Category: Politics/Government

Code Union, Code Better in the latest Escapist talks about the benefits of organizing software developers to reverse the pendulum which has currently swung “in the direction of upper management, to the point where workers are forced to accept low pay and long hours out of fear”.

The author fears that besides the threat of outsourcing cogs in a wheel to cheaper nations, the current developers are working for longer hours and little pay as it is. He compares the situation with the meatpacking or coal mining industries of yesteryear.

In ea_spouse, we had our Upton Sinclair, but we’re without a Teddy Roosevelt. Without a friend in politics, we’re a massive blob with no direction, no drive. Someone is going to have to step up from within to give us a figurehead. The industry is in the middle of a rockstar drought, but we need someone like the industry’s founding fathers, able to capture our hearts and minds, not only with a game, but with a personality and a cause. But with corporate cultures disintegrating as bottom lines and mergers usurp artistic vision, rockstars are getting harder and harder to come by.

Pray for one to rise from the bowels of some dungeon-like cube farm. We need a savior-caliber leader to keep us together, and to keep us employed.

I’m not intimately familiar with EA’s work practices, but I’m familiar with the stories. Near-80-hour weeks without pay to make up for it. If you can’t handle it, we’ll find someone who will. With EA being such a giant in the game industry, a lot of people feel that they have no choice but to work in such dismal conditions.

But Blancato has brought up a good point: where is the strong leader to say “No!” to EA? With EA working with so many development teams and such big names as Will Wright and now Steven Spielberg, why haven’t any of them said anything?

Obviously some people love working for EA, and the bad news is getting a lot more press than it might otherwise have at some other company. Still, if people hate the conditions so much, wouldn’t some of their major game developers have a say? Will Wright at EA Maxis? Rick Hall at EA Origin? Heck, Peter Molyneux’s games get published by EA. Why not him? Wouldn’t someone want to step up for their teams and say, “You know, I don’t think you should treat the rest of them so badly. They need better work conditions, or I’m out of here.”? Would it be too farfetched to hear one day that Spielberg decided not to work with EA due to the conditions of the developers?

It’s generally considered normal in the game industry to work long hours and go through crunch periods to meet deadlines. It’s almost been a badge of honor. Still, plenty of studies have shown that there are fewer errors when working sane hours and people get to take breaks and go get some sleep. Forcing people to work 60+ hour weeks for months at a time is not only abuse but also counterproductive. EA took it to an extreme.

Some EA studios apparently do better than others as far as employee satisfaction. They come in expecting crunch periods towards the end of a project, but they also get great benefits and extra vacation time. According to ea_spouse, some or all of these benefits were going to be revoked. It definitely can’t be all good there.

I write all this not being someone on the inside. I’ve never worked at any major game company, let alone any of EA’s studios. I don’t really know too many game developers, but I’ve heard and read from some of them. Everyone knows the horror stories, whether they are glorified or not. Maybe someone will read what I have to say and dismiss it as just another irrelavant opinion. Still, why haven’t we heard from some of the studio’s major figures regarding EA’s work practices? Obviously no one wants to lose his/her job, but they can’t really fire everyone, nor could they allow some non-EA game studio to pick up their stars, right?

I was about to make a huge post about Jack Thompson’s “modest proposal”, but I just realized that besides the game industry magazines and news sites, no one is reporting it. It is probably just as well.

If you’re curious, I’ll link to the Joystiq article.

I gained slightly more respect for him after listening to the interview podcast on Game Politics, but this proposal sank my opinion of him.

EDIT: Ctrl-Alt-Delete has a comic and an open letter about the “modest proposal”.

Up until now I thought Jack Thompson was being very specific in his attacks against Rockstar and violent video game developers, players, and distributors. I’ve read some of his emails in the past, and I have to say that he’s much better at grammar and punctuation these days. I am sure he gets lots of hate mail from people, especially from kids who can’t do much more than repeat what they say when playing Counter-Strike.

While my opinion of him was never very high, I always tried to assume he at least believed what he was doing was right, that he was doing his best to make a difference in the world for the better. I never liked the idea of calling him an ambulance chaser or accusing him of just trying to make money off of the fears of parents. He was just uninformed or misguided, right?

So when I read that a Miami DJ had to get a restraining order due to harrassment from Thompson, when I read what he did at a public debate with Janet Reno, and when I read that he compared ESA president Doug Lowenstein to Goebbels, Hitler, and Saddam Hussein, I can no longer have respect for this guy. There are people who legitimately feel that video games are teaching children to kill. I can respect their opinion and respect them as people. But the moment people get hysterical and start spouting off nonsense as facts? That’s the point when I make my last statement and sign off.

Unfortunately, the media doesn’t care about Godwin’s Law. Thompson can make all the claims he wants, and it seems he will continue to be taken seriously. EA and Maxis are conspiring to peddle vile to children? Studies show that children’s brains can be damaged by violent media? Seriously?

And all of his (mostly unprovoked!) ad-hominem attacks against gamers and reporters? He claims that the agitated and emotional responses he gets in return are proof that video games have an adverse effect on attitudinal behaviors.

Jack Thompson as The Pot: Hey, Kettle, you’re BLACK!

I also can’t understand this at the bottom of his site “If you have kids, have them start shooting hoops instead of humans.” Why isn’t anyone outraged at the insinuation that parents are pushing their children to shoot people? I mean, if it is just a matter of parents pushing their children to play sports, what other interpretation is there? Or maybe it is just a sly way of admitting that it is the parents who let their children play these games, that the children aren’t just picking up Grand Theft Auto from the proverbial Streets?

I still don’t like the idea of calling him a nutcase or crazy or question his sexuality or anything personal like that. Why? Because I refuse to bend down to his level. Sure, in politics, emotion trumps reason, but maybe I’m just an idealist who thinks that that calling my opponent names isn’t going to help in the higher debate. I was able to communicate with the Illinois state governor’s office, and both parties were quite respectful. No one accused me of being a nerd or on drugs. We disagreed, but I didn’t send threats to kill anyone or sue them for contacting me back. We didn’t call each other names or question sexualities. Even when emotion did enter it, it was at least related to the damn issue. It was civilized.

It is clear that Thompson can’t handle this level of respect when in a debate. Either you must agree with him, or you’re an idiot. I’m waiting for him to call someone a doodoo head next.

So I won’t bend down to his level by calling him names that are unwarranted or irrelevant, but I will say he is disrespectful, dishonorable, and manipulative. Even if I ignore his opinions on violence in video games, his actions and his words have demonstrated to me that he is not worthy of real debate or real discussion. He can’t seem to handle a civilized discussion.

From Copyright Office: Is only MS IE acceptable to you?:

In a followup to its July 22, 2005, Notice of Proprosed Rulemaking, the Copyright Office is now seeking “information as to whether persons filing the electronic-only preregistration form prescribed by the Copyright Office will experience difficulties if it is necessary to use Microsoft’s Internet Explorer web browser in order to preregister a work.”

It’s been a few years since “Best Viewed With Internet Explorer” was something people proudly put on their sites. The idea that only IE is capable of viewing a webpage is absurd, but some people insist. But requiring me to use IE to preregister a copyright? Why? Didn’t Homeland Security say that IE is a problem?

The article provides contact information so that people can submit their opinions on this matter. More info: http://www.copyright.gov/fedreg/2005/70fr44878.html