| Cody Miracle |
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Every article I see articles about the families of 38 Studios, my heart goes out to them. I'm glad to see that her husband is getting interviews, and hopefully a job soon. I know that there are other big companies like Epic Games reaching out and looking to hire a lot of the 38 Studios team in all of this chaos.
I really hope to hear more good news, this is just too sad. |
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| Eric Geer |
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My thoughts go out to this family as well as all others affected---it's a side of the story that we don't hear in this industry all that often...particularly with all of the studio shutdowns that have happened over the course of the last few years. Hundreds of families roots ripped out of the ground and placed somewhere else without the resources to replant themselves. This time it was politicians/government...but the sad part is that most of the time it is the Publishers that do this to studios...the cannibalistic nature of the game industry is ruthless and needs to change.
Also- this point I don't think has been delivered as much as it should have been: "It is a shame that certain politicians couldn't get past the need to prove a point about being against 38 Studios and see they were harming their state in the long run. I mean 38 Studios was already here and the way I see it anything that could be done to make it a success would only benefit Rhode Island. As it stands, there are close to 300 very talented people dispersing all over the country and out of Rhode Island. There is an empty building with no game to be sold and a bunch of equipment that will not come close to paying for what is owed more than likely. And worst of all, there are some great people here in Rhode Island that will not benefit from the boost in economy." |
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| Matthew Mouras |
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All the best to you and your family.
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| Alexander Brandon |
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It is for reasons like this that the face of the game industry and ALL industries is changing and needs to change much faster. The world where you get a job and keep it until you retire is gone. Companies should not hire, they should contract, and it's up to us to cover our own insurance, but it also means we're not tied to one employer for survival. I sincerely hope you and others affected find something soon bearing in mind that employment has just as much chance of paying bills regularly as your own efforts to build a business.
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| Melissa Fassetta |
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This really humanizes the impact of the studio shutting down. I agree with Cody, my heart goes out to them and I wish them luck and a brighter future.
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| Josh Jones |
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It would be nice if the IGDA would create a system that could help for situations like this. Game Companies could give a small % of profit to the IGDA giving back to the industry. This fund could also help for serious need and could be voted on by the already elected panel. The such system does already work in the V.A. for veterans and they have very strick guidelines on how vets get the money. I can hear people say "Not out of my profits!" " Not out of my bonus!" me personally I read something like this and I think there are more important things than money and we as a industry can take steps to be as strong as we want to be. We have the ability to set standards above other industries. We just have to put the greed down a second and look at what is more important. A little donation to a fund like this could help a family like this. What is more important to you as a human being?
Answer that and find out who you are as a person and what we demand to be as a industry. |
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| Phillip Abram |
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Good read, good advice. Good luck to all affected.
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| Gavin Goslin |
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What she describes is nearly identical to what happened to me and the staff at Pi Studios in Houston, Texas a couple of years ago. The missed payroll, the lapsed insurance, the lack of communication, broken promises, lies etc. I wish the families the best of luck in moving forward, I know how frustrating and traumatic going through that situation can be.
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| Nathan Zufelt |
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Would love to see a list of their Exec's put together for blacklisting. An amazing lack of ethics.
Moving people around while not paying for medical or moving expenses seems like blatant fraud. Whether Curt is responsible or not, there are a lot of middle managers here that completely dropped the ball and lied to people for weeks if not months. |
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| Rob Wright |
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"My husband is interviewing daily thanks to an amazing industry trying to make up for what has happened."
I have to say, the games industry has really shined in the aftermath of this fiasco. Glad to see other devs and companies giving these poor folks another shot at employment. There's a strong fraternity in the game development community that i'm not sure exists in other, similar kinds of professions. When HP lays off 25,000 people, it's not like IBM and Oracle are stumbling over one another to help those displaced workers find employment. Seriously, if the Weinstein Company suddenly declared bankruptcy, WB and Paramount and ever other studio would be throwing a party instead of impromptu job fairs. |
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| Chris Hornbostel |
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One thing to understand about a company that undergoes Chapter 7 or Chapter 11 bankruptcy: in most states and jurisdictions there's a very narrow "window" by which creditors are legally still able to approach anyone they think they can get money from. It is ethically questionable and certainly morally wrong, but that's how accounts receiving works in this day and age. Normally, until the court and the trustee they name to oversee the assets approve the creditors list and amounts owed, those creditors can still seek compensation.
