Blog about Games developer abuse

[Rafe Zetter]

I found this blog and thought it was an interesting, if one sided, read.

As per the title It's about the abuse games developers get and how common it now is - from the perspective of a games developer.

https://medium.com/@morganjaffit/the-cost-of-doing-business-c09cc5cc8728

I warn you now it has some examples of extremely strong abusive language, but they are embedded and I can't do anything about it.

I have written a reply, in my usual inimitable style, from the perspective of a peed off gamer (hey what's new?) who's sick of game companies treating players like cash cows for milking, but rather than add it here (it's LONG, longer than the actual article) you can look for it underneath should you wish.

 

[dannysquid]

I worked in games in the late 90s when we were blissfully unaware of the expectations of the wider world. I'm not sure I'd be able to cope with an army of strangers second-guessing every decision. It was stressful enough dealing with the frank opinions of 20 people!

 

[Chevy66]

It's amazing these people don't see how pathetic they look going into meltdown over a game because it's not exactly how they dreamed it would be.

Some games don't turn out how I would've liked, but I'd never dream of abusing the developers

 

[Susanna]

Hi Rafe,

An interesting article on Dev's and how they are currently treated by the player base. An interest response from you too!

The problem is also that many games companies are not 'run' by dev's - they are run but a whole bunch of people that 'they' report 'to'... (as well as the share holders). So part of the problem is (as you pointed out) that game dev companies need to listen a whole lot more to the realities of what the Dev's can deliver and stop over-reaching... The problems start when the people with the cash start worrying that what the Dev's have come up with isn't good enough to sell and their investment will go south... Then the 'bun' starts cooking in the oven...

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

It's mostly social media. What happens there has little to do with the majority of players I believe.

 

[metatheurgist]

People are weirdly entitled today. It shows in road rage incidents. Food servers get abused now too if the customer can't get what they want, even if the shop doesn't actually serve that. It's like people have totally lost their ability to understand how the world works.

 

[Navigare Necesse Est]

wrong place to post, sorry

 

[Siobhan]

Seems to me like nothing ever changes. The workers get abuse for failing to supply what management/marketing promised. Often enough they aren't even aware of what's been promised but its still "their fault". While I understand people get upset, and feel frustrated there is absolutely no reason at all to hurl personal abuse at people who are just doing a job, let alone send threats to their home address and the like. Yet these entitled masses believe its OK. Even our OP in this thread seems to imply in his response to the article, that in his opinion, the devs deserve it??? I am left speechless.
Threaten the company if you like... But when you send personal threats to individual staff members, you become the worst kind of person imaginable, and cowardly hiding behind anonymity in most cases too.
I am glad I got out of the industry when I did. I'd never be a developer in the current climate.

 

[Ian Skippy]

People are weirdly entitled today. It shows in road rage incidents. Food servers get abused now too if the customer can't get what they want, even if the shop doesn't actually serve that. It's like people have totally lost their ability to understand how the world works.

It is the opposite, really. The less control and power people feel to have over their life, the more they will exert what little power they believe to have over others whenever they can. And as more and more people feel 'the game is rigged', more and more will turn to yelling at waitresses and anonymous online rage.

 

[verminstar]

If a game is rubbish and players buy it anyway, then the fault lies with the player fer not doing their homework. When ye buy a new car, do ye find out a bit more about it before signing the dotted line? Same thing applies to games...dont like them then dont buy them...its not like players are held at gunpoint to hand over their cash so why act like thats exactly what happens?

Far as devs go, regardless what the game is, its just a job to them...they aint the problem they just the tip of the spear as it were and its the white collar managers and share holders who push unrealistic deadlines and demands on them safe in the knowledge that if the brown stuff hits the fan, they remain hidden while the dev teams catch all the flak.

This is the way all companies work...unless yer one the very lucky few who works fer a reputable company who are very capable of admitting their own mistakes. Such companies are very few and far between and most will simply blame the workers and gives bonuses to the managers to ease the burden of working with idiots who dont know its their fault when the managers mess up.

End of the day things wot change because they have yer money already and all the tears in the world wont make any difference because if they can make money out of a failure, then it must5 be true what they say and there really is one born every minute ^

 

[Necronaught]

I can't believe devs take the abuse seriously. it's just faceless people who you will never meet venting their displeasure. If you take that thing to heart then get off the internet.

