Cryptic Studios Hires Bill Roper (November 3, 2008)

[jsutich]

Los Gatos, CA – November 3, 2008 – Cryptic Studios™, one of the leading independent developers of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs), announced today that Bill Roper has joined the company as Design Director and will be working on Champions Online™.

“Bill brings a ton of creative energy to the Cryptic office and we’re thrilled to have him join our team,” said John Needham, Chief Executive Officer for Cryptic Studios. “His years of gaming and online experience are huge assets to all of our projects, and Bill will assist us in furthering our studio’s vision to create innovative, exciting MMO gameplay.”

“Cryptic has experienced huge growth over the past year and has exciting opportunities ahead of it,” said Bill Roper, Design Director, Cryptic Studios. “The company knows how to choose compelling IPs that have rich histories such as Champions and Star Trek. I’m looking forward to working with the team.”

As a 14-year game industry veteran, Roper has worked directly on numerous top selling titles, including the Warcraft, Starcraft and Diablo series. He joined Blizzard Entertainment in 1994 to work in sound, music and voiceover, eventually being appointed as Vice President of Blizzard North and a Director of Blizzard Entertainment where he managed all external projects and coordinated internal development teams. In 2003, Roper co-founded Flagship Studios and Ping0 where he held the role of CEO for five years and oversaw the launch of Hellgate: London and development of Mythos.

Cryptic Studios, headquartered in Los Gatos, is currently in production of two highly anticipated MMO action games, Champions Online and Star Trek® Online. Champions Online, based on the popular Champions™ pen-and-paper RPG and published by 2K Games, will give players the power of total customization for their hero experience while they explore a vast comic book universe. Set in the year 2409, Star Trek Online will allow players to immerse themselves in the future of the Star Trek universe, exploring strange new worlds, seeking out new life and new civilizations in an ever expanding vast universe.

For more information about Cryptic Studios, please log onto www.crypticstudios.com

About Cryptic Studios

Cryptic Studios, Inc., based in Los Gatos, CA, and established in July 2000, is one of the leading independent developers of massively multiplayer online games. Cryptic is developing three major titles for the PC and current generation consoles, including Star Trek Online, Champions Online and an unannounced project. Cryptic Studios is an independent, employee-owned company committed to delivering the next level of MMOG gameplay. For more information on Cryptic Studios, please visit www.crypticstudios.com

Champions, Champions Online, and Cryptic Studios are trademarks of Cryptic Studios, Inc.
STAR TREK and related marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of CBS Studios Inc and used with permission.
Other trademarks are property of their respective owners.



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[willriker09]

Cool, the Blizzard games are nothing less than magical in how awesome they were. I can't wait to play the sequels, if this guy had anything to do with the originals, he is ok in my book.

[LordDave]

oooohhhh... I wonder how they stole him from Blizzard?

[Tomkan]

Don't care if he's not working on STO. I want STO. ;(

[Silverspar]

oooohhhh... I wonder how they stole him from Blizzard?

Because he wasn't at Blizzard, he was at the studio that made Hellgate: London and since that game is shutting down, well I am sure he became available.

[lumpking69]

who ? why are you telling us ? lol

Ooh, I hired a new janitor today too.

[Sarevok]

Uhm... yeah, like some others said: if he's not working on STO... why should we care?

[Bern]

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- I was hoping to see, in the article, that it would free-up some people that are currently on 'chanpions' to get them to concentrate on startrek-online, lol :p
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Don't care if he's not working on STO. I want STO. ;(
__________________
Hi.

[Eisenwolff]

Well he could be transfering to STO after Champions Online is released. Other than that this information holds no interest for me.
Its more a frightening thought considering what happend to Hellbeta Online

[trek68]

Is he going to have any input for STO? I know it mentioned that he is working on Champions, is this just advertisement. Please inform us on how this effects STO?

