Lots of the folks laid off are those who've been there for a long time like 15+ years. Gaile Gray has been there from the beginning and she's one that's gone.
If this is true it's very telling. When layoffs hit long time employees it's mostly due to bloated salary's and other benefits that long term employees get.
I think it's really distasteful to let long term employees go like this because of their age. It's much harder for an older person to get back into the workforce after a layoff and for many reasons. I have seen this happen so many times in my life and it's really sad to see it happen to anyone.
GuildWars2 was considered one of the last remaining "stable cornerstones" of the MMORPG genre. To see this game so heavily affected is certainly quite telling as to what the state of the industry is like right now.
Still, I cannot help but feel that GW2 as a game isn't at fault here. It was generating solid revenue by any common standards despite only receiving one content update every three months, give or take. I have a gut feeling this has been yet another case of upper level missmanagement where foot soldier employees end up paying the price.
I suspect the top at ArenaNet did not get any pay reductions for this failure.
Lots of the folks laid off are those who've been there for a long time like 15+ years. Gaile Gray has been there from the beginning and she's one that's gone.
Wow, I can still remember the rational and reasonable discussions I would have with her as I argued against my many infractions on their forums. I was going to write a fond farewell to her, but it seems my forum account has been terminated. No loss at this point, not like I was ever going to return, and kinda fitting that I found out that bit as I planned to write a good-bye to their staff.
I stand by my feelings on what killed their game, and why this happened. I might log in to delete my characters and give away my stuff when my Computer is working again.
The game is still very much alive ( it is a B2P game after all). And remember, people said that WoW was going to die when they released flying mounts in BC. I'm guessing the team couldn't churn out enough content for the whales or even any new Xpacs but thats all speculation anyway
Minor Correction: The Core Game is F2P, only the Expansions cost money (HoT & PoF).
Yes, it would be speculation on your part, but their fund show that they went into direct decline following HoT, when they tried to re-invent the game for their more hardcore crowed, they seemed to be recovering this last quarter, after PoF, where they tried to again turn the game around to cater more to their moderate/casual demographic, but it most likely, this was a result of being an issue of too little, too late.
Like many games, they put out a really bad expansion with HoT, and that struck them a blow that they never quite recovered from, just like WoW went into direct decline after Cataclysm, not sure what they did, but they screwed something up with that expansion.
Understand that most MMO's don't just die in a blaze of glory, they limp along, bleeding players, downsizing, maybe held together by a small team where the game fades into obscurity with a small band of loyal followers, until such time that it may close down many years later, and lots of players being like "I thought that game died years ago, I had no idea it was still around" Maybe log back in for one last play, get a stark reminder why they left the first time.. and kick it off to the grave yard.
Egotism is the anesthetic that dullens the pain of stupidity, this is why when I try to beat my head against the stupidity of other people, I only hurt myself.
It's good to hear the human angle of the story rather than just the cold numbers and facts. While layoffs like this are part and parcel of American corporate life, these are all just regular people -- both those leaving and the ones left behind with "survivor's guilt". It seems that ArenaNet is giving employees a chance to process.
Good luck to all on your new ventures.
Could be far worse...3/4+ of the worlds population wishes they could be part of it and be laid off to only find another job. Even with some downsides corporate America turns out to still be one of the best systems on planet earth, take a trip to Venezuela in order understand what one of the most common alternatives looks like. Lets not forget all of those "corporate types" who invest their lives saving to start a company have it all fail end up with nothing while the "poor" employees walk away with the pay checks they earned while employed.
Its very important to understand both sides of every story, and also not to confuse "best cases" as being the "typical" outcome. Life is tough for most people and thousands of people with worse careers than those being laid off at arenanet face the same challenges and worse every day. Its just part of life for most of us, not sure it makes any sense to demonize the few who have exceptional talents that allow them to escape the reality the rest of us have to live with. "survivors guilt" says alot about the lack of perspective people are living with, and who is propagating such a terrible thing, I should feel guilt because i didnt get laid off? Yikes, our culture is truly going in the wrong direction the regressive and victim culture is out of control. Your living a good life and work hard feel guilty you must be the recipient of some magical "privilege" specially picked just for you because xyz.
that said compared to all of human history we live in the best era to ever exist yet (both the rich and the poor of the world), and those people laid off today will be just fine like most every other person who gets laid off no special pity needed.
I think you read way too much into that. Feeling a bit guilty that your friend got laid off and you didn't is just.... human.
I'm sad, I'm sad for those who lost their jobs and I'm sad for arena net.
This is happening to the industry for specific reasons, reasons you aren't even allowed to discuss.
My hope is once the industry goes broke (and it is and will) as a whole and the douchenozzles that caused it wander off to dictate their authoritarianism to the next industry the people who actually play games will get their hobby back.
