121–130 of 199 posts
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Video games are one part idea and three parts implementation. And the talent at Blizzard has no lack of good ideas.
One part idea? I've been told that "ideas are essentially worthless" for the 20 years I've been developing software. What changed?
Did the walkouts at Google change anything? Not only did Sundar enable the disgusting, predatory behavior of Vic Gundotra and Andy Rubin, but as far as I can tell, he’s still a darling of the press. Even on HN Sundar and Google get the kid gloves despite the abhorrence of the culture they created. Walkouts are pointless. True Employee organization and collective bargaining is the only answer to holding execs accounta…
> Did the walkouts at Google change anything? I was a "TVC" at Google several times. One of those times was during the walkout period. Even though I had no way of finding out about it until a lucky "right now in 3 minutes" time period, I participated. Whilst the walkouts may not have changed much on corporate or the outsourced "side-corporates" [the contract companies], it did change myself. For decades I've heard of…
Is there a VC out there that can just throw a few tens of millions of dollars at these employees and literally just teleport them from Blizzard to NewBlizzard in the same roles in a new company with a culture they prefer? I'm actually surprised this isn't "a thing". If a large percentage of a well known, profitable company doesn't agree with a direction it's taking... why doesn't a VC or private equity just help fina…
That's what Uncapped Games, Front Giant, Dreamhaven, Lightforge, Bonfire, etc. are.
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Blizzard always made the worse, but more popular game of the time period. Total Annihilation was better than Starcraft. Baldur's Gate 2 was better than Diablo 2.
Total Annihilation is an entirely different type of RTS than Starcraft. Command and Conquer is probably a closer comparison. Likewise (and even moreso) Baldur's Gate 2 is a totally different subgenre of RPG than Diablo 2 (unless you're talking about Dark Alliance 2 on consoles). Baldur's gate is a hybrid turn based DnD rules adaptation with multiple player characters and more of a focus on characterization and storyt…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Video games are one part idea and three parts implementation. And the talent at Blizzard has no lack of good ideas.
One part idea? I've been told that "ideas are essentially worthless" for the 20 years I've been developing software. What changed?
An amazing idea but with no or a bad implementation is worthless to you.
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The Guardian will be tuned out as noise by anyone who doesn't already agree.
There is almost nothing which would change the minds of the people who don’t already understand these as problems. No one seeking change is targeting them as the audience. Though, in their own heads, they probably delude themselves into believing they are.
Wouldn't forming a union help them better negotiate as a group? FTA: "Activision Blizzard employees are also calling for an end to mandatory arbitration in employee contracts, which prevent workers from taking conflicts with their employer to court, policies to improve representation of women and marginalized groups, the publication of salary data, and an audit of the company by a diversity, equity and inclusion task…
Unions work where labor is interchangeable. That is definitely not the case in game industry, where people are highly specialized and super creative.
Is there a VC out there that can just throw a few tens of millions of dollars at these employees and literally just teleport them from Blizzard to NewBlizzard in the same roles in a new company with a culture they prefer? I'm actually surprised this isn't "a thing". If a large percentage of a well known, profitable company doesn't agree with a direction it's taking... why doesn't a VC or private equity just help fina…
Non-compete clauses are very much a thing in our industry I wouldn’t be surprised if Blizzard were to enforce—or at least threaten to enforce—them if a sizable bulk of their workers migrated to a new workplace.
There were many other studios created by ex-ActivisionBlizzard employees but I think this had the most bad blood associated with it.
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If we had Freedom of Ideas, then yes, you could pull this off. But we don't have that. We have copyrights and patents. Those with capital have a lot more freedom with ideas. Those without, don't. If we abolish copyright and patent laws ( https://www.reddit.com/r/ifa ), then workers will have a lot more power.
Video games are one part idea and three parts implementation. And the talent at Blizzard has no lack of good ideas.
Nearly all raw ideas are unworkable. It takes considerable engineering to turn it into a workable idea, before implementing it.
For example, the idea of running current through a wire to heat it up till it glows, and voila! You've invented the electric light!
No, you haven't. You'll need to determine:
1. wire size
2. wire composition
3. how much voltage to apply
4. how much current
5. how to keep the wire from melting and burning up
6. how to supply voltage and current
7. how to keep the filament for setting nearby things afire
8. what kind of fixture to put the wire in
9. how to manufacture it for a reasonable cost
10. how to manufacture it in quantity
and probably a number of other things, too.
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Walkouts are an easy way to get more attention to an issue and it costs an employer real money. A single action doesn't need to solve everything.
On the contrary, there's evidence that less time at work (especially a single day) can keep productivity the same or better. Look at 4 day work week experiments.