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Microsoft fire idTech team at Id software

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Re: Microsoft fire idTech team at Id software

#301

Post by yifanl »

wizzwizz4 wrote: post #298
bitwize wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's almost as if... laborers in every field (the proletariat) have to unionize as a class against the ownership class (the bourgeoisie), seize the means of production, and reorganize society to their own benefit because the bourgeoisie surely will not!

I don't think "the means of production" hits the mark. Most of us programmers have the means of production: a 20-year-old laptop with a new battery is sufficient for most serious webdev and appdev work. What we lack is permission to labour. If I do what I think needs to be done, instead of what my employer tells me to do, then I don't get paid by my now-former employer (which is fair), and then I don't eat (less fair…

This is one of the oldest ideas of civilization, wanting society to be ruled by philosopher kings (who happen to be people just like me!).

Re: Microsoft fire idTech team at Id software

#302

Post by markus_zhang »

lain98 wrote: post #225

I was fired by microsoft last year, Satya said the layoff was not due to performance reasons and he refused to elaborate what it was. In the job market I had to explain at every interview why I was laid off. People still ask me why I left MS to work at my current less prestigious company when the learn I used to work there and I have to sheepishly repeat the lie I have memorised to make them go away. Even when I was…

I also worked in a public company that bought a lot of companies during the pandemic and had to sell or shut them down in the wake of 2024.

My cynical take is that a lot of VC/fund bros need their cash during the pandemic and they saw a high in the market so installed their friends to buy those assets. Scroll forward 5, 6 years, they now do the reverse to pump up stock prices of those parent companies and win big again.

It has nothing to do with the parent companies themselves. They are just a tool to pump and dump.

Re: Microsoft fire idTech team at Id software

#303

Post by small_model »

epolanski wrote: post #233
sdenton4 wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why is that? Companies still need employees, and ai makes it more obvious than ever that workers need to organize together for their rights.

Unions have 33% voting power in Volkswagen board. Germany has very strong labor protecting laws. Replacing line engineers and operators is very difficult. Volkswagen is firing 100k employees in Germany none the less. The idea that you can successfully unionize in software..in US..Where you could simply retain a small number of staff key members pay them very well and put them on a mission of outsourcing and milking t…

Not quite true, the CEO has to go and convince the owners this makes sense, the owners include various labour representatives who can veto it forcing VW to slowly die.

Re: Microsoft fire idTech team at Id software

#304

Post by hbn »

tibbydudeza wrote: post #149

Unreal Engine has become a commodity, and it is easier to recruit people with experience - even CD Projekt Red gave up. The only major studios doing their own thing is Rockstar and Bethesda. I would not include Cloud Imperium here because they are forever in a beta state with no clear ship date in the future for their two games.

> The only major studios doing their own thing is Rockstar and Bethesda.

Don't forget Nintendo. It's pretty damn impressive what they managed to pull off on the Switch with more or less circa-2015 Android hardware. Mario Odyssey looks beautiful and runs at a mostly stable 60fps.

Re: Microsoft fire idTech team at Id software

#305

Post by falcor84 »

dymk wrote: post #62
falcor84 wrote: post #40

> Yet today, Microsoft/XBOX decided half the team was deemed USELESS and needed to be let go I feel that this is an incredibly unfair and demeaning take both towards Microsoft and towards the people being fired. As I see it, getting fired is just like being dumped by a romantic partner. It typically says very little about your value as an individual, and almost everything about their current situation and how the rel…

It’s nothing like a romantic relationship, and it does say something about msft: they failed at planning and managing company resources, and as a result fired a bunch of people

It sounds like you're fully agreeing with me that it has pretty much nothing to do with the value of the employees and essentially everything with how the employees no longer fit the company's plans.

Re: Microsoft fire idTech team at Id software

#306

Post by batty_alex »

mschuster91 wrote: post #271
ptx wrote: post #242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is unionization gatekeeping? I honestly don't understand what you mean. I can't see any disadvantage for the employees in joining a union.

The basic principle is everyone gets the same pay, meaning if you are someone who wants to put in a lot of work to rise up quickly, it won't happen.

This isn't true and I don't know where this idea comes from

Re: Microsoft fire idTech team at Id software

#307

Post by malfist »

scruple wrote: post #164
thewebguyd wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its already started, within Blizzard. Communications Workers of America Union across the WoW and Overwatch teams. Also, no union employees at Blizzard were impact by Microsoft's Xbox layoffs/restructuring. Goes to show, Unions are important and work. The best time to unionize was several years ago. The next best time is now.

Diablo also unionized and there's some representation in non-game teams like Battle.net. But I also know (I'm in games and in OC myself, loads of friends at local studios from SD, to OC, and LA counties) that they had a demonstration last Thursday, at 2PM Pacific Time they walked out. They claim that leadership is not negotiating in good faith.

Diablo is blizzard.

Re: Microsoft fire idTech team at Id software

#308

Post by duped »

sph wrote: post #289
anthonypasq wrote: post #277

Earlier quoted context omitted.

so you agree then that no professional game developer should make their own engine right? because their job is to ship a product.

Craft > sales. Great craftsmanship always sells, so in the long run it is not a bad investment. If your goal is to sell a game in 3 months, sure, but not even Unreal Engine will magically turn a rushed game into a good product. 90% of the development time is making a fun game in the first place, and you’re on your own there.

> Craft > sales. Great craftsmanship always sells, so in the long run it is not a bad investment.

This entire saga of XBOX fka Microsoft Gaming is proof to the contrary

Re: Microsoft fire idTech team at Id software

#309

Post by markus_zhang »

sph wrote: post #279
markus_zhang wrote: post #265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

However, is it easy to work with an undocumented IDtech engine? Even a previous generation, say Rage? I think it’s very hard.

The entire 2000s FPS scene was built on variations on the Quake Engine. And it got us Half-Life.

I don’t disagree with that, but back then polygons are in the hundreds/low thousand, and now they have mega textures, huge models, which are simply too expensive to create. Not to say IDTech is alone in this, but I think not many companies can handle those things.

And the engine is way more complicated nowadays — UE at least has a huge community and docs.

I’m just an old man who prefers a much, much slower pace for the rendering engine. I wouldn’t mind that they grew so slow that we just got IDTech 4.

Re: Microsoft fire idTech team at Id software

#310

Post by bitwize »

mghackerlady wrote: post #264
bitwize wrote: post #248

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's almost as if... laborers in every field (the proletariat) have to unionize as a class against the ownership class (the bourgeoisie), seize the means of production, and reorganize society to their own benefit because the bourgeoisie surely will not!

but that's communism, which is bad because the Department of Education said so while making us read fiction

WHAT Department of Education?
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