Lord British: Egomaniac?

source: http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/03/19/richard-garriott-game-designers-suck/,
http://ca.ign.com/articles/2013/03/20/richard-garriot-most-game-designers-really-just-suck?abthid=514b4d3001f2cfa04500000e

Richard Garriott, also known as Lord British, believes that "most game designers really just suck." While his words may have been taken out of context by PC Gamer, there is the underlying sense of superiority to his words. He believes that while he is not the best designer out there, he has had more time to make and learn from his mistakes. He goes on to say that designing is the hardest aspect of making video games to learn formally.

If I take his words into context, it still gives me the uneasy feeling that he percieves himself better than others. I'm in school for game design. I do realize that game design is hard, but to be considered by one of the "founders" of PC Gaming as lazy and lacking in talent is disheartening.  I can only imagine what real game designers thought of his words.

How then, should a game designer be? Should we be Lord British's notion of what a game designer is, an artist/programmer/designer all in one? Or should we be the ones to tear his perceptions down, that we can be simply designers and still make great games? I take his words not as an insult but a challenge. I just have two words to say to Mr. Garriott: "CHALLENGE ACCEPTED!"

-RJ Benavidez