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Telltale Employees Left Stunned by Company Closure, No Severance

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Re: Telltale Employees Left Stunned by Company Closure, No Severance

#71

Post by s73v3r_ »

bb88 wrote: post #12

If you think about employment as a business transaction, then you should insist on "Cash Up Front", e.g. signing bonus, higher salary, or immediate stock ownership to offset your personal risk. Joining a company is more of a risk to you as an employee than it is to them in hiring you. Basically it comes down to asking for "Cash Up Front". Expecting a cash settlement on the backend of a failed business transaction is…

While I agree, there are probably a handful of people who could actually make that happen. Most others would be told "I'm sorry, the position has been filled." It's a product of the vast power disparity between companies and individuals.

Re: Telltale Employees Left Stunned by Company Closure, No Severance

#72

Post by taurath »

bargl wrote: post #68
slg wrote: post #15

The worst part for many of these people is that our country still links health insurance with your employer. It is bad enough to suddenly lose your job and primary source of income, but that type of thing is often unavoidable when a company goes belly up. However only getting a week's notice before all your health insurance benefits disappear is the type of thing that just shouldn't happen in this country.

There is some small amount of protection involved. They have to offer COBRA (I'm not sure about a company going belly up) at the same rate they pay. Which means you get a negotiated rate. I've done this and it's fucking expensive but it works. The shit part is that small companies are exempt, which makes sense but can still suck. I am also not sure what happens if the company is filing bankruptcy or not. So maybe the…

"It works" means if you have the money you can buy it. If you've don't have 6 months of expenses saved you're already in trouble, add the $650-1200 a month for COBRA and most people would be on the street.

The only good thing is since they hard laid you off you can immediately apply for obamacare/medicare and pay nothing out of pocket because you have 0 income other than unemployment.

Re: Telltale Employees Left Stunned by Company Closure, No Severance

#73

Post by chii »

analog31 wrote: post #13
vcanales wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's really interesting to read this perspective on what severance is in the US, because in my country it definitely is just a right everyone has so that they can land on their feet.

In the US, we have unemployment compensation insurance for that purpose. I believe you can collect unemployment even if the employer is insolvent, because it's pre-paid by the employer, and comes out of a collective fund. As I understand it, a severance usually involves the employee signing some sort of agreement.

So who pays for this insurance? Is it usually the company, or the employee?

Re: Telltale Employees Left Stunned by Company Closure, No Severance

#74

Post by hellogoodbyeeee »

ryandrake wrote: post #17
cloakandswagger wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think severance is normal or expected of any business teetering on insolvency.

In my experience, severance (as part of your employment agreement) is not normal or expected for any job in the USA. I’ve been working for decades and have never seen even a hint of it in any employer’s benefits info. Severance is something only big shot executives get.

I got a severance package from a part time bank teller job after they closed the branch I worked at. I also got a severance package when a small business I worked at went under. I'd say severance packages are a lot more common than you think they are.

Re: Telltale Employees Left Stunned by Company Closure, No Severance

#75

Post by thrower123 »

kaycebasques wrote: post #43
thrower123 wrote: post #26

Adventure games seems to be a segment that is especially prone to boom and bust cycles. This has to be at least the third major collapse, following Infocom and LucasArts. Even when well executed, the formula is hard to keep fresh, and the emphasis on story and writing leads to generally poor replayability. Particularly now, in the youtube/twitch age - most of the enjoyment of these kinds of games is watching the stor…

I didn’t know that this happened at LucasArts. I grew up on Sam & Max, Full Throttle, and Day of the Tentacle. Any good articles about LucasArts’ demise?

https://www.digitalgamemuseum.org/the-rise-and-fall-of-adven...

I had forgotten about Sierra, probably because I was more into their Impressions city-builder and strategy games.

Re: Telltale Employees Left Stunned by Company Closure, No Severance

#76

Post by s73v3r_ »

bargl wrote: post #68
slg wrote: post #15

The worst part for many of these people is that our country still links health insurance with your employer. It is bad enough to suddenly lose your job and primary source of income, but that type of thing is often unavoidable when a company goes belly up. However only getting a week's notice before all your health insurance benefits disappear is the type of thing that just shouldn't happen in this country.

There is some small amount of protection involved. They have to offer COBRA (I'm not sure about a company going belly up) at the same rate they pay. Which means you get a negotiated rate. I've done this and it's fucking expensive but it works. The shit part is that small companies are exempt, which makes sense but can still suck. I am also not sure what happens if the company is filing bankruptcy or not. So maybe the…

Which is better than absolutely nothing, but now you have to pay the full company rate, which is usually much higher than someone who now doesn't have a job can afford.

Re: Telltale Employees Left Stunned by Company Closure, No Severance

#77

Post by toomuchtodo »

zemo wrote: post #67
toomuchtodo wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why have game industry workers not unionized? If now isn’t the time, I don’t know when is. EDIT: I stand corrected.

Only 7% of private sector laborers are in a union of any kind in the US. That rate has fallen sharply for several decades, and the political apparatus of the United States, especially the Republican party, has been deliberately eradicating labor unions since WWII. That's the whole "Right to Work" thing. umm, maybe start here and just ... I dunno, click around a bit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Labor_unions_in_the_U…

There are ongoing efforts to fix this.

Re: Telltale Employees Left Stunned by Company Closure, No Severance

#78

Post by ww520 »

I was fortunate (or unfortunate) in my career that the first company I work for was acquired and a massive company wide layoff followed, which woke me up from the Koolaid on dedicating my life to the companies I work for, and I would never let any company determine my fate.

Re: Telltale Employees Left Stunned by Company Closure, No Severance

#79

Post by s73v3r_ »

chii wrote: post #73
analog31 wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US, we have unemployment compensation insurance for that purpose. I believe you can collect unemployment even if the employer is insolvent, because it's pre-paid by the employer, and comes out of a collective fund. As I understand it, a severance usually involves the employee signing some sort of agreement.

So who pays for this insurance? Is it usually the company, or the employee?

Both.

Re: Telltale Employees Left Stunned by Company Closure, No Severance

#80

Post by Aeolun »

dogma1138 wrote: post #52
kevinh wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> TTG shtick was essentially “emotional abuse simulators” all their games had one trick get you attached to characters and see them die with very little actual player control over it. Some of their games were like this, but others were not. The Tales from the Borderlands series and Guardians of the Galaxy series were primarily vehicles for comedy, and did not rely on the trope you're mentioning.

Borderlands was a betrayal simulator i didn’t really played Guardians of the Galaxy. GoT was essentially the same as TWD. However the gameplay was essentially identical across all of them a semi interactive cut scene that is broken by QTEs which don’t have a major impact on the overall story arc they at best just shift a few characters around the events still unfold as they are. Expensive licenses and a repetitive “p…

I don’t know where you work, but I can count on one finger the places where I actually knew the companies financial situation.

You can try to guess based on sales and nr of employees, but it’s hardly an exact science.

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