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Zynga May Have Just Laid Off 100+ Employees From Its Austin Office

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Re: Zynga May Have Just Laid Off 100+ Employees From Its Austin Office

#41

Post by czhiddy »

pud wrote: post #39
MartinCron wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some people think games are frivolous. They're not I love games and don't think they are frivolous for a moment. I'm not sure what that has to do with a discussion of Zynga, though.

Zynga is a company that makes online games. And people often criticize Zynga for making games (online games, Flash games, Facebook games, casual games, etc.)

I think most of the criticism is about how Zynga is completely devoid of creativity and originality. They're the software equivalent of Chinese shanzhai electronics manufacturers.

Re: Zynga May Have Just Laid Off 100+ Employees From Its Austin Office

#42

Post by pud »

comlag wrote: post #38
pud wrote: post #24

Startups are hard. Even big startups are hard. Zynga is startupy, even though they're public. There's a lot of schadenfreude on HN when it comes to Zynga. Articles about Zynga's problems regularly make it to the top of HN. Some people think games are frivolous. They're not. Entertainment is (almost) a basic human need. Some people think Zynga players are somehow being tricked. They're not. They're being entertained.…

I agree with the almost all your points except about them stealing ideas. Ripping off the same game from indie developers is wrong. It isn't them using basic ideas like a top nav or usernames, there are examples of them copying entire games[1]. 1. http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2012/01/25/everything...

> It isn't them using basic ideas like a top nav or usernames

By "basic ideas" I assume you mean "ideas that are better and more useful, and therefore more widely ripped off."

Your argument reminds me of when people say such-and-such band is so original -- yet it's another four guys playing guitar, bass, drums and vocals.

Re: Zynga May Have Just Laid Off 100+ Employees From Its Austin Office

#43

Post by jmsduran »

danilocampos wrote: post #23

Conceptually, I love every bit of bad Zynga news. I like to be reassured that a company will, in the long term, fail when its products are cynically designed to manipulate. That a company will fail when their strategy assumes it's okay to blatantly, consistently, continuously lift design from other firms and products. Practically, though, bad Zynga news feels terrible . Because the guys who architected this repugnant…

As a software developer who lives in Austin, I find it disconcerting whenever I hear about developer layoffs, especially in our city.

I hope this is just an isolated incident of bad company strategy than an overall industry trend.

Re: Zynga May Have Just Laid Off 100+ Employees From Its Austin Office

#44

Post by Karunamon »

pud wrote: post #39
MartinCron wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some people think games are frivolous. They're not I love games and don't think they are frivolous for a moment. I'm not sure what that has to do with a discussion of Zynga, though.

Zynga is a company that makes online games. And people often criticize Zynga for making games (online games, Flash games, Facebook games, casual games, etc.)

Calling the software that Zynga makes a "game" is insulting to real games. Zynga's are usually different skins on top of a number incrementing simulator (for example, anything with "ville" in the name), that happen to increase a little bit faster if you bug your friends (often and repeatedly) and have them increment their numbers too, and you can only increment your numbers so often - but more if you pay real cash money!

There's usually no skill, no challenge, no fun, just a bald-faced hook into the effort/reward system in the mind.

The closest thing Zynga has to real games are Bingo, Poker, and Words With Friends. I'm not even going to count that last one because they bought it from someone else.

Re: Zynga May Have Just Laid Off 100+ Employees From Its Austin Office

#46

Post by MartinCron »

Karunamon wrote: post #44
pud wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Zynga is a company that makes online games. And people often criticize Zynga for making games (online games, Flash games, Facebook games, casual games, etc.)

Calling the software that Zynga makes a "game" is insulting to real games. Zynga's are usually different skins on top of a number incrementing simulator (for example, anything with "ville" in the name), that happen to increase a little bit faster if you bug your friends (often and repeatedly) and have them increment their numbers too, and you can only increment your numbers so often - but more if you pay real cash mo…

Thank you. Glad to see that someone got my joke.

Re: Zynga May Have Just Laid Off 100+ Employees From Its Austin Office

#47

Post by [deleted] »

comlag wrote: post #38
pud wrote: post #24

Startups are hard. Even big startups are hard. Zynga is startupy, even though they're public. There's a lot of schadenfreude on HN when it comes to Zynga. Articles about Zynga's problems regularly make it to the top of HN. Some people think games are frivolous. They're not. Entertainment is (almost) a basic human need. Some people think Zynga players are somehow being tricked. They're not. They're being entertained.…

I agree with the almost all your points except about them stealing ideas. Ripping off the same game from indie developers is wrong. It isn't them using basic ideas like a top nav or usernames, there are examples of them copying entire games[1]. 1. http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2012/01/25/everything...

[deleted]

Re: Zynga May Have Just Laid Off 100+ Employees From Its Austin Office

#48

Post by MartinCron »

jmsduran wrote: post #43
danilocampos wrote: post #23

Conceptually, I love every bit of bad Zynga news. I like to be reassured that a company will, in the long term, fail when its products are cynically designed to manipulate. That a company will fail when their strategy assumes it's okay to blatantly, consistently, continuously lift design from other firms and products. Practically, though, bad Zynga news feels terrible . Because the guys who architected this repugnant…

As a software developer who lives in Austin, I find it disconcerting whenever I hear about developer layoffs, especially in our city. I hope this is just an isolated incident of bad company strategy than an overall industry trend.

I feel the same way whenever I see large developer layoffs in my city.

I also feel unnerved when I see unsustainable companies go on unsustainable hiring binges. It's like the first scene in a horror movie. Are you crazy? Don't go in there! He'll kill you!

Re: Zynga May Have Just Laid Off 100+ Employees From Its Austin Office

#49

Post by rscale »

pud wrote: post #39
MartinCron wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Some people think games are frivolous. They're not I love games and don't think they are frivolous for a moment. I'm not sure what that has to do with a discussion of Zynga, though.

Zynga is a company that makes online games. And people often criticize Zynga for making games (online games, Flash games, Facebook games, casual games, etc.)

I view Zynga roughly the same way I'd view a casino where nobody ever booked a win. The parallels are strong, right down to Hosts for Whales who blow $10k+ while playing.

I'm happy to see them fail because I firmly believe they violate the tenet that entities should create more value than they capture.

Re: Zynga May Have Just Laid Off 100+ Employees From Its Austin Office

#50

Post by cstejerean »

danilocampos wrote: post #23

Conceptually, I love every bit of bad Zynga news. I like to be reassured that a company will, in the long term, fail when its products are cynically designed to manipulate. That a company will fail when their strategy assumes it's okay to blatantly, consistently, continuously lift design from other firms and products. Practically, though, bad Zynga news feels terrible . Because the guys who architected this repugnant…

From what we've seen on HN it didn't sound like Zynga was a place with great work conditions or interesting work. To the extent people went to work there hoping to get rich one day by dumping their shares on a greater sucker, it's hard to really feel bad for them.
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