-one gives a damned that he went in the first place, he's finally realised what a stupid waste of money it was. Now it looks like he's trying to get every penny he can to save his castle.
A fool and his money as they always say! |
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Gotta love how so many commenters consider themselves so incredibly superior to Garriot. I bet he's really worked up about it too, if he has a chance to read Eurogamer comments when he's not fulfilling his lifelong dreams and doing everything he always wanted to do.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 07/05/09 @ 11:27
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kangarootoo
07/05/09 @ 12:17
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"but instead he spent all the money on going to space himself"
I don't think it was actually their cash he spent on going into space. I'm pretty sure they will all run a slightly tighter set of accounting books than that. You don't literally just get given a big bag of gold coins you know. |
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optimusprym8
07/05/09 @ 15:12
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NCsoft should be the ones with the fraud case with the amount of their money he spent on far too many years of development of a shitty title. However they also should have had the balls to cancel it well before it even got near the door but then, you don't mess with Texas
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@JammyPez
I think you are assuming he is still rich. You don't stay rich by spending 17 million while having no income. Remember the IRS would have wanted to grab some tax from that. I can only imagine the tax bill he got at the end of the year. I recon he's doing a Jackson and now needs the cash! |
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kangarootoo
07/05/09 @ 16:35
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"I think you are assuming he is still rich. You don't stay rich by spending 17 million while having no income."
Well, you do if you have 37mil to start with. I don't know what RG has in his pocket, but he is bonkers rich and probably has plenty of income from investments without having to ever actually work again. |
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If the contents of the suit are truthful (you can read it over at gamepolitics.com), then to me it sounds like he has a valid claim. His current or previous wealth, his lifestyle/eccentricity and the quality of Tabula Rasa (a game that typically scored around 80% on release) have no real influence on the validity of his claim.
"Garriott says he approved this statement at the time, but now views it as a contrivance by NCsoft to make his decision appear voluntary." Make your mind up dude. From what I've read, he felt obliged to approve the statement in the interest of not sullying the relationship with NCsoft, in order to try and protect his share options. I feel it's probably worth noting that he was told of his "dismissal" by phone whilst he was still in quarantine from his space flight. Looks like someone thought they were onto a good thing when the stock was going up and they sold, and now the stock has shot up in price they are regreting it. A stock option is an agreement to sell shares to a party at a pre-agreed price. The shares in question were part of a 10year option used as part payment for NCsoft's acquisition of his company in 2001. The voluntary termination clause required him to exercise his options within 90days, which would have required him to purchase the shares at the agreed 2001 price or lose them.
Edited 1 times,
most recently on 08/05/09 @ 04:29
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kangarootoo
08/05/09 @ 12:29
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@BootLace
Good link. Just had a read through, and it does indeed look like he might have a case. |
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kangarootoo
08/05/09 @ 12:31
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"He won't see a penny - FACT"
Why do people think that randomly writing fact in uppercase letters actually means their supposition is any more likely to be true. Nobody here, including me, really knows anything about the legal aspects of this case. Me and my friends used to that when we were 12 years old ffs. My GUESS is that he will make SOME money, via an out of court settlement. FACT. |
Comments: 1-24 of 24 in total
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