Until then I have a metric shit ton of classics to replay, and some great titles to mod for myself and my friends.
I will be sad for the actual developers, but I won't shed a single tear for the activist that kept pushing the industry off a cliff.
Did they feel bad for us when they lectured us and took our money? I'll ask them the next time one of them delivers food to my house. lol
Lots of the folks laid off are those who've been there for a long time like 15+ years. Gaile Gray has been there from the beginning and she's one that's gone.
If this is true it's very telling. When layoffs hit long time employees it's mostly due to bloated salary's and other benefits that long term employees get.
I think it's really distasteful to let long term employees go like this because of their age. It's much harder for an older person to get back into the workforce after a layoff and for many reasons. I have seen this happen so many times in my life and it's really sad to see it happen to anyone.
I wish all of them all the luck in the world!!
It is actually illegal to let employees go in the US due to their age, so no company ever comes out and says so.
I am an "older" employee, and sometimes I feel I'm am hanging on by the skin of my teeth, or the providence of God, after all this time.
Unfortunately, and especially in Technology older persons struggle to keep up with the latest advancements. As they may command higher salaries, bonuses and likely are a larger drain on the benefits systems if they can't produce at the same level as a younger worker companies may feel justified in furloughing them.
What sometimes protects older employees is they often have the greatest expertise with older legacy applications, but once those apps are taken down they might find themselves quickly sent out the door.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
Good advice to younger workers is to always try to make yourself invaluable to your employer so if a time like this comes, then you may have a certain skill or knowledge, that will keep you on board.
So for young people, keep improving yourselves and trying to find ways to become an essential worker in your company . . .or better yet start your own.
Also, another thing about the younger workers that i've noticed is that they are less likely to stick up for themselves as the older ones who have been around the block a few times. Also, younger workers need to learn how to say "no".
---> full disclosure---> i'm a young worker in my field that can't say "no" .
Catch me streaming at twitch.tv/cryomatrix You can see my sci-fi/WW2 book recommendations.
It's good to hear the human angle of the story rather than just the cold numbers and facts. While layoffs like this are part and parcel of American corporate life, these are all just regular people -- both those leaving and the ones left behind with "survivor's guilt". It seems that ArenaNet is giving employees a chance to process.
Good luck to all on your new ventures.
I wouldn't say this is American corporate life. This is corporate life regardless of the country.
It's good to hear the human angle of the story rather than just the cold numbers and facts. While layoffs like this are part and parcel of American corporate life, these are all just regular people -- both those leaving and the ones left behind with "survivor's guilt". It seems that ArenaNet is giving employees a chance to process.
Good luck to all on your new ventures.
Could be far worse...3/4+ of the worlds population wishes they could be part of it and be laid off to only find another job. Even with some downsides corporate America turns out to still be one of the best systems on planet earth, take a trip to Venezuela in order understand what one of the most common alternatives looks like. Lets not forget all of those "corporate types" who invest their lives saving to start a company have it all fail end up with nothing while the "poor" employees walk away with the pay checks they earned while employed.
Its very important to understand both sides of every story, and also not to confuse "best cases" as being the "typical" outcome. Life is tough for most people and thousands of people with worse careers than those being laid off at arenanet face the same challenges and worse every day. Its just part of life for most of us, not sure it makes any sense to demonize the few who have exceptional talents that allow them to escape the reality the rest of us have to live with. "survivors guilt" says alot about the lack of perspective people are living with, and who is propagating such a terrible thing, I should feel guilt because i didnt get laid off? Yikes, our culture is truly going in the wrong direction the regressive and victim culture is out of control. Your living a good life and work hard feel guilty you must be the recipient of some magical "privilege" specially picked just for you because xyz.
that said compared to all of human history we live in the best era to ever exist yet (both the rich and the poor of the world), and those people laid off today will be just fine like most every other person who gets laid off no special pity needed.
Again, this isn't american corporatism. Arenanet isnt doing this. This is NCsoft, which is based in south korea.
Corporate layoffs are corporate layoffs, its not "america" corporate layoffs. Lets not paint a country in a poor light.
I'm sad, I'm sad for those who lost their jobs and I'm sad for arena net.
This is happening to the industry for specific reasons, reasons you aren't even allowed to discuss.
My hope is once the industry goes broke (and it is and will) as a whole and the douchenozzles that caused it wander off to dictate their authoritarianism to the next industry the people who actually play games will get their hobby back.
Until then I have a metric shit ton of classics to replay, and some great titles to mod for myself and my friends.
I will be sad for the actual developers, but I won't shed a single tear for the activist that kept pushing the industry off a cliff.
Did they feel bad for us when they lectured us and took our money? I'll ask them the next time one of them delivers food to my house. lol
Don't feel bad for them.