[prime7619]

I am sure he will help to speed things along quit nicely.... anything to speed up STO..:eek: the pain the pain. must.......have....sto........:eek:

[A-British-Ferengi]

Did you honestly expect anyone to not go " so how does this affect STO" in there own words

How does this affect STO anway?

[Crux]

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- I was hoping to see, in the article, that it would free-up some people that are currently on 'chanpions' to get them to concentrate on startrek-online, lol :p
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That's what I took from the article. Also once Champions goes live we get 100% of the staff giving attention to STO. Regardless any experienced addition to the "Cryptic staff" helps Cryptic as a whole, which in turn benefits Cryptic projects...

[A-British-Ferengi]

A lot of members probably didnt consider or care about secondary effects, too much effort to think about me thinks:D

[CasiusOntius]

That's what I took from the article. Also once Champions goes live we get 100% of the staff giving attention to STO. Regardless any experienced addition to the "Cryptic staff" helps Cryptic as a whole, which in turn benefits Cryptic projects...

We hope...It's good they have someone so experienced, but I really don't ever plan to play Champions, so this really doesn't make me happy or sad...lol

[Trekkie]

Even if this news doesn't specifically pertain to Star Trek Online, this is nevertheless great news for Cryptic Studios! Congratulations!

[miqrogroove]

I ate some Halloween candy today.

[njdss4]

I don't see how this affects STO at all. Are you guys just trying to post any sort of news to keep us happy? I'd love a timeline update...

[Bad_Boy]

this is a "STAR TREK ONLINE" webite and forum....we'd like star trek updates rather than the usual rap u give us like meet the team, one answer to ten questions intervws and screw this dam goat! :mad:

[Bad_Boy]

I don't see how this affects STO at all. Are you guys just trying to post any sort of news to keep us happy? I'd love a timeline update...

which theyre late on by the way.....weekly timeline updates as said in gameinformer. They just lie to people so they can make us think we"re getting something way better than what we really are. a s s

[Bad_Boy]

BAHHH! THIS IS A TREAVESTY! THIS IS AN OUTRAGEEEEEEEEEEEE!:mad:

[boydyma]

wow, who would ever had thunk that flames and forum trolls could unite into a scary force?!


SO, GRATZ cyptic on the "aquisition". would LOVE to hear some updates on the game, and on how this "aquisition" will affect this game.

even if all you can say is we've done some testing and have found a number of bugs but we're making this game freakin awesome for you guys :p

OR

we played the game, and want to keep it for ourselves until we reach skill level 100 so we can uberPWN the lot of youes!

yeah. im going to go back and play my "other" game now and let you guys do what needs to be done..

TTFN
-boydy

[Hawkeye]

whoa!...a tough crowd...I have a feeling I am surrounded by Klingons.

But, I have to admit, I thought the same thing...What does this have to do with STO? I am sure this is good for Cryptic...and hopefully has some effect on STO.

But I am scratching my head on this news.

[Super_Goku]

Them putting this message on the STO website is a subliminal message that Screams "We are going to finish this other game first!!!! YOU HAVE TO WAIT FOR STO"

[Sorbek]

Them putting this message on the STO website is a subliminal message that Screams "We are going to finish this other game first!!!! YOU HAVE TO WAIT FOR STO"

Wow exactly what I was thinking. I'm really glad Ive been spending my time on Atlantica Online and that I have Star Wars The Old Republic to fall back on if this game fails.

The natives are seeming very restless. Perhaps some kind of update wouldn't hurt.

I would also like to know how this guy coming aboard helps STO....if it doesn't then I really don't care.

Wether you realize it or not you are competing with SWTOR. Personally these are the last 2 MMOs I intend to try as they are the 2 IPs that really interest me. If STO and SWTOR fail or are just bad Ill be taking a break from MMOs for a while.

[picardalpha2clearance]

Great welcome aboard, oh wait did the last two posts answer the bulk of the questions.......answer NO.
There were so many questions asked and unanswered, I have to admit I was disappointed guys! Lets stay on task and talk STO, the other projects are important, but not as significant as STO.

