Garriott sticks with “most game designers suck” comments

Veteran game developer Richard Garriott (Ultima) said some pretty outspoken things last week (20 March 2013), saying that “most game designers suck”, and the enigmatic gaming personality has backed his comments in a statement.

Garriott’s comments that kicked off an uproar from the community were: “I’ve met virtually no one in our industry who I think is close to as good a game designer as I am. I’m not saying that because I think I’m so brilliant. What I’m saying is, I think most game designers really just suck, and I think there’s a reason why.”

Following the feedback from designers and gamers on Twitter, Garriott released a statement to clarify his comments, but didn’t completely back away from his point.

“Wow did I strike a nerve! In the midst of a much longer more contextual conversation, PC Gamer noted “Wow, you just gave me my headline!” At that moment, I knew to brace for an out of context backlash,” said Garriott. “Without the broader real time discussion, as often happens, much can be made out of partial thoughts used as headlines of comments meant as quipping simplification of complex issues, as was the recent case for me. The variations of headlines where I either disparage others, or glorify myself are inaccurate representations of the intent of my full commentary.”

While Garriott did tidy up what that he may have been quoted out of context, he does believe that there is an evident problem in the gaming industry with regards to design.

“Artists can take classes and create portfolios of their work and an employer knows they can do the work. A programmer can take classes and produce code samples to prove the same. For designers, there are now at least a few good schools like the Guildhall at SMU, that turn out quality designers. Yet these quality designers remain a rare breed. Sadly, I really do think that most people who get into design roles on a team have no more skills at design than the programmers and artists. They may not be worse, but they rarely have better training than the others to tackle the hardest job of all, determining what game is going to be built.”

Garriott’s next game Shroud of the Avatar has just passed its US$1-million Kickstarter goal with plenty of days on the clock to reach stretch goals. Catch up with news of the game here: Ultima creator showcases Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues