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Bill Roper Departs
Ramael
Member Posts: 91
Given the general dislike of the man I've seen on these forums, I'm surprised no one has jumped on this yet.
http://www.champions-online.com/node/595033
I have no opinion one way or the other, but there you have it.
Comments
Don't worry. It's only a matter of time before the trolls tear into this one.
Maybe because most people have just forgotten about STO, CO ...heck can't be bothered with Cryptic and Atari at all anymore.
It's that you just posted it at the right time for me to see it pop up on the frontpage. As Cryptic, Atari and their games were already long dead and forgotten by me.
Normally, I'd say something trite about him actually being a human being and deserving a modicum of respect and all that, but it'd be wasted on teh interwebz.
I wonder if he really intends on continuing to play Cryptic's games.
I'm not here to complete my forum PVP dailies.
Unfortunately he's like the Influenza virus, he'll be back in some other capacity despoiling some other IP. In the mean time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tP2ph6GwW54
Did Z-man need help with his bees?
Good. The moron crapped all over my childhood.
And I'm not the only one thinking that.
RELAX!@!! BREATHE!!!
whos that?
Bill Roper gained noteriety for a previous MMO, Hellgate: London. I never tried that one, but from what I heard the game had many problems and closed down permanently very quickly (leaving those who had purchased lifetimes subs out of luck). He joined up with Cryptic and was in charge of CO, and then became the head guy for STO for a bit; that happened after STO had launched though, even though people were incorrectly blaming him for STO's problems before STO had launched. After the short stint as head of STO, he replaced Jack Emmert as CCO of Cryptic Studios (Jack became the COO).
Due to his involvement with Hellgate:London and then Cryptic Studios, he's pretty much despised now. Those who played Hellgate: London seem to dislike him the most, not that I can blame those who had paid for lifetime subscriptions only to lose out big like that. I have always felt that Roper was positioned to be a fall guy for Cryptic Studios (and particularly STO): although he has generated a lot of valid criticism, Cryptic seemed to move him from spot to spot in order to draw the ire of their players to him. Given that we have had two of the executive team bigwigs depart this close together, his departure does raise an interesting question: Has Atari finally had enough of Cryptic's poor performance, and are they now (quietly) cleaning house? If so, I wonder if Needham or Emmert are next?
"Oh my, how horrible, someone is criticizing a MMO. Oh yeah, that is what a forum is about, looking at both sides. You rather have to be critical of anything in this genre as of late because the track record of these major studios has just been appalling." -Ozmodan
Well he could put test dummy down as his last employment.
Actually, that may not be a bad idea for him to bring up at interviews: "Look guys; if your game is having problems, all you have to do is parade me around, and everyone will blame me!" Having a ready made fall guy might be attractive to some companies.
"Oh my, how horrible, someone is criticizing a MMO. Oh yeah, that is what a forum is about, looking at both sides. You rather have to be critical of anything in this genre as of late because the track record of these major studios has just been appalling." -Ozmodan
It doesn't seem all that quite or subtle ? The departures on the downside won't change much with exsisting games however. The design decisions have crippled the games Zinc and Bill were involved in . To fix and save this would take more resouces then Atari has.
Actually it is a little more subtle, compared to Funcom's or Mythic's canning of their top guys: In both of those companies the top guys who got canned manned up and took responsibility for their respective game's problems, and although it might not have been labelled as a firing, there was little doubt in most people's minds that was what happened. There's a bit of wiggle room with Cryptic's departures though; there is the possibility, however slight, that the people leaving grew tired of Cryptic's antics and decided to take the high road. While unlikely, it is possible.
"Oh my, how horrible, someone is criticizing a MMO. Oh yeah, that is what a forum is about, looking at both sides. You rather have to be critical of anything in this genre as of late because the track record of these major studios has just been appalling." -Ozmodan
He will be running a new project soon.
Gamers may hate him, but to the suits, that pay the cash to make games, he has a good record. Both games he was heading got made, and launched. I am sure CO made enough off box sales to pay off the money people. HG i have no idea, but would be suprised if it did not make the investors their cash back.
And we all know, the people that want to make money care absolutely nothing about the game once they get their cash back out. Just the way this business is, If someone can sheppard a game through design to launch and make back the investment, all is good to the investors.
