Businessweek.com released an interview today with industry veteran Richard Garriott, currently the Executive Producer on the soon to be released science fiction based MMORPG Tabula Rasa. In the interview Garriott discusses what separates the game from everything else and why it took so long to reach it's Novermber 2nd release.

You are known to value research for a new game. What research did you conduct for Tabula Rasa to make it unique?

I'm a devout believer that developing a game with your first instinct isn't likely to be very original, deep, or compelling. I try to make sure the world in which a game is played is rich, detailed, and consistent in fictional background. I'm a fan of the Tolkien series The Lord of the Rings. I believe that is one of best-researched fictional properties in existence, and I try to emulate my hero in world crafting, who is J.R.R. Tolkien.

Read up on everything else General British said in Businessweek.com's interview.