Lord British reigns supreme in NCSoft suit, walks away with $28 million

In 2008, Ultima creator Richard "Lord British" Garriott was on top of the world. Literally. He had a cushy seat atop one of the world's largest MMO developers, and he - you know - went to outer space. Unfortunately, it was all downhill from there.

Until today.

After suing NCSoft last year, lassoing the MMO behemoth, and dragging it back to his home turf of Texas, Garriott was recently awarded $28 million by a federal court.

Apparently, Garriott was seeking $47 million - not $24 million as was initially reported. Still, $28 million is nothing to scoff at, and Garriott - fictional royalty though he may be - seemed pretty satisfied with the $28 million chunk of change that landed in his cup.

"I am extremely pleased with the jury's decision," Garriott said in a statement to the Statesman. "The facts were clear that my departure from NCsoft was not voluntary. I am very pleased with the final award."

After firing Garriott in 2008, NCSoft alleged that the Ultima creator's departure was voluntary - a tiny swipe of red ink that would have had a major impact on Garriott's stock options. Garriott, of course, was outraged - especially seeing as he'd just spent $20 million on a couple round-trip rocket ship tickets - and it seems the court felt the same way.

With his days of space travel at least temporarily behind him, Garriott's focus now rests on getting something not powered by rocket fuel off the ground: a new social media venture known as Portalarium.  Sounds like one small step for social media, and one giant leap for made-up words to us. Although, with a brand new cash infusion, that small step might end up making some pretty sizable prints.