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Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

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Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#221

Post by sixstringtheory »

beebmam wrote: post #146
cs702 wrote: post #81

Clickbait title for a highly opinonated piece that would never see the light of day in a respectable publication like the Washington Post, WSJ, NYT, Economist, etc. WilmerHale is a well-known top-100 law firm with a long history -- it's definitely not a "notorious union-busting firm." I'm flagging this story because it doesn't belong on the front page of HN, IMHO.

A quote from the article: '"Wilmerhale’s own site advertises its expertise as "union awareness and avoidance."' Therefore, yes, it is accurate to define them as a "union-busting firm". They fulfill other roles than just that, but they do act as union-busters, and they even describe themselves as such.

Edit: wound up finding the text, it is there. The link in the article doesn’t take you right to it though.

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#222

Post by alex_c »

brainfish wrote: post #26

I cut my teeth on Diablo, and played Diablo II for probably fifteen years after its release off and on as a way to stay connected with a friend who loved it similarly. More recently, I have consistently played Starcraft II since its release and enjoy a sense of mastery over that game unparalleled by my experience in any other. I haven't purchased new Blizzard products since the Hong Kong censorship debacle[1] and qui…

"I haven't purchased new Blizzard products since the Hong Kong censorship debacle"

I don't think Blizzard has released any new products (other than game updates) since then anyway, so I expect most people can say the same :)

By the way, check out Grim Dawn with the Reign of Terror mod if you want a "Blizzard-free" Diablo 2 experience.

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#223

Post by aeturnum »

kelnos wrote: post #142
brainfish wrote: post #26

I cut my teeth on Diablo, and played Diablo II for probably fifteen years after its release off and on as a way to stay connected with a friend who loved it similarly. More recently, I have consistently played Starcraft II since its release and enjoy a sense of mastery over that game unparalleled by my experience in any other. I haven't purchased new Blizzard products since the Hong Kong censorship debacle[1] and qui…

I don't really understand this attitude, or line of reasoning, or whatever you want to call it. Sure, if a company does something that you find reprehensible, not giving them further money (or attention) is certainly a reasonable -- and honorable! -- thing to do. But if you've already purchased a standalone[0], non-subscription product from that company, and that company doesn't gain any benefit from your further use…

I think for many people, but certainly not all, the wider culture of an escapist work is important. Looking at a fanciful image doesn't automagically distract you, there needs to be some amount of collaboration between your mind and the media you're consuming. You need to accept what it offers as an alternative. That can be harder for people when they learn about how things were really made. It would be hard to take a work arguing against slavery seriously, for instance, if it used slavery to produce it.

I also think that these kinds of products, because they are indivisible creative works, suffer from rotting from within. Where you might be able to use the "reasonable" parts of Facebook or Google, once you start to think about a core element of a narrative as being in-geunine or compromised, that can undermine the other elements of the story.

Especially in this golden age of game development, I think there are many other alternatives to Blizzard's games that allow people to think less and escape more.

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#224

Post by CyanBird »

stale2002 wrote: post #214
elicash wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Collective bargaining is not at all incompatible with a "free market." It's just a smarter way to negotiate (more power collectively) and the end result is a contract between a company and a group of workers. It's not like, say, a minimum wage where government sets a price.

Collective bargaining takes away my right to bargain for certain agreements for myself. That is definitely a free market restriction on my rights as a worker, to have a mutual agreement with that specific company.

> Collective bargaining takes away my right to bargain for myself

But it doesn't, you can choose to not be part of the union

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#225

Post by kazen44 »

Panoramix wrote: post #193
cletus wrote: post #148

The Steve Jobs quote on why Xerox failed [1] strikes again. The finance people have taken over Acti-Blizzard and they've been coasting for 10+ years on their original franchises. All we have is annual CoD releases and Blizzrad coasting on their old properties where Blizzrd hasn't had a significant original release in 10+ years. This effort seems like it's part of the ruthless approach to controlling costs that slowly…

Damn, I'm not an Apple fanboy but that soundclip by Jobs makes so much sense; I've seen that play out like a hundred times. Here's a related one by a former IBM CEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cHVgA2tgWI

it resonates so closely with this[0] excellent article by berthubert.