 

[through the hole backwards]

I can't believe devs take the abuse seriously. it's just faceless people who you will never meet venting their displeasure. If you take that thing to heart then get off the internet.

(sarcasm) That's the attitude, well done. (sarcasm)

 

[Chaparral]

Try teaching, where you actually face your critics every single day, are recorded without your permission, and where single word you utter can end your career and humiliate your family.

People wrote a mean tweet about me - give me a break.

I have colleagues that have had fake twitter profiles created by students where the "pretend" teacher confesses lewd desires for students. I have had students sign up a colleague for the KKK. I have known teachers that have been threatened, their property damaged or stolen, and been physically assaulted by students. Oh, and that little text emoji member - I literally can't count how many of those I've cleaned off of surfaces, seen on walls and books all over campuses.

I've been teaching high school for 30 years, and I love it. I still don't get to choose when I can go to the bathroom.

I would consider my job to be extremely soft compared to law enforcement, prison guard, the military, the tsa, border patrol, etc. etc.

There must be some perks to working on games that allow them to tolerate such amazing "abuse", otherwise there wouldn't be such a willing pool of folks standing around for the chance to do it.

 

[znôrt]

(sarcasm) That's the attitude, well done. (sarcasm)

i'd say pretty much the same without any sarcasm.

maybe 'get off the internet' is an exaggeration, but 'choose your audience' is pretty much what it's about. developers seriously committed to their games will value feedback and criticism but tend to be pretty much immune to social media bashing and trolling. developers who are just exploiting the industry put up this drama much like celebrities complain about paparazzi: so they can get even more attention, it's part of their business.

 

[metatheurgist]

I have colleagues that have had fake twitter profiles created by students where the "pretend" teacher confesses lewd desires for students. I have had students sign up a colleague for the KKK. I have known teachers that have been threatened, their property damaged or stolen, and been physically assaulted by students. Oh, and that little text emoji member - I literally can't count how many of those I've cleaned off of surfaces, seen on walls and books all over campuses.

Seems to me that this is where the behaviour begins. Parents that coddle their kids and teach them that they are the center of the universe.

There must be some perks to working on games that allow them to tolerate such amazing "abuse", otherwise there wouldn't be such a willing pool of folks standing around for the chance to do it.

Because naïve coders that leave school think working for a games company must be 100% fun and games. That's how they get exploited into abusive work conditions.

 

[Darkfyre99]

People are weirdly entitled today. It shows in road rage incidents. Food servers get abused now too if the customer can't get what they want, even if the shop doesn't actually serve that. It's like people have totally lost their ability to understand how the world works.

We get that in retail, too. A couple weeks ago, I had to intervene with some entitled jerk who had our poor overworked cake decorator in tears, because she had arrived an hour before we had said their cake would be ready, and rather than waiting patiently for it to be done, maybe done some shopping (we're a SuperCenter), she had wanted it now. That woman was throwing a fit, she had attracted a crowd, and actually got violent when our in store security showed up to escort her off the premises.

 

[metatheurgist]

We get that in retail, too. A couple weeks ago, I had to intervene with some entitled jerk who had our poor overworked cake decorator in tears, because she had arrived an hour before we had said their cake would be ready, and rather than waiting patiently for it to be done, maybe done some shopping (we're a SuperCenter), she had wanted it now. That woman was throwing a fit, she had attracted a crowd, and actually got violent when our in store security showed up to escort her off the premises.

Yep, bizarre. Can't understand how some people think.

 

[Jacques d'Orleans]

You live by the sword Twitter, you die by the sword Twitter, simple as that.

I find it pretty rich from them to whine about abuse when the same game devs paint everybody with the usual "racist, mysoginist, entitled manchild and so on tags" even when the criticism is adressed at them in a polite and mannered form.

Hint: It seems someone can dish it out pretty good but he/she/whatever can’t take it.

 

[Ozram]

Wow. And I thought I was bad! Feel better now... little bit sad for the devs...

 

[Siobhan]

You live by the sword Twitter, you die by the sword Twitter, simple as that.

I find it pretty rich from them to whine about abuse when the same game devs paint everybody with the usual "racist, mysoginist, entitled manchild and so on tags" even when the criticism is adressed at them in a polite and mannered form.

Hint: It seems someone can dish it out pretty good but he/she/whatever can’t take it.

Those Devs don't track down the home address of their "critics" and their families and post it with photoes on the internet. Stalking is a rl crime, you know.