[misagaling18]

i want to download this game but i don't know where . can anybody help me?:p

[Bad_Boy]

i want to download this game but i don't know where . can anybody help me?:p

The game aint ut yet fool. Cryptic must not want us to play it with them lol

[Sir_Cedric]

Great that he is on board, but mainly he is working on Champions. So once Champions goes live, will he move over to STO? If someone asked this alway my BAD. ;)

[Allardyn]

Lets just hope he forgets anything from Hellgate: London before they let him set foot in the door. Man did that game suck something fierce.

[Brenelael]

this is a "STAR TREK ONLINE" webite and forum....we'd like star trek updates rather than the usual rap u give us like meet the team, one answer to ten questions intervws and screw this dam goat! :mad:

NOOOO... Don't screw the goat... I did that once in a AD&D game and the DM killed me off from a very nasty case of VD! I learned that is never a good idea. ;) Oh and what does this have to do with STO again? :rolleyes:

Bren

[mistia]

coming form blizzard and releasing hellgate: london, which was full of bugs, ugly, un-polished, so un-blizzard-like was a real letdown. bill roper you should go hide in a bush and not touch a game in your life again. what went wrong with hellgate? have you not learned anything from blizzard?

good thing he's destroying champions on-line and not touching STO!

this was my first post ever here. just to show my feelings on the matter.:mad:

[WishMaster]

Yeah, after playing HellBeta London back in the day, I hope that Bill Roper's joining Cryptic will not negatively influence it's products. STO has alot of potential and I hope that it does not fall victim to all of the other issues that those games faced. The primary one: they were work (grind) oriented, not fun (raids, pvp, group pve) oriented.

MMO's that succeed are awesome because they are fun to play with other people, "guilds" form and folks play on the regular to escape from everyday life in an entertaining venue. Games like HellBeta, and Age of Conan of late were neglected and broken when released. I sincerely hope that STO ends up being fun to play with other people, and does not turn out to be a solo grindfest. Let's hope that Bill Roper will bring what he learned from failure to Cryptic and STO, and not attempt to apply a failed formula to another ailing franchise. (I call Star Trek ailing as far as games are concerned because I play ALOT of games and I love Star Trek, I've played all of the earliest (StarTrek Anniversary to Dominion Wars to ST: Starfleet Command 1,2,3, to Bridge Commander, to Star Trek Legacy) and latest Star Trek games for the platforms I own and most of them would not be fun to a non-trek fan, STO has an opportunity to bridge the gap between a Trekkie only game and awesome game it its own right)

I'll also agree with some of the other posters, this 'filler' news about Champions Online is shenaniganry. If I wanted to play an MMO where I could be a superhero I would play City of Heroes... lol. But, I vote for news updates that apply to STO, like features they're working on and perhaps are thinking about for the game. For example I hope that they incorporate items into the game similar to other RPGS. Like advanced sensor and targetting arrays that get harvested from destroyed ships and such. Let's have some STO gameplay related updates! Give us STO news, that will get us involved in the direction of the gameplay and storyline, and ETA on beta, otherwise, phooey! Anyway, rant done, I wonder if anyone else will read this wall 'o text haha...

[jwick4471]

Anyway, rant done, I wonder if anyone else will read this wall 'o text haha...

Red the wall o' text and agreed.

[Bern]

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- Also, startrek universe is a bit more comfortable for most people to evolve in since most of the technologies and physics are what we really know about, compared to fantasy games where anything can be done almost :rolleyes:
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[McGray]

NOOOO... Don't screw the goat... I did that once in a AD&D game and the DM killed me off from a very nasty case of VD! I learned that is never a good idea. ;) Oh and what does this have to do with STO again? :rolleyes:

Bren


LOL

i hope he gives some inputs or he stay until STO is finish :o

[Jertyrael]

Nooooooooooooooooooooooo!

