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What It's Like to Work on League of Legends

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Re: What It's Like to Work on League of Legends

#51

Post by Agentlien »

Reedx wrote: post #23
0x8BADF00D wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any company in the games industry is like this. It’s a sweatshop.

That's ridiculous. Game companies are nothing like sweatshops and the reality is much less sensational than what you hear about, which should be no surprise. Most are basically 9-5, generally with flexible hours. Often free food/snacks/games and other perks. Some take Friday afternoons off to drink and play games. Crunch toward release does happen a lot, it's a problem, but they're getting better about avoiding it. Y…

I used to work for EA (five years at Ghost, specifically) and my experience there mirrors what you described. Often there was a crunch towards the end, but the last game I worked on had none. I'm currently working for Zoink and it's similar, though with a stronger stance against overtime.

Re: What It's Like to Work on League of Legends

#52

Post by Agentlien »

jayd16 wrote: post #36
0x8BADF00D wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any company in the games industry is like this. It’s a sweatshop.

EA and Acti have a reputation for crunch as well but only Riot has this many sexual harassment accusations.

EA, or at least Dice, have done a lot to move away from crunch as much as possible. It's been a slow process, but I definitely saw improvements during my time at Ghost. The last game I worked on didn't really have much of a crunch at all. I think I might have done some overtime, but almost every week was 40 hours and no drama.

Re: What It's Like to Work on League of Legends

#55

Post by Agentlien »

Kiro wrote: post #50
dickeytk wrote: post #2

TIL Riot is owned by Tencent

What company isn't?

EA and Take-Two Interactive (which own Rockstar) are the only big players I can think of.

It's crazy. I went through the list of big publishers and most are at least partially owned by Tencent.

Re: What It's Like to Work on League of Legends

#56

Post by elcomet »

Reedx wrote: post #20
trenning wrote: post #4

Another take on what it's like to work there when the copy isn't curated by HR and PR. https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Riot-Games-Reviews-E247538... Written 1/24/2020 - 11 days ago, Pros - Colleagues who really really care about what they're doing - The best campus and amenities you're going to see in LA - Being surrounded by other gamers/people of similar ages and hobbies - Cool products - a ton of R&D Cons -…

Why cherry pick 1 review? You could've copied the more representative aggregation of reviews: Pros: "Riot is a great place for gamers" (in 79 reviews) "Cares about Rioters: Riot has fantastic perks because they want to keep the talent (that's us) happy" (in 67 reviews) "Best free food I’ve eaten, benefits are great, and there is a lot of opportunity if you are willing to work for it" (in 40 reviews) "people that play…

All those cons actually seem like disguisedd pros:

> Some Rioters lack a sense of appreciation

So what riot offers is amazing, but some employees don't know how to appreciate it (but you, you will of course)

> Growing pains: They talk of the flat organization which is a selling point to some people

> Tends to over-value ivy league and mbas

That's what ivy league and mbas (people they're trying to recruit) want to hear..

Re: What It's Like to Work on League of Legends

#57

Post by ulfw »

Reedx wrote: post #20
trenning wrote: post #4

Another take on what it's like to work there when the copy isn't curated by HR and PR. https://www.glassdoor.com/Reviews/Riot-Games-Reviews-E247538... Written 1/24/2020 - 11 days ago, Pros - Colleagues who really really care about what they're doing - The best campus and amenities you're going to see in LA - Being surrounded by other gamers/people of similar ages and hobbies - Cool products - a ton of R&D Cons -…

Why cherry pick 1 review? You could've copied the more representative aggregation of reviews: Pros: "Riot is a great place for gamers" (in 79 reviews) "Cares about Rioters: Riot has fantastic perks because they want to keep the talent (that's us) happy" (in 67 reviews) "Best free food I’ve eaten, benefits are great, and there is a lot of opportunity if you are willing to work for it" (in 40 reviews) "people that play…

Having been at several companies where management and/or HR actively 'encouraged' people to post 5star Glassdoor reviews I now dismiss every single 5star review (and look at 4stars critically).

Re: What It's Like to Work on League of Legends

#58

Post by AmericanChopper »

keanzu wrote: post #26
Reedx wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why cherry pick 1 review? You could've copied the more representative aggregation of reviews: Pros: "Riot is a great place for gamers" (in 79 reviews) "Cares about Rioters: Riot has fantastic perks because they want to keep the talent (that's us) happy" (in 67 reviews) "Best free food I’ve eaten, benefits are great, and there is a lot of opportunity if you are willing to work for it" (in 40 reviews) "people that play…

> "Some Rioters lack a sense of appreciation" (in 59 reviews) This phrasing immediately struck me as odd so I went looking for an actual review: 'Some Rioters lack a sense of appreciation. Some Rioters, particularly those who have never worked a "real job," do not seem to appreciate what Riot offers them.' Smells like astroturfing.

The parent comment smells like outrage mongering. How could I know that you didn’t post it yourself? All the reviews are equally unreliable, you can’t just pick out the ones that you like.

Re: What It's Like to Work on League of Legends

#59

Post by diegoperini »

Agentlien wrote: post #52
jayd16 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EA and Acti have a reputation for crunch as well but only Riot has this many sexual harassment accusations.

EA, or at least Dice, have done a lot to move away from crunch as much as possible. It's been a slow process, but I definitely saw improvements during my time at Ghost. The last game I worked on didn't really have much of a crunch at all. I think I might have done some overtime, but almost every week was 40 hours and no drama.

EA is bigger than Dice, I believe. Maybe people who work for Dice (I love their games and tech!) had the leverage of opposing crunch becoming a norm. How you get such leverage over to your parent company, I do not know that. :)

Re: What It's Like to Work on League of Legends

#60

Post by Agentlien »

diegoperini wrote: post #59
Agentlien wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

EA, or at least Dice, have done a lot to move away from crunch as much as possible. It's been a slow process, but I definitely saw improvements during my time at Ghost. The last game I worked on didn't really have much of a crunch at all. I think I might have done some overtime, but almost every week was 40 hours and no drama.

EA is bigger than Dice, I believe. Maybe people who work for Dice (I love their games and tech!) had the leverage of opposing crunch becoming a norm. How you get such leverage over to your parent company, I do not know that. :)

Dice experimented with ways to prevent crunch by cutting down on unnecessary time sinks. It's shown good results, so it's only natural that other EA studios want to adopt it.
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