[0] https://berthub.eu/articles/posts/how-tech-loses-out/

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#226

Post by user-the-name »

bakuninsbart wrote: post #212
kelnos wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't really understand this attitude, or line of reasoning, or whatever you want to call it. Sure, if a company does something that you find reprehensible, not giving them further money (or attention) is certainly a reasonable -- and honorable! -- thing to do. But if you've already purchased a standalone[0], non-subscription product from that company, and that company doesn't gain any benefit from your further use…

Some of the best fiction was written by people with absolutely despicable opinions like Francois Céline or Knut Hamsun. You can see it in their art, but their art isn't limited to it, and still holds a lot of value. Friedrich Nietzsche's opinions on women and politics are plain dumb, yet his other thought can be extremely compelling, and he is rightfully one of the most influential thinkers of modern times. Going bac…

Terrible people can say good things, but there are a million good people out there saying good things that you could listen to instead.

Why spend the limited time you have in this world on consuming the works of terrible people? There is more out there than you could possibly experience in a lifetime. Why not dedicate that time to people who are not awful?

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#227

Post by stale2002 »

CyanBird wrote: post #224
stale2002 wrote: post #214

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Collective bargaining takes away my right to bargain for certain agreements for myself. That is definitely a free market restriction on my rights as a worker, to have a mutual agreement with that specific company.

> Collective bargaining takes away my right to bargain for myself But it doesn't, you can choose to not be part of the union

No, you missed the point.

The union puts a limit on the contracts that I can make with the company.

So I would be prevented from bargaining for certain contracts with a company.

So me and this other company's mutual right to make an agreement would be limited by the union.

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#228

Post by CyanBird »

throwaway2048 wrote: post #185
golergka wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If I cannot work for a company without joining a union, it is a monopoly. What if I'm a junior worker on a labour market that is saturated by more experienced and skilled workers, and lowering my rate is the only chance to make it in the industry that I have? Existing union and it's members are my natural competitors.

you also cannot work for a company without working for said company (and their management) Are they also a monopoly?

They are a monopsony rather than a monopoly

Joan Robinson studied labor and monopsony, her books are very illuminating for anyone interested

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#229

Post by minikites »

failuser wrote: post #63
minikites wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are some types of games only a big studio with ample resources can make, like two current Blizzard titles: Overwatch and World of Warcraft.

I would like to see why Overwatch is so expensive. They don’t have some cutting-edge tech, it could have been a Quake or Half-Life mod and have the same exact gameplay and marginally worse graphics. Ok, there is the networking and matchmaking. Ok, they need anti-cheat and perfected loot box drop probabilities. Still, free to play South Korean shooters achieve that for way less.

>Ok, there is the networking and matchmaking.

This is the hard part, as I see it. Maybe that's not as difficult as I think.

Also, creating and recording all of the voice lines. There must be hundreds, by a large and diverse cast.

Re: Activision Blizzard Hires Notorious Union-Busting Firm WilmerHale

#230

Post by mnowicki »

bakuninsbart wrote: post #212
kelnos wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't really understand this attitude, or line of reasoning, or whatever you want to call it. Sure, if a company does something that you find reprehensible, not giving them further money (or attention) is certainly a reasonable -- and honorable! -- thing to do. But if you've already purchased a standalone[0], non-subscription product from that company, and that company doesn't gain any benefit from your further use…

Some of the best fiction was written by people with absolutely despicable opinions like Francois Céline or Knut Hamsun. You can see it in their art, but their art isn't limited to it, and still holds a lot of value. Friedrich Nietzsche's opinions on women and politics are plain dumb, yet his other thought can be extremely compelling, and he is rightfully one of the most influential thinkers of modern times. Going bac…

What we're Nietzsche's opinions on politics/women? I'm not surprised based on the bit of his work that I read that he has some unappealing thoughts on women, but am surprised to here his politics may be problematic as well(aside from the whole nazi affiliation thing - which as I understand is a misrepresentation of his work by his sister and her Nazi husband).
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