One.. Lectured? I don't think you know what that word means. If you mean it in the literal sense, I don't remember ArenaNet ever lecturing someone and then taking their money. Two, onto the taking money part. When did ArenaNet ever take your money? If you gave them money, that was at your own discretion. None of the stuff that was offered on the Black Lion Store was required to play the game. If you bought a skin or toy, etc; then it was you who felt it would be worth it and you entered into a deal, a skin in exchange for money.
You're the kind of person who isn't smart with their money. To me, the game and the expansions were worth my money. I enjoyed the story and the content the expansions had to offer. However, if you do not feel they were worth it, then don't buy it. Always look up what anything offers before you buy it. This is why I preach to never pre-order anything. Always wait until you know what you're going to get.
Good advice to younger workers is to always try to make yourself invaluable to your employer so if a time like this comes, then you may have a certain skill or knowledge, that will keep you on board.
So for young people, keep improving yourselves and trying to find ways to become an essential worker in your company . . .or better yet start your own.
Also, another thing about the younger workers that i've noticed is that they are less likely to stick up for themselves as the older ones who have been around the block a few times. Also, younger workers need to learn how to say "no".
---> full disclosure---> i'm a young worker in my field that can't say "no" .
while this is good advice, not everyone can find their lock in their current company, as such, always work to build skills that will make you valuable to someone else, that way, if anything like this happens, you can walk out of your own volition, into something else, or even something better.
Egotism is the anesthetic that dullens the pain of stupidity, this is why when I try to beat my head against the stupidity of other people, I only hurt myself.
Comments
If this is true it's very telling. When layoffs hit long time employees it's mostly due to bloated salary's and other benefits that long term employees get.
I think it's really distasteful to let long term employees go like this because of their age. It's much harder for an older person to get back into the workforce after a layoff and for many reasons. I have seen this happen so many times in my life and it's really sad to see it happen to anyone.
I wish all of them all the luck in the world!!
Still, I cannot help but feel that GW2 as a game isn't at fault here. It was generating solid revenue by any common standards despite only receiving one content update every three months, give or take. I have a gut feeling this has been yet another case of upper level missmanagement where foot soldier employees end up paying the price.
I suspect the top at ArenaNet did not get any pay reductions for this failure.
Yes, it would be speculation on your part, but their fund show that they went into direct decline following HoT, when they tried to re-invent the game for their more hardcore crowed, they seemed to be recovering this last quarter, after PoF, where they tried to again turn the game around to cater more to their moderate/casual demographic, but it most likely, this was a result of being an issue of too little, too late.
Like many games, they put out a really bad expansion with HoT, and that struck them a blow that they never quite recovered from, just like WoW went into direct decline after Cataclysm, not sure what they did, but they screwed something up with that expansion.
Understand that most MMO's don't just die in a blaze of glory, they limp along, bleeding players, downsizing, maybe held together by a small team where the game fades into obscurity with a small band of loyal followers, until such time that it may close down many years later, and lots of players being like "I thought that game died years ago, I had no idea it was still around" Maybe log back in for one last play, get a stark reminder why they left the first time.. and kick it off to the grave yard.
"Be water my friend" - Bruce Lee
Don't feel bad for them.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
So for young people, keep improving yourselves and trying to find ways to become an essential worker in your company . . .or better yet start your own.
Also, another thing about the younger workers that i've noticed is that they are less likely to stick up for themselves as the older ones who have been around the block a few times. Also, younger workers need to learn how to say "no".
---> full disclosure---> i'm a young worker in my field that can't say "no"
You can see my sci-fi/WW2 book recommendations.
I wouldn't say this is American corporate life. This is corporate life regardless of the country.
I said this last week. Would be pretty cool. And would be cool to see an ARPG that isn't dark and gloomy. Lost Ark comes to mind...
Again, this isn't american corporatism. Arenanet isnt doing this. This is NCsoft, which is based in south korea.
Corporate layoffs are corporate layoffs, its not "america" corporate layoffs. Lets not paint a country in a poor light.
One.. Lectured? I don't think you know what that word means. If you mean it in the literal sense, I don't remember ArenaNet ever lecturing someone and then taking their money. Two, onto the taking money part. When did ArenaNet ever take your money? If you gave them money, that was at your own discretion. None of the stuff that was offered on the Black Lion Store was required to play the game. If you bought a skin or toy, etc; then it was you who felt it would be worth it and you entered into a deal, a skin in exchange for money.
You're the kind of person who isn't smart with their money. To me, the game and the expansions were worth my money. I enjoyed the story and the content the expansions had to offer. However, if you do not feel they were worth it, then don't buy it. Always look up what anything offers before you buy it. This is why I preach to never pre-order anything. Always wait until you know what you're going to get.
while this is good advice, not everyone can find their lock in their current company, as such, always work to build skills that will make you valuable to someone else, that way, if anything like this happens, you can walk out of your own volition, into something else, or even something better.