Comment Re:A lot of people seem to be missing something... (Score 1) 464
I agree with you on some points. I look back to when I was in college and I wanted nothing more than to work on games. And I had read some of the posts saying how it wasn't all rosey and wonderful. And that it was hard work. And I went into the industry expecting to work a lot, but work on things I loved.
And for the most part, that was true. And most places in the industry have long hours for parts of the project. Some projects it's worse than others.
But EA is like a whole other place. They are in a different league. And getting worse by the minute.
When I left EA, it seemed to me that their strategy was to take young talent, run it into the ground and then get rid of it as a problem. Only to replace them with new young talent.
In my opinion, they really are a heartless machine. Their only concern is profit. They do not seem to care at all about their employees and finding ways to work with them. People who work for EA are for the most part nameless cogs. Resources that they will pay when they are useful, and discard once they have sucked them dry. And believe me, they will suck you dry. Some faster than others. But everyone ends up dust eventually.
And that is why I disagree when you say EA isn't 100% evil. Imagine someone who tells you to walk and throws you some cash for every step. They keep telling you to walk until your legs are tired, your feet blistered, your throat parched. And then when they see you can't walk as fast as you used to, they leave you with hardly a glance to make sure you won't collapse.
They get you on board by promising all of these things and dangling carrots in front of you and throwing stocks your way. Which is a big part of why they have a constant stream of new hires coming in oblivious to how things really are. It's hard to turn that down when you are straight out of college. Plus you have this image of EA as the pristine maker of amazing games. So you never think it's going to be nearly as terrible as people describe it.
Most game companies are probably like 50% evil. Some long hours as a trade off for working on things you enjoy. With fun people you enjoy working with.
We all talk about working at EA like selling your soul. A temporary place to go. Something to make you a little extra cash. Perhaps a little extra stability in the form of a huge company amidst a sea of smaller ones in a volatile industry. I don't know a single person that truly WANTS to work for EA. Not one that's been there for more than a year anyway. Most of them just don't know how to escape.
And for the most part, that was true. And most places in the industry have long hours for parts of the project. Some projects it's worse than others.
But EA is like a whole other place. They are in a different league. And getting worse by the minute.
When I left EA, it seemed to me that their strategy was to take young talent, run it into the ground and then get rid of it as a problem. Only to replace them with new young talent.
In my opinion, they really are a heartless machine. Their only concern is profit. They do not seem to care at all about their employees and finding ways to work with them. People who work for EA are for the most part nameless cogs. Resources that they will pay when they are useful, and discard once they have sucked them dry. And believe me, they will suck you dry. Some faster than others. But everyone ends up dust eventually.
And that is why I disagree when you say EA isn't 100% evil. Imagine someone who tells you to walk and throws you some cash for every step. They keep telling you to walk until your legs are tired, your feet blistered, your throat parched. And then when they see you can't walk as fast as you used to, they leave you with hardly a glance to make sure you won't collapse.
They get you on board by promising all of these things and dangling carrots in front of you and throwing stocks your way. Which is a big part of why they have a constant stream of new hires coming in oblivious to how things really are. It's hard to turn that down when you are straight out of college. Plus you have this image of EA as the pristine maker of amazing games. So you never think it's going to be nearly as terrible as people describe it.
Most game companies are probably like 50% evil. Some long hours as a trade off for working on things you enjoy. With fun people you enjoy working with.
We all talk about working at EA like selling your soul. A temporary place to go. Something to make you a little extra cash. Perhaps a little extra stability in the form of a huge company amidst a sea of smaller ones in a volatile industry. I don't know a single person that truly WANTS to work for EA. Not one that's been there for more than a year anyway. Most of them just don't know how to escape.
