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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

#151

Post by StavrosK »

Karunamon wrote: post #142
StavrosK wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Of course it would still apply. The difference here is that some people have a different (yet still immutable) definition for what a game is. The fallacy is when you keep changing the definition to fit the data.

Except that, at least in my case, no such change was made. I took the definition I used directly from a dictionary. It looks like in this case someone is trying really hard to shout down an argument as fallacy when no such error is being made.

I know, that's what I was saying.

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

#152

Post by klochner »

bduerst wrote: post #134
alaskamiller wrote: post #82

The irony of all this is that just less than 3 years ago Mark Pincus and Zynga was riding high. Pincus was voted as the CEO of the Year at the Crunchies. He was chosen to be the closer to Startup School, he projected Zynga as a place for people to want to go to there: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1041758 This is a story parallel to Lance Armstrong's own rise and fall. About how if you were to drill down, reall…

That's not what a ponzi scheme is.

Nor is that what irony is, but his analogy to the TDF is interesting anyway.

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

#153

Post by DanHulton »

bduerst wrote: post #134
alaskamiller wrote: post #82

The irony of all this is that just less than 3 years ago Mark Pincus and Zynga was riding high. Pincus was voted as the CEO of the Year at the Crunchies. He was chosen to be the closer to Startup School, he projected Zynga as a place for people to want to go to there: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1041758 This is a story parallel to Lance Armstrong's own rise and fall. About how if you were to drill down, reall…

That's not what a ponzi scheme is.

Word.

Awful, Zynga is.

A ponzi scheme, it is not.

Let's keep our criticisms to what is correct - there's so much of that to go around already.

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

#154

Post by bagacrap »

bduerst wrote: post #134
alaskamiller wrote: post #82

The irony of all this is that just less than 3 years ago Mark Pincus and Zynga was riding high. Pincus was voted as the CEO of the Year at the Crunchies. He was chosen to be the closer to Startup School, he projected Zynga as a place for people to want to go to there: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1041758 This is a story parallel to Lance Armstrong's own rise and fall. About how if you were to drill down, reall…

That's not what a ponzi scheme is.

zynga was compared to a ponzi scheme (rightly or wrongly) when early investors were paid off during subsequent rounds of funding. I think that's what he's referring to.

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

#155

Post by jaredmck »

samstave wrote: post #149
ghshephard wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, if it makes you feel better, I had a conversation with a Zynga employee last night, who is pretty happy about leaving the company. In particular, he wants to go do something he believes in, and to quote him, "and i don't hugely believe in selling virtual cows" So - to some degree, the crash and possible termination of Zynga's business model, enables these people to escape the company. If the stock had value, th…

When i worked for a company that was acquired by Lockheed Martin, immediately upon the announcement of acquisition, several employees resigned saying they could not knowing work for a war monger. Their conviction was greater than the potential wealth and very commendable. Your comment insinuates that these employees had no morals and were freed by the failure. This is actually a fucked up position. There are many fac…

So, did you resign from Lockheed Martin?

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

#156

Post by ahi »

jaredmck wrote: post #155
samstave wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When i worked for a company that was acquired by Lockheed Martin, immediately upon the announcement of acquisition, several employees resigned saying they could not knowing work for a war monger. Their conviction was greater than the potential wealth and very commendable. Your comment insinuates that these employees had no morals and were freed by the failure. This is actually a fucked up position. There are many fac…

So, did you resign from Lockheed Martin?

If he didn't have an ethical problem working for Lockheed Martin why would he? His point is that IF you have an ethical problem with the work you are doing, it shouldn't be the devaluation of stock options that gets you to stop.

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

#157

Post by meepmorp »

Karunamon wrote: post #68
benihana wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Calling the software that Zynga makes a "game" is insulting to real games. No True Scotsman fallacy. Just because you don't think they're games doesn't make it fact. They make games, and people criticize them for it. The only thing your post did was help better prove OP's point.

>They make games, and people criticize them for it. First, Zynga is not criticized for making games, they're criticized for making Skinner boxes and passing them off as games. Quality, in other words. Second, just because you think they make games doesn't make it fact. Definition of a game per Google: A form of play or sport, esp. a competitive one played according to rules and decided by skill, strength, or luck. Zy…

> Definition of a game per Google: > A form of play or sport, esp. a competitive one played according to rules and decided by skill, strength, or luck.

Resorting to a dictionary definition to argue a point is nearly always a sign you've got a weak argument. But in this case, I want to point out the "esp." just after the first comma in the definition you cite.

It means especially. In context, that means that games need not adhere to the conditions specified in the subordinate clause.

Also, I swear Wittgenstein had something to say on this topic.

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

#158

Post by Karunamon »

meepmorp wrote: post #157
Karunamon wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>They make games, and people criticize them for it. First, Zynga is not criticized for making games, they're criticized for making Skinner boxes and passing them off as games. Quality, in other words. Second, just because you think they make games doesn't make it fact. Definition of a game per Google: A form of play or sport, esp. a competitive one played according to rules and decided by skill, strength, or luck. Zy…

> Definition of a game per Google: > A form of play or sport, esp. a competitive one played according to rules and decided by skill, strength, or luck. Resorting to a dictionary definition to argue a point is nearly always a sign you've got a weak argument. But in this case, I want to point out the "esp." just after the first comma in the definition you cite. It means especially. In context, that means that games nee…

>Resorting to a dictionary definition to argue a point is nearly always a sign you've got a weak argument.

Or a sign that your opponent is redefining words to fit their argument instead of using the commonly accepted one. Are you telling me it's unfair to refer to an authoritative source as to the meaning of a word?

In any case, there has to be some kind of definition or else the word becomes meaningless. By defining Farmville as a "game", you could just as easily define twiddling numbers on an Excel sheet as a "game". Where do you stop? Is Farmville a game just because it has a pretty skin?

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

#159

Post by efa »

samstave wrote: post #149
ghshephard wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well, if it makes you feel better, I had a conversation with a Zynga employee last night, who is pretty happy about leaving the company. In particular, he wants to go do something he believes in, and to quote him, "and i don't hugely believe in selling virtual cows" So - to some degree, the crash and possible termination of Zynga's business model, enables these people to escape the company. If the stock had value, th…

When i worked for a company that was acquired by Lockheed Martin, immediately upon the announcement of acquisition, several employees resigned saying they could not knowing work for a war monger. Their conviction was greater than the potential wealth and very commendable. Your comment insinuates that these employees had no morals and were freed by the failure. This is actually a fucked up position. There are many fac…

No, some people are just trying to make a living. And maybe make the world a better place outside their job. So fuck you too!

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

#160

Post by [deleted] »

Spoom wrote: post #53
TimGebhardt wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because other companies don't announce news on Friday at 4:00pm... Or because the White House doesn't make important news announcements on Christmas Eve when nobody's paying attention... I don't think this is a Zynga dick-move. I think this is a typical company move to bury a non-flattering story.

The fact that other organizations also make dick moves does not negate this dick move.

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