A Video About BioWare Working Staff To Tears And Calling Its Mental Abuse "Magic" (The Jimquisition)
Added 2019-04-08 14:59:05 +0000 UTCKotaku published an instant hit of game journalism, How BioWare's Anthem Went Wrong. It's must-read material, shining a light on mismanagement and indecision.
More importantly, it details the stress and the overwork that companies like BioWare continue to put their workers through. So-called "BioWare Magic" - the concept that games like Anthem come together in the final few months - isn't actual magic, it's actual abuse.
We need to stop saying game development is magic, because believing in sorcery sure as hell didn't help Anthem or Mass Effect Andromeda.
Also, no company should have stress casualties.
Comments
I doubt this is something that you haven't already thought of, but here's the career advice I was given: It's the responsibility of everyone in a job market to look out for their own best interests, because your company won't do it for you. If you think that you can earn more compensation, or work in more favorable conditions, or otherwise improve your career by changing jobs or even changing careers, then it is your responsibility to do so.
Iochannon
2019-04-09 15:40:31 +0000 UTCIt's perversely funny (in the, "you might as well laugh on your way to the gallows" sense) that even as all the things that one used to rely on to secure employee loyalty are going by the wayside- the assurance of long-term employment, the payment of royalties for success, the sale of shares to employees so they could literally receive dividends from the business they were maintaining, benefits like vacations, well-vested health plans, retirement plans, and all the other things that suggested an employee might have a life outside of work- many companies are simultaneously making demands of those same demoralized employees that would make a doomsday cult leader blush. Loyalty is something you have to earn; with all respect to Machiavelli, cowering isn't the same thing. And I kind of get the "magic" thing. When- sorry, buzzword- "synergy" occurs- when the disparate pieces of a thing come together and, somewhat to everyone's surprise, form a whole that is greater than the sum of its parts- it *can* feel like magic. Even to those who are looking down on the process from above, purportedly lining things up to make it all happen. But that's the thing about magic: You can't *expect* it to happen. Bioware has gone through too many shake-ups to take it on faith that everything was going to come together. You can't make a recipe with different ingredients and count on the same success. I've read a few analyses suggesting that "Dragon Age: Inquisition" set them on the wrong road- thinking that because they managed to make one well-received game after major changes in staff and management, they had things handled. "Andromeda" should have been their wake-up call. And now... now...? Look, we've heard this one before. Next thing you know, EA's going to be demanding Bioware produce a gacha game, or a mascot platformer, or some other thing wildly out of their wheelhouse. And after *that* tanks... Avert your eyes. Tell yourself this isn't the Bioware we knew and loved. That that creature is long gone. Don't look back.
Kraken
2019-04-09 06:09:57 +0000 UTCJim, please don't work yourself to death. Or anything yourself to death for that matter. I admit it was pretty impressive when you recorded a Jimquisition after gall bladder surgery, but... yeah. Don't work yourself to death.
Ben L.
2019-04-08 21:50:46 +0000 UTCAs a singer in a choir I know all about how something like that can affect your voice. It took me about a month before I could sing with the power I had before I over-strained one of my vocal cords. So my sincerely empathies to you.
Alex
2019-04-08 21:46:53 +0000 UTCThis is kind of heartbreaking. Wasn't Bioware one of the "good guys" back in the day? Like before EA got them? Weren't they a good company? ๐ Brilliant video again Jim. And I agree with everything you said. And kind of apt timing for me. I'm currently recovering from some nasty bug and today's the first day I'm feeling less crappy and I'm thinking, "Yeah. I should get back to production and my office job and put in a 12+ hour day. Yeah. I can't take more time away from everything. I've already rested too much." Yet I'm constantly telling myself just one more day otherwise I'll be screwed even longer. It's so difficult to take that time and when a boss "suggests"/"encourages"/etc to keep working...you keep fucking working. It's tantamount to blackmail and it sucks. And the bosses are like, "Well that's what I went through and look how I turned out. No family, no happiness, no life but all of this money so I'm 'happy' and you should be too." ๐ก Kind of sorry about the rant. I don't get too political in my creative ventures so I tend to let it all out with the Jimquisitions. But you are tackling some big, world-wide problems. These issues are not just with the gaming industry; these are issues with almost every industry. (And as someone who attended a plethora of "all-hands meetings", I can say that we eventually would ask, "How many people are being let go this time," whenever we'd hear another meeting was happening.)
Perpetual Noob
2019-04-08 16:37:29 +0000 UTCWhat an absolutely amazing piece of work with this video Jim. Even by your usually high standards, this one is among my favorite Jimqusitions of all time :-) Been a Patron for 52 months, so I have seen a LOT of them I love you Jim, keep being who you are <3
TheNetsrac
2019-04-08 16:33:36 +0000 UTCHaven't watched the video yet, but this is sounding an awful lot like Japanese Karoshi, or overworking to death. Just, without employees willing to overwork themselves to death.
Matt Ahn
2019-04-08 15:27:31 +0000 UTC"fifty-hour weeks are too long". I would say that forty hour weeks are too long. They're not enough to damage your health considerably, but human concentration and mental capacity tends to lower after about 5-6 hours of work in a day. A 35-hour week leads to higher per-hour productivity overall. And there are already countries where the standard work week is at that level, so it's not a crazy idea, either. EDIT: OK, so there *is* a country with a 35-hour week. I haven't found any info online on other countries doing that other than France. My general point stands, though. France is not exactly in financial ruin, and they introduced the measure almost 20 years ago.
Michaล Sporzyลski
2019-04-08 15:16:08 +0000 UTC
