Rather than provide you with yet another philosophical magnum opus, this week in Ask Massively will provide a simple answer to a simple question.
Dear Ask Massively,
What's up with NCSoft's "Operation Immortality"? Do fans really expect their DNA to be stored in space? I realize that this is cheap advertising and an ego boost for Richard Garriott, but the last time I made travel plans, "Russian Cosmonaut Spaceways" was rather pricy, shouldn't they be using that money to make a game that doesn't suck?
-Spaced Out
As with most stories, there is more to this than meets the eye. I promised simplicity in my answer so I'll break it down for you after the jump.
I guess the most important thing to clear up is the fact that Garriott is using his own money to finance this junket into Earth's orbit. In fact, his father, Owen, was an astronaut who worked on Skylab in the early 1970's. This would make Richard the first child of an American astronaut to go into space. Richard Garriott is using "the bulk of [his] fortune" to make this trip, so it is more of a fulfillment of a childhood dream than a vainglorious safari into the wild blue yonder.
So what about "Operation Immortality"? Well, if Garriott is going on the trip anyway, why not use it for advertising Tabula Rasa? From a thematic perspective, it makes sense. From a privacy standpoint, I'm not sure I'd want to donate DNA samples to a foreign government, or my own for that matter, but to each their own. The biggest benefit to NCSoft, and to Garriott, is the renewed interest in Tabula Rasa. If this publicity stunt (and while it may not have been Garriott's intention to make this a publicity stunt, it certainly has become one) works, then it will bode well for the continued health of a very expensive MMO. Considering the cost to NCSoft, the advertising is extremely cost-effective.
That being said, Tabula Rasa has a lot more issues than advertising to work through in order to become successful in the marketplace. Some of the most recent changes appear to be going over well and there are rumors of more changes to come. Assuming that they can maintain some of the new users obtained through this advertising push, Tabula Rasa might just hang in there long enough to survive in the long haul. I don't know that I would have paid for such an advertising campaign if I were one of the suits at NCSoft, but if I had it drop into my lap in this fashion, I certainly would take advantage of it as much as I could.
That's all we have for this week. If you have a question for us, feel free to stop by our tip line or send us an email to ask AT massively DOT com. If the nice lady in Europe really follows through on her dying pledge to send me "5.85 millon US dollar", I may put a down payment on my own trip into space.
