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Video game developers at Activision Blizzard say they'll walk out Wednesday

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Re: Video game developers at Activision Blizzard say they'll walk out Wednesday

#51

Post by dleslie »

TameAntelope wrote: post #36
dleslie wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think they'll introduce "scabs" simply because it would be a marketing _disaster_. However, I work in the industry, and I think you'd be shocked by how replaceable American developers are. Huge amounts of artistic labour _is_ done cheaply, and in relatively decent quality, oversees in countries like South Korea, China, Japan, and to a lesser extent, Thailand. Here in Canada, we have a thriving industry that i…

Having worked with overseas contractors on a number of projects, I can say my personal experience is that the work product varies wildly in quality, shop to shop. I wouldn't say it's "relatively decent quality" in any universal or guaranteed sense. Not that American developers are necessarily more skilled, just that the lack of a culture and sometimes language barrier is pretty evident in the resulting work product,…

Considering the popularity of Japanese-developed, Polish-developed, German-developed, and other foreign-developed games... I don't think sharing American culture matters much.

Re: Video game developers at Activision Blizzard say they'll walk out Wednesday

#52

Post by madamelic »

908B64B197 wrote: post #27
j_walter wrote: post #18

> The suit was followed by an outpouring of current and former employees saying they’d been harassed or mistreated at the company. I never understand why in the world we currently live in there are so many people willing to be silent for so long. Weinstein did his crap for years, the US gymnastics assaults went on for years. This probably isn't a popular opinion...but when victims choose to remain silent they are com…

> Weinstein did his crap for years, the US gymnastics assaults went on for years. Both gatekeepers for Hollywood and the Olympics.

It also didn't help that he was a doctor who taught his methods in medical classes and was regarded as a forerunner in the field of sports medicine, especially around gymnastics.

Very few people would've been able to call him out on it because no one had enough experience to call him out on his BS. The only reason he got caught was because he got bold and took it too far.

Re: Video game developers at Activision Blizzard say they'll walk out Wednesday

#53

Post by TameAntelope »

j_walter wrote: post #18

> The suit was followed by an outpouring of current and former employees saying they’d been harassed or mistreated at the company. I never understand why in the world we currently live in there are so many people willing to be silent for so long. Weinstein did his crap for years, the US gymnastics assaults went on for years. This probably isn't a popular opinion...but when victims choose to remain silent they are com…

Simply? You lose, most of the time, when you "come forward". There is no parade, there are no articles in the New Yorker about your bravery, you just lose your livelihood, your dreams, and sometimes your life.

It's a sad, often poorly understood reality about whistle blowing, given the heavy survivorship involved. For every success story you hear, there are dozens you don't hear about, because nobody believed them, they were successfully demonized, or because it wasn't "big" enough to really, ultimately matter to American society in a way that could effect change.

That's why it's so impressive when people to come forward anyway, knowing this. It's far from "risk free" to come forward, and usually it's a gigantic negative experience, sometimes rivaling the original abuse itself in negative impact on your life. It's one thing to have the worst day of your life happen, now imagine having to relive it publicly, forever.

Re: Video game developers at Activision Blizzard say they'll walk out Wednesday

#54

Post by mchanson »

kook_throwaway wrote: post #39
madamelic wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> is the DFEH out of line, or is the industry just that broken? No chance DEFH is out of line. The tech industry is strongly biased in the favor of white men in my opinion and video games even more so, considering women playing video games only became socially acceptable a few years ago. It's still common for men to talk down to women on video games, to the point where the overwhelming majority of women do not use vo…

>It's still common for men to talk down to women on video games, to the point where the overwhelming majority of women do not use voice comms or make their gender known. Gamers talk down to everyone on video games and have since they have been invented. This sounds like a new group of people entering an existing space and not understanding the dynamic (namely incessant shittalking). I can't even count how many strang…

yes.

Re: Video game developers at Activision Blizzard say they'll walk out Wednesday

#55

Post by [deleted] »

waythrifty5746 wrote: post #12

Good, walkouts are an effective way to drive organizational change. We had massive walkouts at Wayfair due to our policy of selling furniture to US Customs concentration camps that held tens of thousands of children. Only took Wayfair a few years to somewhat change their policy in a roundabout and nondescript way, but at least some movement took place.

[deleted]

Re: Video game developers at Activision Blizzard say they'll walk out Wednesday

#56

Post by pmarreck »

yosito wrote: post #16

Does anyone have any more specific information aside from "widespread sexism"? It would be good to know exactly what is prompting this walkout, and exactly what changes they're hoping to achieve with it.

Honest question: Guys often "rib" each other, it's part of the culture among males.

When you throw women into the mix and they get "ribbed" (perhaps for being "one of the guys," as it were) does this often become sexual harassment?

Perhaps the culture of "ribbing" needs to go away for everyone, or at least from the workplace, but it has always been the case for me that a close friend or acquaintance typically only "ribs" you when they know you know they're not being serious. (That is why the definition of ribbing is "good-natured teasing".)

Of course, the danger there is misinterpretation (perhaps with self-fulfilling negative expectations primed by media, but I digress)

I may be biased, I spent 4 years in the military where ribbing was literally CONSTANT (it was worse than anyplace else I've worked) and the women there really had to have a thick skin. (I'm also 49 years old and a lot has changed.)

Note: Some of the claims made here go far beyond "ribbing". I'm not talking about those.

Re: Video game developers at Activision Blizzard say they'll walk out Wednesday

#57

Post by ihumanable »

jjdin14 wrote: post #46
waythrifty5746 wrote: post #12

Good, walkouts are an effective way to drive organizational change. We had massive walkouts at Wayfair due to our policy of selling furniture to US Customs concentration camps that held tens of thousands of children. Only took Wayfair a few years to somewhat change their policy in a roundabout and nondescript way, but at least some movement took place.

US customs never had concentration camps holding children, they did have places for holding illegal immigrants though.

I'm sure those children will feel so much better when you explain the difference.

Re: Video game developers at Activision Blizzard say they'll walk out Wednesday

#59

Post by underseacables »

waythrifty5746 wrote: post #12

Good, walkouts are an effective way to drive organizational change. We had massive walkouts at Wayfair due to our policy of selling furniture to US Customs concentration camps that held tens of thousands of children. Only took Wayfair a few years to somewhat change their policy in a roundabout and nondescript way, but at least some movement took place.

Or demonstrate that the business is not viable in its current form. Perhaps blizzard should shut down.

Re: Video game developers at Activision Blizzard say they'll walk out Wednesday

#60

Post by omgitsabird »

madamelic wrote: post #21
0x500x79 wrote: post #13

This seems to largely match a lot of the same things that happened with Riot Games over the last couple of years. I am hoping that these actions can help spread awareness of any issues that may be present at Blizzard and past, current, and future employees won't face the same issues. It is a long road to be traveled to get there. I hope that the current WFH situation doesn't detract from the walkout. A lot of the vis…

> is the DFEH out of line, or is the industry just that broken? No chance DEFH is out of line. The tech industry is strongly biased in the favor of white men in my opinion and video games even more so, considering women playing video games only became socially acceptable a few years ago. It's still common for men to talk down to women on video games, to the point where the overwhelming majority of women do not use vo…

> considering women playing video games only became socially acceptable a few years ago

What?

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