So, in this case, Atlas Van Lines will join a group of other creditors who will huff and puff and threaten to blow the house down. In the end, they cannot do much more than that. The contract they hold was transferred to 38 Studios, and is part of the bankruptcy filing. In fact, it is on sheet 2 of 21 of Schedule F, the list of unsecured creditors and amounts owed. Additionally, Atlas is noted in that document filed with the court as being engaged in contacting individual employees to demand payment. Should the court trustee find that Atlas is indeed an unsecured creditor (which, hopefully 38 Studios financial folks did that contract paperwork, and the lack of contact over the prior 6 months suggests it to be the case), he or she will enjoin them to cease and desist all accounts collecting to individuals. AVL may then have to return any monies collected and clear any reports to any credit agencies made. It is quite significant that AVC's collection attempts are noted in the filing schedule. Judges (and their appointed trustees) tend to not like that sort of thing at all, and that notation tells the trustee that Atlas Van Lines is a priority. |
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| Joseph Cook |
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It says a lot when a 6-months-old moving fee wasn't paid off. It shows that mismanagement in 38 Studios ran extremely deep, for an extremely long time, and undermines the narrative they've been trying to present that their bankruptcy was simply the result of a deal with EA for Reckoning 2 went bad.
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| Daniel McMillan |
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My heart and prayers go out to you! I've been in this industry since 94' and it's like this. I've never been able to settle down for fear of the exact same thing, and already lost my happy marriage years ago. So I know exactly what you are going through and will be praying for you, that it's not long b4 your hubby has a new position.
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| E McNeill |
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I get how a company could go bankrupt. What I don't get is how they could justify lying to their employees about it. You shoveled six-month-old moving costs onto them? You didn't tell them when their insurance was expiring? You told them they'd get their paycheck "tomorrow" and never delivered? How the hell does this happen when supposedly good people are running the show?
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| Christopher Floyd |
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I work at an established developer (14+ years old) recently hit by hard times. I have to say that although it has been painful and we had to let many wonderful and talented people go, at least one consolation has been that those who manage the company have been honest, communicative, and clearly just as regretful as anyone. We had reasonable forewarning; they made the decisions with enough time and money left to give severance packages (I have no idea how generous); and they were straightforward with those who remained about the delicacy of our future prospects. I suspect with a boondoggle like 38 Studios’ dissolution, there is a lot of CYAing the executives have to do. While life could be much better, I am grateful to work for people who care about their team and who comport their business with integrity. Reading about how things have gone down at 38 Studios is heartbreaking. Best of luck to everyone affected!
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| Kim Pittman |
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It really sucks that something like this can tank a person's credit. It's not like her husband was getting a job at some random never heard of studio. But now they will spend *years* rebuilding their credit and lives because one company couldn't take care of their business...
I hope the people responsible get exactly what they deserve. |
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| Reg Stiles |
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Here are the people to blame: http://38studios.com/people/management
Please spread these names around (particularly CEO Jen Maclean and CFO Rick Wester) to reduce the chances that they will destroy more game developers' lives with their lack of relevant experience and ethics. The industry will continue to decline as long as we continue promoting the inexperienced. |
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| Kindra Haugen |
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Please do not take it upon yourselves to start blacklisting Jen Mclean. She was on sabbatical before all of this went down.
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| Andy Lunique |
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I had the chance to work for 38 studios in Early January. My mother pleaded with me to come closer to home (we're from RI) and I just refused to stay. I told her the risks of that company were too high, and the sales of that game weren't going to be good enough. I've been working in sales and PR for a good amount of time and I just felt it was right. The day she heard about them closing down she called and apologized knowing that I would have lost my job.
My heart goes out to all the families involved in this mess. I beg future game industry leaders to not be discouraged by this situation. Our industry is too big to let a few hits knock us out of digital entertainment. |
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| Daniel McMillan |
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Right now, blame will not be as effective as solutions. Most of us have all been through this at one time or another. If you like, email me your contact info and I'll check with my network to see who I know that may be able to help.
