Hickman will not only be adding his digitized DNA to the "Immortality Drive," excerpts of his writings will also be included on the storage device Garriott will store on the ISS as part of Operation Immortality. The Immortality Drive is currently in the process of being loaded with information from people all over the world at the OperationImmortality.com website. Hickman will be talking about the project as he addresses crowds at the Gen Con gaming convention today in Indianapolis, Indiana.

Visitors to the website can submit their suggestions for humanity's greatest achievements, leave their immortalized message for future generations, and may even have their DNA selected to join Garriott and other luminaries on an out of this world trip to possibly become the future of mankind.

Garriott is a game developer at NCsoft® and creator of the Ultima series of games and the recently released Tabula Rasa®. The goal of Operation Immortality is to have a space-borne record of human DNA and a record of humanity's achievements in the event a global calamity dooms the human species, similar to what happens in the Tabula Rasa video game.

"Mankind is at its best whenever we set our vision to the stars," Hickman said. "One of my first memories was of watching Alan Shepard fly his Mercury capsule atop a Redstone rocket. I have lived my entire life dreaming of space. 'Operation Immortality' is essentially a celebration of that same adventuring spirit and an offering of hope for the future. I am deeply honored to participate."

The Tabula Rasa team is thrilled by Hickman's participation in Operation Immortality. "Looking back to the influences that impacted my career, Tracy Hickman's Chronicles series left a lasting impression on me," said Tom Potter, Tabula Rasa's lead designer. "His novels were my first exposure to epic fantasy, and even though I read them at an early age, the setting and characters he created still continue to influence me all these years later."

Media, including photos and videos, for this press release can be found at: http://www.rgtr.com/media_downloads/operation_immortality_gallery/index.html.

About Tracy Hickman
Tracy Raye Hickman is a best-selling fantasy author, best known for his work on Dragonlance as a game designer and co-author with Margaret Weis. They also wrote the Darksword trilogy, the Death Gate Cycle, and the Sovereign Stone trilogy. Tracy Hickman was born in Salt Lake City, Utah on November 26, 1955. He married his High School sweetheart, Laura Curtis, in 1977. In 1981 — between jobs and wanting to buy shoes for their children - Tracy and Laura approached TSR, Inc., the publisher of the Dungeons & Dragons games, about buying two of their game designs, including the original 'Ravenloft' adventure . . . and ended up with a job instead. That job lead to his association with Margaret Weis and their first novel publication together: the Dragonlance Chronicles.More recently, Tracy and his wife Laura have been able to fulfill a long-time dream of writing together. The Hickmans are currently working on their 'Drakis' trilogy (Daw Books) while Tracy continues his partnership with Weis with the upcoming six-book series, 'Dragonships' (Tor Books). More information can be found at www.trhickman.com.

About NCsoft Corporation
NCsoft North America is headquartered in Austin, Texas and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Korea-based NCsoft Corporation. NCsoft, with its own development and publishing offices in Texas and California, also works with other NCsoft subsidiaries and third party developers throughout North America to develop and publish innovative online entertainment software products. The company has successfully launched multiple online titles in the last three years and continues to support its franchises, which include Lineage®/Lineage II, City of Heroes®/City of Villains®, Guild Wars®/Guild Wars Factions®/Guild Wars Nightfall®/Guild Wars: Eye of the North™, Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa, Dungeon Runners™ and Exteel™. More information about NCsoft can be found at www.PlayNC.com.

NCsoft, the interlocking NC logo, PlayNC, Lineage, City of Heroes, City of Villains, Guild Wars, Guild Wars Factions, Guild Wars Nightfall, Guild Wars: Eye of the North, Tabula Rasa, Dungeon Runners, Exteel and all associated logos and designs are trademarks or registered trademarks of NCsoft Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Contacts:
David Swofford, 512 623-8002, dswofford@ncaustin.com
Janna Bureson, 512 623-8051, jbureson@ncaustin.com
Mike Crouch, 512 623-8615, mcrouch@ncaustin.com