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Interview: Bill Roper talks about leaving Blizzard and starting up a new company.
Date: July 12, 2003
Source: Gamespy

GameSpy Interview

GameSpy: You've been at Blizzard for quite some time. How many years in total?

Bill Roper: I joined Blizzard eight years and eleven months ago. I was hired as a contractor providing music for the PC version of Blackthorne and I also did the first voiceover for the CES demo of Warcraft: Orcs & Humans. I first became a full-time employee on August 1st, 1994. GameSpy: Tell us a little bit about your career at Blizzard and some of the things you are most proud of.

Bill Roper: Working at Blizzard has given me amazing opportunities to work in many areas of bringing a game from concept to completion. I've been able to do everything from game design to producing, manual concept and layout to voice casting, directing and acting to music, [and] being a member of several strike teams that provide high-level feedback to the development teams. I've also worked with some the best game makers in the business.

Here's how the credits in the games break it down, although these don't include any of the Macintosh or console versions on which I also worked, mainly as a producer. When you add in the work that the other guys have done, you'd need a few more pages to fit it all in.

Blackthorne (1994) - Music
Warcraft: Orcs & Humans (1994) - Producer, Voiceover, Documentation
Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness (1995) - Design, Narration, Voiceover, Documentation
Warcraft II: Beyond the Dark Portal (1996) - Executive Producer, Story Consultant, Narration, Voiceover
Diablo (1997) - Producer, Voice Production, Casting & Directing, Story, Voiceover, Documentation, Strike Team
StarCraft (1998) - Producer, Voiceover, Documentation, Strike Team
StarCraft: Brood War (1998) - Executive Producer, Voiceover, Documentation
Warcraft II: Battle.net Edition (1999) - Producer
Diablo II (2000) - Senior Producer, Voice Casting, Voiceover, Strike Team
Diablo II: Lord of Destruction (2001) - Global Launch Team, Strike Team
Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos (2002) - Voiceover, Strike Team

I also acted as Blizzard's localization producer for many years, and director of third-party development. It was in this role that I first met Dave Brevik and Erich and Max Schaefer. I also had the privilege of being the main spokesperson for Blizzard, talking about and showing our games to the press and gamers around the world.

GameSpy: Has this been something you have been considering, waiting for the right opportunity, or was there a trigger that forced you guys to say, "That's it, let's do this!"

Bill Roper: The decision to startup a new company was really a result of our departure from Blizzard as opposed to the reason behind it. We didn't sit around planning to start something new, but when we talked about what we were interested in doing after leaving, we all agreed that continuing to work together making great games was at the top of the list.

GameSpy: There has been a lot turmoil surrounding Vivendi and the attempted sale of its game division. Blizzard, for the most part, though, was fairly autonomous. How did that turmoil affect the company and you and your departed colleagues?

Bill Roper: We have always tried to shield the development teams from the corporate process as much as possible so they could focus on making games. That being said, it was certainly becoming an increasingly difficult task in many regards. While I can only really speak for Blizzard North, the uncertainly surrounding our future in regards to who was going to own us understandably caused a lot of speculation and uncertainty. Our lack of participation in the process made it difficult for us to provide any insight to the people we worked with.

GameSpy: You've given your reason for departing the company as frustration at the lack of communication with Vivendi management and a dearth of opportunities for you and your colleagues to participate in deciding Blizzard's destiny. Can you give us some specifics on the way this lack of communication affected day-to-day operations at Blizzard. Was there attempted interference in creative decisions, hiring, or other areas that were particularly frustrating?

Bill Roper: There really was no impact on the development teams. No one ever came in and imposed their designs on us or anything like that. Blizzard has always fought fiercely for their independence in order to make the best games possible, and Vivendi Universal Games certainly respected the success that that brought. Our issues were more focused on long-term issues outside of direct, day-to-day development.

GameSpy: Are there any particular rumors circling that you'd like to squash?

Bill Roper: The one thing we've seen that simply isn't true is that we had some knowledge of who would be the purchaser in an impending sale, and that we left because of who it is. We don't know anything about any possible buyer, or even if there is one right now.

Also, there's this story about a woman who brings home a cactus that keeps shaking and eventually explodes because it was filled with thousands of baby spiders. We're pretty sure that's not true, either.

GameSpy: Have all the rumors and speculation been getting people down at the company? How did you keep you spirits up?

Bill Roper: Most of the people on the development teams have been through at least one change of ownership, so any conjecture about a sale is usually taken with a grain of salt. The more mass-media driven the story is, especially if it involves a big name company, the more the teams take notice, though. It does make for some mornings filled with phone calls and e-mails trying to confirm or deny the reports. A sale is something that everyone expects but no one has any insight into, making it like a constant background noise -- not too distracting, but always there.

Going forward, we have focused on getting things up and running as quickly as possible -- not to mention having an amazingly good time doing the nascent design work on our first game idea. We haven't paid the speculation around our departure much attention. We do know that people are very interested and excited about our intentions to startup a new game company, even to the point of getting voicemail messages from Diablo players wishing us all the best and asking for us to get working ASAP!

