Dubbed Lord British during his high school days for what his peers perceived as a British accent, Richard Garriott is best known as the creative force behind the Ultima series. Garriott has often donned medieval attire to promote his fantasy games in the past, but at publisher, NCsoft’s press event during this year’s E3, the gaming luminary updated his attire to promote his new sci-fi themed MMO, Tabula Rasa.

Always the showman, Garriott’s futuristic military uniform fit well with Tabula Rasa’s futuristic setting where an evil alien empire known as the Bane has pushed humanity to the edge of extinction. And it’s no coincidence, as Garriott’s costume matches the in-game version of himself which you can see in the background on the monitor below.

Above: Garriott strikes a serious pose next to his in-game character to promote Tabula Rasa

“Since Tabula Rasa is a near future game (as opposed to historical fantasy) I had to update my persona as you might say. This is General British attire as you will see my character in the game periodically as well,” explained Garriott.

Garriott is currently piloting his virtual Lord General through the battlefields of Tabula Rasa’s live test. The current testers can certainly try to kill him if they want, but the designer has access to special invulnerability commands that he can turn on whenever he logs in, making him a hard target.

But Garriott is sure that one day he’ll forget to turn on this invincibility option available to him. If you’re feeling lucky, head here to sign up for a chance to test the game out before it releases this fall. Who knows? If you run into him, you might be able to catch the Lord General unawares.

In the meantime, check out our previews to find out how Tabula Rasa’s blend of role-playing goodness and shooting action tries to inject stories that matter and gameplay that’s less focused on pressing hot-keys into the MMORPG genre that’s infamous for ignorable quests and click-click combat. Also, don’t forget to make your way to the Images and Movies tabs above for new screens and trailers.

July 12, 2007