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| frank frank |
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I had a similar experience where another game studio did the same thing to me. I was dragged on several months before I was finally let go and years later before I was paid. Talking to a lawyer in the end this is what he told me I should have done.
Most states have laws with stiff penalty's for companies not paying employees, Texas imposes jail time and large fines if convicted. Find out what they are for your state. 1.Inform your employer that you will notify the authorities (In Texas its the Texas Work Force Commission) and you will no longer be coming in if your not paid within 24 hours. Also remind them of the jail time and large fines if convicted for non-payment of wages. 2. If they say they can not pay you, tell the proper authorities you are not getting paid immediately. They take about 30 days to get back to you and, there is also a limitation on how long you have to file a claim (in Texas its 90 days) 3. Quitting a job because of non-payment, means you still qualify for unemployment, they don't have to fire you, but you must file with the authorities first as proof of non-payment. 4.Remember its a business relation ship between you and the company, its not personal. Treat them with the same consideration as they do you. If they can't pay you then you don't work. |
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| Ed Macauley |
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Stories like this make me sick. I was caught up in a much smaller scale meltdown at my previous employer, but with similar levels of deceit. (lots of overtime in the two weeks prior, knowing there was no way they could make payroll, etc.) I see a lot of cases where we fool ourselves (or at least try to) into thinking everything will work out, for the sake of the product. It's happened time and time again in the industry, "Don't worry guys, the money is coming soon, just keep working!"
The personal lesson for me is "If the paychecks stop, it's time to go." Sorry you can't make payroll, well sorry I can't work. I hope everything works out for the 38 Studios folks who were caught up in all this. These stories are so frequent that maybe it's time we started up an independent insurance fund for displaced employees. But that would take a lot more know how than I have. |
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| Craig Brooks |
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Something to also remember is that for many more of us at 38, it was more than just a job. We loved our coworkers, we loved our product, and we loved our company. While working there, I faced a major medical issue and they rallied around me in such an amazing way. I was personally and emotionally invested in seeing this work. I too worked until the end hoping things would work out. Ultimately, they didn't and it's been tough on multiple levels. Fiscally, emotionally, mentally, physically. Seeing how the game industry (and many other non-game companies as well) have stepped up to help us all land on our feet has been heartwarming and one of the few bright spots on this all. I will always count working at 38 with such great people as one of the high points of my career, despite the end being terribly messy and heartbreaking.
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| Jacek Wesolowski |
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It seems there are three lessons to learn from this case:
- as an employee, if there's fine print in your contract, don't read it, don't try to understand it - just go find another employer, because this one is expecting to run into trouble (either with you or their environment) - as an employer, overcome your fears and refrain from putting the fine print in your contract, because it screams "I DON'T TRUST YOU" and/or "I CANNOT BE TRUSTED" in huge red Comic Sans - as an industry, we should be ashamed, since we have all contributed to environment in which people need to have their spouses do the talking, and stay anonymous at that, because apparently being open about one's problems may lead to broken careers, lawsuits, and so on Also, it may be a good moment to point out that one generally accepted tool for resolving and preventing this kind of issues is a trade union. |
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| Mikhail Mukin |
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Sad story... I think everybody in this industry (apart from good graphics and network engineers - those needed all the time) should have enough money saved for at least half a year. Almost any project can be canceled and almost any company can be shut down with only a few days notice (again, mabye apart from a few COD-level titles... but even then publisher might decide to move it to different studios).
As to moving... yep, weird. I had to move coast to coast (and back) and I noticed that when company was paying for the move the price was almost 2x compared to what I got moving back myself - after calling a few companies and doing minor negotiations (though I had fewer things too). As I learned, long distance moving companies (one of mine was also Atlas Van Lines) will try to trick you... They will say "no charge for wrapping" but you will see $10/paper sheet in the final bill... and who counted how many did they use! On my move back they tried to change extra on the amount already agreed on, saying that I had extra weight: "you probably added something after our estimate". They threatened that the truck will go into different city and "you will not see your things for another 10 days". After couple of hours of the truck just staying next to my new place and many phone calls, they finally say "ok, what can you pay?" (meaning - extra) and we agreed on just some reasonably minimal increase... |
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| Don Draper |
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I feel bad for people and families who moved across the country for this joke of a company. However, the writing was on the wall.
