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Interview: Bill Roper on leaving Blizzard, online plans, game plans, and game design tools.
Date: November 11, 2003
Source: Boomtown.net

Boomtown Interview

Q: When you left Blizzard/Vivendi, did you know that you would be starting up your own company? And did you think it would happen as quickly as it has?

A: Leaving Blizzard was not a carefully planned out event, but as soon as we realised it was happening, we had no other real thought than getting together to start a new game company. Dave, Erich and Max started Condor ten years ago and we were all more than happy to start down the independent road again.

In regards to how rapidly things have developed since we started Flagship Studios, it has been an amazingly hectic time. We’ve compacted the months of planning and establishing publisher and vendor contacts into days or weeks. At times it has felt like we’re a juggler with about thirty balls in the air, but every day is an adventure and it’s incredibly exciting.

Q: Going way back in time, there was a company called Condor that was acquired by Blizzard and renamed, “Blizzard North”. Is this a revisiting of the independence you had as Condor? Is the new team all from Blizzard North?

A: There are some similarities in the way we’re starting up Flagship as to how Condor got off the ground, but there are some very big differences as well. We’ve started by working out of our homes, as I think every start-up should for the sake of tradition if nothing else, and the whole endeavour has been run out of pocket. We’re all good friends who are passionate about games and are amazingly energised over working on our own intellectual property, much like in the early Condor days.

One of the differences is that people actually know who we are this time around. Max always tells the story of how they used to go booth to booth at the old Consumer Entertainment Show in Las Vegas, trying to get just a few moments of anyone’s time to talk about their game idea. When word got out that we were out on our own this time around, publishers, fans and other developers called to see what we were up to or just offer words of encouragement.

Another big difference is the fact that we have all been making games for a while now, and have a series of successes under our belts. Although our company is just starting out, we do have a solid foundation from which to build and we know how to make games that people enjoy playing.

A lot of our ability to dive right into making a game also comes from the fact that everyone at Flagship has worked together for several years at Blizzard North. After Dave, Erich, Max and I left, we were very lucky to have a lot of people with whom we had worked before contact us to see what our plans were. After figuring that out ourselves, we decided on who would be a perfect fit for what we wanted to create. Fortunately, all of them made the decision to join us and it’s been going gangbusters since!

Q: You already have a game in development. What is your ETA on release of this game?

A: It is impossible to set a realistic date this early in the development process since our design philosophy is so organic and iterative. We do have an idea of how long we want to take to create the game, but we’re very wary about setting expectations with the gaming community on when that is. Gamers are a passionate, devoted lot and they have long memories for story details, features and release dates. Even when you’re just chatting about ideas, those tend to get written in stone somewhere. So although we have a reasonable idea of when we will have the game done, it’s still too early to say.

Q: Assuming you continue with the style of games that your success is built on (Diablo, Diablo II, StarCraft, etc.) how are you going to replace Battle.net – Blizzard’s online play portal? Are you considering using any existing portals?

A: We look at all available technologies whenever we begin working on something that has already been created and then evaluate whether we think it is better for the game to use that or create our own. When we start down the path of fleshing out the online network model for the game, I am sure we’ll take that same approach.

We really think it is best to have the game design drive the technology as opposed to the other way around. Just because there may be an utterly amazing piece of technology out there available to license, that may not be the best thing for the design of the game.

Q: Were you ever limited while with Blizzard on the game building tools you could use and are you now excited to be able to use something different? If so, what?

A: Blizzard really had a philosophy of creating almost all their own technology and tools and it obviously served them well. We were a part of that decision-making progress and while there were certainly disagreements at times over what technology or tool was the best to use, the teams always worked things out. If there is any real change to that now, it’s that – for better or for worse – we’ll get to use what we want to, although as with any healthy development process, there will be discussion over what that should be within the team.

Q: What partnerships are you looking for in the future, as you develop projects? Are you looking to the big established publishers or are you focusing on some of the smaller independents out there?

A: We want to establish a relationship with a publishing partner who has the same dedication to creating and supporting excellent games as we do. We’re focused on creating the best game that we possibly can and we want to know that the people we’re working with to get that game into the hearts and minds of players, as well as on to store shelves and out via the Internet, have the same goals in mind. Fortunately, we’ve been meeting with a lot of folks who do have the vision to work with us to make something special, and that has been exciting and reassuring.

Q: The development of any game can be a very long and expensive process. Are you looking for private investment to get off the ground? Or do you have private investment?

A: Currently we are our own investors, mainly because we believe in what we’re doing. Going forward, we’ve looked at everything from private investors to financial organisations to lenders to venture capital to somewhat more traditional developer / publishing deals. We’ve been taking things at a good pace and feel like things are going quite well.

Q: Will the games you developed while with Blizzard become your competition? And if so, is that an awkward feeling… to compete against your own creation?

A: When we were at Blizzard we always felt we were our own toughest competition, so in some ways that really hasn’t changed. The great thing about the games industry is that there are enough genres and enough players (and the potential for many more) that you could see double the number of great games in the marketplace and we’d all do extremely well. We’re looking forward to the stuff that Blizzard has in the pipeline and we hope they feel the same about us.

Q: What pieces of the puzzle are you missing or looking to add to? Staff, publishing, hosting or something else?

A: We have a great core team and a fantastic game in progress, but we will certainly need to expand our company in the coming year. We’re looking to find a great publishing partner, a hosting centre for our online component (which could be one and the same), a cool and creative workspace, you know - the works! The great thing about what we do is that we can be extremely productive with computers, desks and a place to put them. The rest of the pieces will fall into place as we progress.

Q: As an artist, you create a style, almost a signature with your work. Do you feel that you have to recreate or adjust your style to avoid claims of legal infringement by Blizzard?

A: Obviously we cannot use anything we created while we were at Blizzard, but the individual design sense, conceptual vision and individual style of the members of Flagship Studios will merge into something new and unique. While we are all grateful for the opportunities we had over the years at Blizzard and are proud of what we accomplished there, we’re focused on making something new and exciting that will be definitely ours.