GameSpy: If Vivendi's management was part of your decision to leave and they're looking to sell the company, was there no way you could have waited it out and seen what a new management team could bring to the table?

Bill Roper: Although we did discuss waiting until we had new owners, we had no guarantee that we would have any more involvement in the process of discussing our future with them than we were having now. This was the result of the last step in a long process, and unfortunately, our resignations were accepted at the end.

GameSpy: Given the speed of your departure, how can you be sure that it won't hurt the company or Vivendi's prospects for a sale?

Bill Roper: The one thing that we all have been concerned with is the great people we are leaving behind at Blizzard North. They are more than just the people we worked with, they're family. This was an extremely difficult decision, and while we cannot be sure what the ramifications will be, we do know that Blizzard is very determined to make things work. GameSpy: I realize that this entire episode happened kind of fast, but was there always an understanding that the four of you would form a new company together when you left Blizzard? Bill Roper: We never really talked about leaving to form a company, but we have become a tight-knit group over the years, especially during the last two when I moved from the Irvine office to Blizzard North. I think that this decision has come from a gut instinct that this is the right thing -- not a predetermined plan. Obviously, I'm excited at the prospect of stepping out with Dave, Erich, and Max to create a new company, especially in light of what they built with the Diablo franchise.

GameSpy: The issues that caused you to leave -- did it affect all four of you equally or did the others follow you out the door?

Bill Roper: It was certainly something that we all felt the same about. It wasn't a case of any of us following the others, but more of a unified stand.

GameSpy: Can you give us any details about the specific incident that said to you, "That's it, we can't work here anymore?"

Bill Roper: Not really, and to be honest, we're focusing our energies on moving forward. We want to benefit from our combined experiences over the last ten years and use that as a new launching point without dwelling on the downsides. Basically, we are looking to put all of that in the past and keep our eyes firmly planted on the future.

GameSpy: Where do you see your new venture going in terms of game development?

Bill Roper: We are still in the early stages of coming up with a game idea, although we have our favorite genres. A lot of ideas have been tossed around over the past week, and we are narrowing the field to what we believe are the few, best concepts.

GameSpy: What do you think you learned at Blizzard that will be helpful in your new endeavor.

Bill Roper: Teamwork. The team concept is something that has been very successful at Blizzard. We find we make better games when we have others to bounce ideas off of, gain a fresh perspective from, and argue our points with. The best part is, all four of us always do this with the game in mind and know it isn't personal. It is pretty freeing to be able to tell someone on the team that their idea is completely nuts, knowing that at the end of the day, you can both sit down and have a beer without any personal animosity because your end goals are the same.

GameSpy: What mistakes will you try to avoid?

Bill Roper: I think Dave (Brevik, ex-Blizzard North president) put it best when he said, "We started Condor (the company that became Blizzard North -- ed.) when I was twenty-five and I made a lot of mistakes. Now, it's ten years later and I won't make those mistakes again. Of course, I'll make all new mistakes…."

You need to learn from what goes wrong as much as from what goes right, in life and running a business, as much as in making a game. One of our biggest goals is to find a top-quality partner to work with who understands and agrees with our desires to make the absolute highest quality game we can while respecting our interests in maintaining a high level of communication about and control over our ideas. As developers, we pour our time, mental and physical energy, and all of our creativity and emotions into our games. We want to ensure that what we get out of the process is comparable to what we put into it. Fortunately, we have always had that kind of reciprocation from the people who play the games, and that has been a major motivator for us all over the years.

GameSpy: Blizzard has tended to be very methodical with how and when information is released. You had been a point person for Blizzard in terms of granting interviews and you were usually pretty open with information if the right questions were asked. What is your philosophy on how and when information should be disseminated? Do you think your new company will adopt that philosophy?

Bill Roper: I learned a lot at Blizzard about communicating with not just the press, but the community of gamers as well. I don't anticipate that changing in any substantial way, although it is admittedly difficult to come up with all kinds of interesting tidbits this early in the process of putting a company together. I love talking about the games I am working on, and that is never going to change, especially in the future!

GameSpy: Any ideas for a company name yet?

Bill Roper: Too many! Fortunately for us, some of them are actually not bad. We are going to have a lot of work narrowing it down to a few choices and then seeing what is really available. I can't wait to see what the guys come up with as far as a logo is concerned once we have a consensus.

GameSpy: What are your next steps? Do you have kind of timetable yet for your new venture?

Bill Roper: The only timetable we have is as soon as possible. None of us want to take a vacation to Aruba -- well, not yet, anyway -- and we're looking to hit the ground running. I expect that "sooner, rather than later" is going to be our first catchphrase around the office.

GameSpy: Is there any reason why you couldn't work with Blizzard in the future? What would be the pros and cons of such a move? Have you discussed this concept this with your partners?

Bill Roper: While we haven't entered into a great deal of discussion about any potential publishers, we would certainly be open to working with Blizzard. We know all about their dedication to quality and their connection to the gaming community.

GameSpy: Any final thoughts on all your years at Blizzard or parting words for the folks still there?

Bill Roper: Saying goodbye to the people with whom I have spent the better part of a decade with was probably the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life. There are volumes I could say, but I think two words sum it up the best. Thank you!