:(

HG:L broke my heart. Roper was a big part of that. I hope he learned something.
I hope the course for this game will stay true and continue at quantum slip-stream drive speeds (coolest... tech... ever.... )

I've had a lot of hope for this game since I started reading about it here. Don't hurt me again! My heart can only take so much...

[Bern]

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[Fencer8]

Well this new guy has a lot of baggage , most of the recent stuff is just bad .

[Jertyrael]

I swear to god if I run into a Cow-Race I'm going to sue...or go insane... one or the other. Punitive damages to my mental integrity!

[Bailo]

This has nothing to do with STO (at least not yet) it is pointless news or an advertisment. Please only post news relevant to STO.

[Bern]

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[DanSeale]

Goodness .. so much negative stuff..

IMHO it sounds like there was a need for someone with expierence in major MMO games in a particular area of expertiese and this gentleman filled the bill. Think about for a minute. He is not a CEO for this particular project but obviously has some technical advise that would be of value to the development of STO.

STO will no doubt need to be a game that is equal to or better than games like WoW or other games that Blizzard has developed. All of use need to understand that in order for that to happen it takes TONS of work in areas that most of us never see. True that we might understand it once explained to use BUT that is a far cry from having a working knowlege of the MANY lines of code needed to make ANY game happen expecially on this scale. Even then there are countless patches needed on a regular basis to keep the game fresh and to correct the bugs that simply are inherit to the gaming business.

IMHO when you hire someone with a background like this (by that I mean not just a run-of-the-mill programmer) there is usually something else BIG in the works. I personally believe this to be a good move on the behalf of STO dev team in taking the necessary steps to getting the product completed in a more timely fashion.

(just my humble $.02 worth.)

[fireraven]

well if you think about it logically instead of just reacting and flaming it shows that cryptic is still hiring and growing at a time when many other game companies are laying off or even closing down. So how does it affect STO? well it shows the company isn't planning on stopping production of new games unlike many others at this time.

[Bern]

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[Lt.Renak]

Please don't let him work on STO.

@OlBuzzard: Roper left Blizzard a long time ago and had nothing to do with WoW or other MMO development. He was leader of Flagshipstudios and developed Hellgate London and omg we all know he made a real bad job. That' s why you can read so much negative stuff here and that' s why noone wants to see him working on STO

[kellyc7c@hotmail.com]

Are you still touching me?

[Foxstab]

This does not bode well.

[Bern]

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[focuspark]

I have to say the response to Bill's new position is a lot more positive and well received here than it was over a the CO forums. I personally am glad Cryptic picked up a veteran like Bill. Welcome on board. :)

[Jertyrael]

I have to say the response to Bill's new position is a lot more positive and well received here than it was over a the CO forums. I personally am glad Cryptic picked up a veteran like Bill. Welcome on board. :)

I hope all the negative feedback spewed forth from the utterance of his name serves only to motivate him to think his actions through.

I am currently in need of an MMO :) I'm willing to wait for this one because of the immense potential it has and the hope it gives me for games. (AoC sucks... I'm done).

So, I suppose I take a personal interest in the company's choices, even though my interest isn't rightfully placed nor should I even need to express it, but there it is anyway :)

Bill, do well! Sorry that my initial reaction was to cry (Hellgate London was just a big build up to a let down).

P.S. Bill, is there a way I can get the software to run my own HG:L Server? :) I still like killing things mindlessly from time to time and I need a buddy!

[Hseeker]

I found hellgate alright, just not fit for a MMO tho.

[ArchonX]

So what happened with Hellgate: London and what connection did Bill Roper have to it?

[Freejack]

:cool::cool::cool::cool:

[strykr619]

Lol so we get an announcement that hey hired the guy who put out a crap game like Hellgate London, I should thank him for wasting my money on that title....

Good luck with champions online, hope he doesn't screw up that game as well...