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After 800 Blizzard Employees Lose Their Jobs, Game Workers Unite Calls for Kotick Firing - MMORPG.c
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Well, an ex-employee has about zero bargaining power (unless they're suing for wrongful termination or something).
The bargaining power of a current employee, is to speak up and protest or quit and find a new job if they're not happy. This is how every job works. What do you suggest to balance the inequality? Someone has to captain the ship...
My point was, it's easy to cry afoul when you have nothing left to lose.
If they thought the CEO should've been fired BEFORE they got laid off, it takes guts to risk your job and stand up for what you believe in. This employee is who I would have sympathy for.
If they thought the CEO should've been fired AFTER they got laid off, then it just looks like they're being bitter.
Not sure what value you’re looking at. If you look at startups per capita, US is waaaaay down the table.
Besides, thanks for agreeing that I’m correct that startup creation in Europe isn’t at zero, which was the point I was making. Cheers.
Currently playing: WildStar, Guild Wars 2, EVE Online, Vain Glory.
Your post is like demanding folks provide you links that the housing bubble crash in America was related to home lending. /facepalm
Take two minutes to look into it instead of lazily demanding you be spoon-fed.
I get what you're saying, but you seem to lack perspective on the employer/employee relationship. I get that you acknowledge it, but you certainly seem to be grossly downplaying it.
The fact that you casually mentioned finding a new job as if it's as easy as uploading a resume on Indeed.com and choosing from a company buffet isn't reflective of reality (reality is quite the opposite). That's part of the inherent inequity in bargaining power I mentioned. While that's understandable in some ways due to the nature of the beast, so to speak, it still seems disingenuous/callous to act as if it's as easy as an employee going to a manager and saying "Y'know what? Fire Kotick. I'm done with him." and thy employee's will be done.
The sad reality, in the professional world, is that a singular employee "standing up for what they believe in," except for very specific circumstances, is as useless as a penis on a Pope.
When gaming went from being very profitable to mega profitable the top executives moved in, be they from huge chemical companies or household name food retailers the gaming industry needed them. Or supposedly they did, they keep investors and share holders happy even if they actually do nothing but keep the company on the same course. Last at the table they demand a very big salary and remuneration where ever they go.
But once the money starts to dry up they are never the first to leave it is always those who earn more average sums, but eventually they will move on to another big cash cow.
Until companies start to address the issue of directors pay this will continue to be an albatross around the neck of the commercial sector.
Bobby Kotick: "While we have made record profits, we need to rethink the way we make games. But rather than let our dedicated and amazing staff go, I am voluntarily cutting my personal salary in half to keep our people employed because they are what makes ATVI great."
He would STILL make $15,000,000, more than he could spend in a lifetime (added to a doubtless huge savings in the bank) but would come out looking like the "good guy" for the gesture. He'd still be making grotesque amounts of money but would seem as if he were altruistically helping out the grunts.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
No fate but what we make, so make me a ham sandwich please.
You post a lot of silly stuff on these forums. But this one really set the mark...
Seriously.. a simple WTF does not suffice.
WHAT
THE
FUCK
????
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
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¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I'm not 100% on board with the whole firing of Kotick thing, but I can say that whoever their PR people are should be given a stern talking-to because they bungled this horribly.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Why didn't you make the same demand as 3dom? He didn't bring out any facts either.
Then why would the same company so royally screw up the Diablo Immortal stuff? I mean, Diablo launched 22 years ago... that's a lot of feedback they got over the years. Or the new expansions they launch... no feedback required on which parts of those were good/bad?
Customers are always changing. This is why we went from subs being the prevalent model of online games, to F2P, to Lootboxes, now to Battle Royales...
A company that thinks they no longer need customer feedback is a company on it's way to a painful death.
All time classic MY NEW FAVORITE POST! (Keep laying those bricks)
"I should point out that no other company has shipped out a beta on a disc before this." - Official Mortal Online Lead Community Moderator
Proudly wearing the Harbinger badge since Dec 23, 2017.
Coined the phrase "Role-Playing a Development Team" January 2018
"Oddly Slap is the main reason I stay in these forums." - Mystichaze April 9th 2018
Well put. I work in a completely different industry but a very similar situation. There is talk of unions and all that, as we are treated exactly the same way expendable. Luckily I have one retirement to fall back on so moving to the next gig isn't all that bad but for younger people it is very hard. We all have savings account that ease the down time.
You made another very good point as well, business is business and its not going to change just because people got laid off in this industry. Asking for the CEO to be fired is laughable, asking for him to step down is even more so. What people should be asking is for innovation and ideas to get the industry healthy again.
Finally, IF these lay-offs were so unjust why didn't the rest of the employees walk out? If things were as bad as people want others to believe the rest of the crew would have picketed the place. People will only take so much and you don't have to have a union to strike. If that happens, my point of view will change, but as it stands this is just whining. Justified, it sucks people want to have stability, but there is plenty of work out there.
If you want a new idea, go read an old book.
In order to be insulted, I must first value your opinion.
Yet King's MAUs since the takeover tell a different story. Down over 200M since end-2015, a drop of nearly 50%. And still falling. With fewer games in the top 10.
Does this mean that King has been mismanaged. Or maybe the price paid was to high? And what does this say about the current management? Absolutely not according to the results. Such things - that might cast doubt on the ability of the C team - are glossed over and any minor positive played up.
Right. Exactly as they knew could happen if things went bad. Its not like you become a contract employee and expect that you have settled. If, as a contractor, you believe you are going to be in on place for your entire career then you are in for a rude awakening. These types of things are usually written into contracts, and the contractor has to be well aware of it.
When companies start losing money the first thing to go is fluff. Contractors in most cases are fluff, and they know that.
Again, this isn't a good situation for the people it happened to, but I am also not convinced they were not blind sided by any of this. They had time to prepare, at least the WARN time line and I would bet even more than that.
If you want a new idea, go read an old book.
In order to be insulted, I must first value your opinion.
Sure, CEOs make an exorbitant amount, but if one would take their pay and spread it equitably across all accounts payable in a company, it amounts to pennies on the dollar, so the argument about the CEO's pay is just a virtue signal.
As best as I can tell, the majority of people laid off were not those who created intrinsic value. They were support staff with skillsets which are not exactly in demand. They were Social Media Strategists, Community Managers, and things like that. With all the talk of other companies extending job offers, most of them can't even apply to those, because these companies are looking for programmers and artists-- actual hands-on people who directly contribute to the development of the end product. So what exactly do these people have to offer that would benefit the companies they want to work for? Employment is a two way street-- you provide value to a company and the company provides you a salary in exchange. No one is entitled a paycheck just for being on the payroll, and it's sound fiduciary responsibility to offload waste.
Regardless of the public outcry, I think Act/Blizz just made itself into a much healthier enterprise, and the end result is going to actually be good for gamers.
"You'll never win an argument with an idiot because he is too stupid to recognize his own defeat." ~Anonymous
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