1y ago

Dwarf Fortress creator blasts execs behind brutal industry layoffs: 'I think they're horrible… greedy, greedy people'

www.pcgamer.com

Games @sh.itjust.works

nanoUFO @sh.itjust.works

1y ago

Dwarf Fortress creator blasts execs behind brutal industry layoffs: 'I think they're horrible… greedy, greedy people'

www.pcgamer.com /games/sim/dwarf-fortress-creator-blasts-execs-behind-brutal-industry-layoffs-they-can-all-eat-s-i-think-theyre-horrible-greedy-greedy-people/

PC Gaming @lemmy.world

inclementimmigrant @lemmy.world

1y ago

Dwarf Fortress creator blasts execs behind brutal industry layoffs: 'I think they're horrible… greedy, greedy people'

www.pcgamer.com /games/sim/dwarf-fortress-creator-blasts-execs-behind-brutal-industry-layoffs-they-can-all-eat-s-i-think-theyre-horrible-greedy-greedy-people/

Game Development @programming.dev

Alex @programming.dev

1y ago

Dwarf Fortress creator blasts execs behind brutal industry layoffs: 'I think they're horrible… greedy, greedy people'

www.pcgamer.com /games/sim/dwarf-fortress-creator-blasts-execs-behind-brutal-industry-layoffs-they-can-all-eat-s-i-think-theyre-horrible-greedy-greedy-people/

40 comments

These guys are the kind we need more of. Dwarf Fortress is very much a labor of love and well worth the price on Steam. They have over 20 years of development put into it and even though the steam version got a fresh coat of paint, the text mode version is still free.
Anyone curious about Dwarf Fortress should check out Kruggsmash on Youtube. He has been making Dwarf Fortress videos for years and really does a good job of revealing the stories that evolve during gameplay.
- The text version isn't just still free. It's free and getting active updates. It actually got a significant number of updates and bug fixes that came along with the Steam version being released. These dudes are legends.
  
  Yeah, I should have mentioned that the text version gets the same updates as the steam version just without the graphical overlay.
  
  Wow, really? Might give it another whirl then, it was still a bit rough cut when I played it back in the Boatmurdered era.
- When they accidentally killed cats by alcohol overdose by having them lick their paws and not considering they might step in ale.
  I mean, if you don't see the beauty in that I don't know what to tell you...
  
  Or when dwarves would go blind because they had liquid in their eyes and no way to get it out. Dwarves have eyelids because of that.
- Kruggsmash is so creative and cool. I don't play DF, I bought a copy though because I love watching the stories it creates. I hope I'll get into sometime, but just a little support in the meantime.
BLASTS
- To be fair, this is far more accurate than 97% of the usages of "blasts" in a headline.
- OPTIC BLAST! Foes incinerated
what a fucking hero
Yeah! Just like filthy dwarves!
- Yeah! Just like filthy dwarves!
  I thought in-game that was supposed to be the Elves?
  
  I dunno about morally filthy, but the dwarves are definitely literally filthy
And they were thoroughly blasted I'm sure.
Aren’t video game workers “gig” contracts? You don’t hear about actors getting mad when the job is done and there’s nothing more to act on, they gotta go and find their next gig.
Not every game dev needs artists at all times, programmers at all timea, coders at all times etc. of your not making a new game, yeah you gotta lay of graphic designers, what are they gonna do?
- Actors have unions. Actors also get royalties or a percent of sales.
  Afaik video game workers have neither unions nor do they get a % of the profits.
  
  Not all actors are in a union, and no they don’t get royalties or a percent of sales, that depends on the contract.
- They're not. It's not uncommon after a game is developed for there to be a degree of churn in the development studio, but 1) that's not ideal, 2) that's not what's been happening recently.
  They typically don't refer to the typical post game churn as "layoffs", and they also typically happen after a game launches, not inline with the entire industry laying off a bunch of people.
- They are not.
- That's just.....that's just not how this stuff works m8. By and large no, "video game workers" are not gig/contract most of the time. It does happen, especially at lower levels; but it's foolish to believe anywhere close to the majority of layoffs come from contracts. Those often have built in buy-outs anyways - this is talking about the full time artists/staff/programers who are always working on something
  You don't honestly think Infinity Ward laid people off after not getting the contract for Call of Duty: Black Ops (2010) following Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (2009) do you? Or consider the time between Naughty Dog's Crash Team Racing (1999) and Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy (2001) - That's two years. Two years without releasing a game, yet they didn't lay anyone off?
  Buddy, there is always a next project. Project Managers will fill every single artist's calendar of deliverables for supporting the current game (someone has to make DLC, though it is sometimes outsourced) and any future projects. They also do buy assets and employ contract work in these domains, but again, it's small in the grand scheme of things.
  Programmers will always be optimizing the engine, working on patches for an updated build, or again working on the next game because every business worth it's salt isn't going to fire experienced staff in preparation for the next project as demanded by the need for more returns
  Unless other economic factors change - a company may choose to engage short term solutions to keep profits looking healthy. If it's cheaper to lay people off then it is to compete on merit (make a new game) why would you from a business perspective?
  These companies are run by bean counters; not artists and devs anymore. Almost every game company was started by people who wanted to make good games, and now these same companies are laying people off regardless of their position in the market.
  Idk. Games come out way too frequently to support the idea that these people are getting laid off in between projects. It doesn't add up. These layoffs are very recent in the grand scheme of the game industry.
  
  this is talking about the full time artists/staff/programers who are always working on something
  This is talking about every worker isn’t it?
  Buddy, there is always a next project.
  No there isn’t.
  Programmers will always be optimizing the engine, working on patches for an updated build
  And when they aren’t needed since the next project is in story board and design mode… and the previous project has been shelved….? There’s not always work available 100% of the time, that’s just silly. Also, some outsource engines and don’t need programmers, so not at all actually.
- The studios who are laying people off are the studios with hundreds or thousands of employees with multiple projects active at any given time. No, it's not gig work. Even small studios working on one project generally don't do this. When one project is done, the next one is through pre-production and ready for development to begin usually, or they'll have a break. Usually keeping employees happy and loyal will be more effective than training new employees every time a project starts. It's stupidly inefficient to do that.
  Plus, that shouldn't be acceptable almost anywhere. People should be able to have stable lives with reliable incomes and locations. Expecting anything else is horrible for the workers lives.
- No? They're employees.
- The difference is, actors do it out of choice, and through power. If the gig workers are doing it through no choice and because employers don't want to give them the same benefits as permanent employees, it's exploitative.
I like these guys.

40 comments