“As of today, I’m no longer with NCsoft. I can’t go into any details on that. However, I am looking for a position as an Outsourced Art Production Manager.”

So, it seems there’s something to the rumours then, eh?

What gaming company wouldn’t aspire to have that kind of revenue?

Starting an MMO is almost always a surefire death sentence for the company, yet so many companies keep trying and keep dying. What is wrong with people?

There’s gold in them hills!!

It’s the whole wild west frontier mentality all over again – the chances to get a hit are minute, most of the people who try get killed but when you hit.. you HIT!

Won’t this make Garriott’s Operation Imortality publicity stunt even more pointless now?

Probably a lost cause, but I believe NCSoft demoted Garriott from having anything to do with development to being purely a public face not long after Tabula Rasa. So interviews and publicity stunts is pretty much his job now.

That’s on a reasonably modern PC that runs, for example, Age of Conan at the max settings at the native resolution with AA enabled…

I doubt that’s going to happen anytime soon. I have discovered since starting mmo’s that i spend ALLOT less money when im playing one. Not only do I not end up buying 5 games a month that I only enjoy 1 of, I have allot less bloody freetime to go to movies, date, bathe, etc. It is really allot like I imagine crack addiction is. After you cease to get the rush you must keep going to maintain your current happy level.
Subscription mmo’s will die right after crack does im sure….

Ditto on Anet mastering episodic gaming. Not only were GW’s standalones released surprising regularity, but had tons of new content as well.

Charging a subscription and then asking players to buy $30 expansions is a ripoff. GW’s pricing model is perfect. My hope is that GW2 — with its persistent elements and other “traditional” MMORPG trappings — convinces consumers to abandon subscription gaming altogether.