He may be the kiss of death to a gamer looking forward to a good game, but that is not who matters on the business end:)
While I agree I think both zinc and Bill were probably forced out . Quite possibly because their salaries were higher then could be afforded. It's also very possible in Zinc's cases that it had to do with artistic integrity. ( I know in this industy it's an oxymoron , lol , like business ethics.) I see whatever the issues , as both being allowed to resign to save face and being provided opportunity of future employment, somewhere else.
Oh btw check the inifinity website download area for a nice little surprise.
True, which is why gamers need to step up and start voting with their wallets more; that includes not buying the box when a MMO launches, if you kmow there are serious problems with a game or if the game has someone like Roper (or Emmert, Needham, etc.) in a position of authority. Watch the box sales drop drastically when someone like him is associated with the game, and see how long he remains the investor's golden boy.
"Oh my, how horrible, someone is criticizing a MMO. Oh yeah, that is what a forum is about, looking at both sides. You rather have to be critical of anything in this genre as of late because the track record of these major studios has just been appalling." -Ozmodan
Infinity: The Quest for Earth? If so, are you talking about the combat prototype download?
"Oh my, how horrible, someone is criticizing a MMO. Oh yeah, that is what a forum is about, looking at both sides. You rather have to be critical of anything in this genre as of late because the track record of these major studios has just been appalling." -Ozmodan
Some people paid $49 for this crap basket. The last MMO that ripped me off was AoC, and before that it was Vanguard (ruined by Salem Grant aka Silius). I'm permanently on the fence for future releases -- unless I see some wide spread and rabid rave reviews.
Actually there were about five people as I recall who were (more or less) responsible for Vanguard's woes. I'll link an old interview someone did with an (ex)Sigil employees, that was given about 24 hours after the infamous parking lot mass-firing SOE did: Link
"Oh my, how horrible, someone is criticizing a MMO. Oh yeah, that is what a forum is about, looking at both sides. You rather have to be critical of anything in this genre as of late because the track record of these major studios has just been appalling." -Ozmodan
dam thats 2 people that i have to keep track of now.... at least when they (zinc and roper) were at cryptic they could only make that game lousy, and i allready knew that. now theres no telling what damage they will do to some as yet unknown game.
IF THE ONLY DEFENCE FOR CRITICISM OF A GAME IS CALLING SOMEONE A TROLL OR HATER, THAT SAYS A LOT ABOUT THE QUALITY OF THE GAME
It's always best to keep an eye on who has a position of authority on any MMO you are interested in; if Atari is beginning to clean their Cryptic house, that list is going to grow.
"Oh my, how horrible, someone is criticizing a MMO. Oh yeah, that is what a forum is about, looking at both sides. You rather have to be critical of anything in this genre as of late because the track record of these major studios has just been appalling." -Ozmodan
Didn't SOE buy Vanguard to prevent it from becoming competition to EQ 2 ? It wasn't a bad game , it had a horrible start but it had potential . It's too bad.
Cryptic is simply out of touch with the genre, and they hired Roper to get his name attached to their company mistakingly thinking people would see it as a positive. Simple as that. I don't think he did one solitary thing to effect CO or STO. Well except damage every time he opened his trap to the press that is. Just more fail from fail ridden Craptic.
A product has to have a HUGE volume of sales to make much money off of box sales. With the development budgets that are sunk into most MMO's these days very few will even come close to breaking even off of box sales. The real money comes from recurring subscriptions and related fees. If you want to see the evidence of this, just take a look at what the big players outside the gaming sphere like Microsoft and Oracle are doing these days and how they are trying to position themselves. No one wants to sell software these days, there is so little return on each unit sold that you really need huge volume to make any money off that. Everyone wants to sell services....because you get a steady stream of recurring income...and a much larger percentage of each "sale" under that model goes into your pocket.
Of course, to be successfull you need a service that is worth people hanging onto. I doubt Roper made anyone very much money...if he did he wouldn't be jumping around from company to company like he is. Guy's like him are successfull at selling themselves to companies....but when it comes down to looking what is actualy delivered...for most companies it's like waking up the morning after a college frat party..... when they get a sober look at who they are in bed with, they are gnawing thier arms off to get away.
Cryptic was horrible even before Bill Roper got there. I'm not sure why people rag on him so much. I hope he catches on to a real company and does well.