I can say this with confidence because I worked at 38 Studios for less than a year. I quit on my own because it was obvious too much money was being spent, too many people were being hired, and most of the guys (and gals) in charge had no clue. The sales projections made no sense. The governor was absolutely right not to give them any more cash. The tax credits wouldn't have helped: the money was already spent. As for who to blame? ALL of upper management. There are a couple smart guys who should've known better... but, when you're collecting 15 or 20k a month in salary, why complain? |
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| Buck Hammerstein |
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sad and heartbreaking.
that's why a dual income household is that much more secure. i can't imagine the pressure of finding a job could be harder when only one person is the breadwinner. at least the bills get paid if one person is hit with bad times. vacations and speedboats can always wait. |
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| [User Banned] |
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This user violated Gamasutra’s Comment Guidelines and has been banned.
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| Fawzi Mesmar |
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Wish you guys the best of luck in the future; our thoughts go to all those affected
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| James Cooley |
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"It is a shame that certain politicians couldn't get past the need to prove a point about being against 38 Studios and see they were harming their state in the long run. I mean 38 Studios was already here and the way I see it anything that could be done to make it a success would only benefit Rhode Island. As it stands, there are close to 300 very talented people dispersing all over the country and out of Rhode Island. There is an empty building with no game to be sold and a bunch of equipment that will not come close to paying for what is owed more than likely."
No, it is a shame that a mismanaged private company leaking money took on debts it couldn't repay courtesy of the taxpayers. This was an act of crony capitalism that would NEVER have happened if a former sports superstar wasn't at the top. These "certain politicians" warned the deal was flawed and risky before it happened because it WAS flawed and risky. Unlike their peers who were swept along by booster-ism and jock worship, they judged the deal like any other business proposition and found it lacking. These "certain politicians" just happened to be right all along. Had these "certain politicians" prevailed at that time, 38 Studios and Big Huge Games might still be around. The massive infusion of cash and the deal for a location switch may have set in motion the very events that took them under. Even the author of this article admits that the company was obviously badly run. So, was the answer to toss even more taxpayer money down the swirling drain? Sorry, but the same line could be given for Solyndra or any other taxpayer-subsidized "investment" venture that was bleeding cash until the doors were chained closed. The blame goes to 38 Studios and those politicos at the time of the loan who may have facilitated a spectacular crash later on with access to easy government dough. It was Ion Storm all over again, only this time it was the general public who got burned. It sucks that innocent employees suffered here and I feel for them. I had to flee Michigan as an economic refugee some years back and head to Texas and start over in a new profession. However, it was the taxpayers of RI got left with the tab and a few political types saw disaster in-the-making and tried to prevent it. I can't fault them for refusing to toss more good money after bad on a deal they knew was too risk-laden for the public purse. |
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| [User Banned] |
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This user violated Gamasutra’s Comment Guidelines and has been banned.
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| Sean Scarfo |
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Sad... very sad.
Again, how does a company blow through 100+ mil in 2 years and not put out anything that recovers a 3rd of that? If I had even 1/4 of that bank roll, the amount of games a team of 100 could put out in 2 years is decent. Figure 6-10 ios games, 1 smallish console game, 2 smallish pc games, and 1 larger pc game. While those games may not have been enough to pay off $20 mil, it'd be more than enough to keep a company afloat to continue paying everyone and pay loans. |
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| Ken Christiansen |
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I was asked by a producer way back in 2006 if I was interested in joining the team. It sounded great in theory, but experience and instincts led me believe that a rich guy who likes to play video games is not someone to trust with your livelihood. Did he really think he'd be able to pull off the Green Monster Games name? At worst, I thought it would fail in 2-3 years and I'd be stuck in Mass. looking for work. Said producer was out after 18 months, seeing the writing on the wall that long ago.
