Back when I was working for one of NCSoft's studios, Richard Garriott came out and took a giant steaming dump on us in the press - and at the time he still worked for NCSoft. Needless to say, we were all pretty offended. He apologized, of course - but it looks like he's still up to the same old tricks.
Why speak your mind tactfully when you can call everyone else bad at their jobs and get more buzz as a result?
Garriott always struck me as a bit of an attention whore. There's the author self inserts in just about every game (Including Tabula Rasa, a failed MMO where he took the title as General British), the random lashing out at various people with what seems like no intent other than to stir the pot..
I saw him speak at SXSW... he didn't strike me a terribly humble man... On top of that, there was a band that did video game music covers and they covered some Ultima song. He gave a presentation on his new game, cut into the bands set time, and then left before they were able to play their cover for him. Not very classy for a guy who refers to himself as Lord British.
I'm not sure why people talk about him as being especially brilliant or creative, he hasn't exactly branched out much in the type of games he makes.
Why speak your mind tactfully when you can call everyone else bad at their jobs and get more buzz as a result?