So I stayed in LA, and never pursued it - I never could have imagined what these poor families are going through - I'm so sorry for the wife above, and the others that have to deal with this struggle. |
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| rod haxton |
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Sounds familiar...
20 years ago when I worked for a start-up game company that was bought out by one of the true legends of the gaming industry (no names needed). After a year and half of the buyout we went bankrupt, doors shut, no pay for months, and money lost that was placed in pre-tax health care spending account. In total I lost $10K, in due wages and pre-tax health care spending account. A class action suit was started by the employees but, to no avail. The ruling was that vendors and suppliers would be paid first out of any money recovered. However, my understanding was that when bankruptcy is declared the owning parties are free to walk away. I don't know if that is true or not but, I never saw a dime, and neither did some of my friends who I am still in contact with. It's difficult at the time to fathom but, later in life it provides some good stories. Sadly it wasn't the first time and it will not be the last time. Game studio start-ups are quite volitale and some of the brightest, and most talented fail to stay a float. |
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| Scott Strout |
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I read this and while I'm sorry your in this situation, if your looking for someone to blame well find a mirror
You moved to a new city to work for a company that was dependent on a new game to be succesful, big mistake. your husband took a job for a company that was getting in bed with the government, even bigger mistake, Signed that contract on moving day and didn't read the fine print, big mistake. your husband went to work and wasted money when he wasn't getting paid, big mistake. sure your family was screwed over by 38 studios, but nobody twisted your arm or the arm of anybody who took a job from them Promises are just that and while I feel for you, the only person who is going to get you out of this is well you and your husband. You took a shot and the gun blew up on you. I wish you luck in the future, but please don't sue, that won't help. Lawyers helped get you into this problem, jut focus on the future and don't let this happen again. Disasters like this happen all the time and they will happen again. Life is unfair, I know this better then anyone else. Be happy with what you have I wish you luck and hope things get better. |
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| Scott Strout |
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War? Slavery? Wow I'd love to visit your world. Life is simple it as black and white. You're born you live and you die, what happens in between when your no longer living with your parents is entirely your decision, At the end of that day nobody is accountable but you. You can't deny the bad decision she and her husband made.
But you want to take this to more then it is. This is not a war. Do you strap on a gun and dodge bullets and bombs for this struggle you have? nope That's what war is, be get shot and killed and things get blown up. you make it seem like nobody and the past few years has ever broken through, that the deck is so stacked against you nobody can ever succeed, it's simply not true. if you want something work for it, if you get defeated, try again, but shut up with this being a war. some people just get dealt a band hand in life, that sucks, you want something more work hard It' just the way life is, someone will always be richer and more successful, your war? it's lost, because when it's no longer about money and success what will you want then? level the playing field on looks? you can still be successful if you work hard, I am, but when things go bad don't look to blame, sue or fight some war. Own it and move on, it's a hell of a lot less stressful and you're right you don't know me sorry I won't be joining you, I fight for myself and my family that's who I'm accountable for. I don't fight wars that require air quotes. you go right ahead by the way if you if find yourself ever in man I've got a windmill for you to charge. good luck in your "WAR" P.S. as soon is your in that ruling class, well I bet your "WAR" will cease to exist |
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| Jeffery Wilson |
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Well, having been in the development of at least 3 MMO's. You have to realize, every month for the entire project has been mapped out. You know when you should finish, when different parts will be compelted, etc...
So there is NO excuse for the middle/upper management at 38 studio's. They need to have know for at least a year they would never reach the end with the money thay had. So I assume the spent the last year looking for new money, while not covering expenses for at least the last 6 months of that year. Im no lawyer but this sounds alot like "Fraud". |
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| Dean Martinetti |
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This is happening more than everyone thinks...I know of a few teams in LA and in SF that are working without pay because the CEO keeps telling them that money is coming.
some people live in their offices cause they've lost their apartment.. then there are the folks like me who were made redundant and cannot find work even though they have 10+ years exp... Things are bad all over...I ache for this woman because i'm going thru the same thing now. I was cut loose because of poor management and now i'm literally paying for it.. I hope he gets a job...one of use should be able to work.. :( |
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