Techland Studios (Dying Light 2 devs) apparently not a good place to work...

hanselthecaretaker

My flask is half full
Legacy
Nov 18, 2010
8,738
5,905
118
Microsoft is apparently a very nice place to work, at least within the IT sector. Iirc, they've been getting "best employer" awards from various job sites for like 5 years straight. From what I can gather, they're an employer of the "demand the best, but also give the best" variety. Tho that's about Microsoft as a whole, which is of course vast, and not specifically their gaming devisions.

Also pretty recent, since Nadella took over. Shit was supposedly cutthroat under Balmer.
That’s because Balmer was a psychopath and probably one of Gates’s pivotal mistakes. He reminded me of a high school football coach, but loaded on methamphetamines.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Chimpzy

BrawlMan

Lover of beat'em ups.
Legacy
Mar 10, 2016
27,119
11,374
118
Detroit, Michigan
Country
United States of America
Gender
Male
I had little interest in the Dying Light games, but this is sad. this and Dead Island 2 have been on the back burner for a long time now. Every single year, I find less and less reasons to get triple a games anymore.
 

FennecZephyr

Senior Member
Legacy
Apr 12, 2020
72
50
23
Country
United States
I'm starting to think I should just stop supporting polish media altogether
 

Nick Calandra

Editor-in-Chief of The Escapist
Escapist +
Mar 13, 2020
497
547
98
Country
USA
Gender
Male
The E3 2019 demo really did look too good to be true. Yahtzee said the same that it was ominously too good looking.

I really hope they succeed with it and sort their studio issues. A long time PR manager recently left the studio there...like she was there a loooong time. Now I'm more than curious what caused her to leave.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrawlMan

Chimpzy

Simian Abomination
Legacy
Escapist +
Apr 3, 2020
12,300
8,578
118
I had little interest in the Dying Light games, but this is sad. this and Dead Island 2 have been on the back burner for a long time now. Every single year, I find less and less reasons to get triple a games anymore.
One might argue that's because there are less and less reasons to find
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrawlMan

CriticalGaming

Elite Member
Legacy
Dec 28, 2017
10,898
5,422
118
I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that receiving scathing criticism for delivering sub-par art is pretty fine. Using homophobic, racist or sexist slurs to deliver the criticism is not. If someone fails to deliver the requested art calling it "a piece of trash" (add expletives as desired) gets the point across without being homophobic.
I don't know what the censored term actually is. Or how the culture reacts to said things because different countries have different political temperaments.

But yeah probably shouldn't outright insult the art, still I dunno if that makes it a "workplace hell" though.
 

CriticalGaming

Elite Member
Legacy
Dec 28, 2017
10,898
5,422
118
Nouveau riche means 'new rich' or 'new money,' I don't think that was the word you intended to use there. Maybe 'de rigueur' or 'haute couture' at a stretch were what you meant.
No I meant what I said, "new money" in terms of these articles being the latest thing that generates the biggest clicks and thus the most money possible. The higher the outrage the more clicks and thus the more money. Therefore these types of things have becomes the Nouveau riche fad of article writing.

Not to mention that people in interviews tend to exaggerate, as well as reporters also exaggerating. Just watch any news broadcast.

Emphasizing the awful has always been what drives news traffic.
 

Drathnoxis

Became a mass murderer for your sake
Legacy
Sep 23, 2010
5,486
1,930
118
Just off-screen
Country
Canada
Gender
Male
No I meant what I said, "new money" in terms of these articles being the latest thing that generates the biggest clicks and thus the most money possible. The higher the outrage the more clicks and thus the more money. Therefore these types of things have becomes the Nouveau riche fad of article writing.

Not to mention that people in interviews tend to exaggerate, as well as reporters also exaggerating. Just watch any news broadcast.

Emphasizing the awful has always been what drives news traffic.
Nouveau riche is a singular noun that means "a person who is newly rich," and you used it as an adjective. It doesn't fit there, and doesn't make sense the way you explain it. You use the word as if to mean popular or fashionable, so to say it was 'in vogue' would work much better. But whatever, if you don't care you are using the word wrong then fine.
 

wings012

Elite Member
Legacy
Jan 7, 2011
856
307
68
Country
Malaysia
I actually wonder if there are any good game companies to work for.
In Malaysia anyway.... not really. Different shades of shit, I regret entering the field and I should've just done an easy Finance degree or some shit and worked at a bank. It'd be just as mind numbing but it'd pay better and I'd get bonuses.
 

Satinavian

Elite Member
Legacy
Apr 30, 2016
1,728
683
118
Even if you went to school for programming or 3D art and you are determined to make such a job your career, there are loads of other job opportunities for that. System software for other businesses, programming for app companies, software development, Film companies, television companies. There are a shit load of other jobs for people to take with damn near the same skillset as required from games development.
That is what a lot of people just do. No one learns coding to write some accounting tool. But that is what most sooner or later end up doing anyway to pay the bills.

Game developing companies tend to have a huge turnover and a lot of that is new programmers following their fream to develop games, finding that the job environment and pay are horrible and switching to some other field. Or trying to go Indie with some friends/collegues.
 

Chimpzy

Simian Abomination
Legacy
Escapist +
Apr 3, 2020
12,300
8,578
118
The word is a slur for homosexual men, it is spelled out in the article itself but the Escapist filter bleeps it. And that's really the crux of the issue, that homophobic slurs were casually used to insult work done and the people doing it.
Perhaps not so surprising. Poland has a bit of reputation when it comes to homophobia.
 

CriticalGaming

Elite Member
Legacy
Dec 28, 2017
10,898
5,422
118
The word is a slur for homosexual men, it is spelled out in the article itself but the Escapist filter bleeps it. And that's really the crux of the issue, that homophobic slurs were casually used to insult work done and the people doing it.
That's fair enough, though I do feel like the outrage on words has gone a bit too far. People let shit get to them on a level that never happened when I was younger, I mean back in the school yard guys used to use "gay" as a term for lame or wack. We used to call each other f***ts too and it was nothing. Now in the wrong context obviously those terms have a much different meaning.

But these days someone will be outrageously offended by hearing, I guess "trigger" words, in conversations that they aren't even apart of and I frankly think that's ridiculous. And again it fair enough to not want to hear those words in the workplace, however in many tight knit environments especially in more casual work places like a games studio people become friends and around friends language always slips.

It's fine if you don't want to hear certain things, but asking the world around you to change so you don't get triggered is really kind of an asshole thing to do. As an adult, if you hear someone say something you don't like you have two choices. 1. you can ask those people to not use that can of language, 2. Be an adult and ignore it.

At the end of the day, being overly sensitive to fairly minor things ends up making you a problem.

Let's use a hypothetical miracle company, in which everyone is mostly cool and follows protocol. A small group of friends is talking about a movie they saw over the weekend, and they talk about how gay the movie was (meaning lame). Someone outside that group hears this, gets offended and rushes off to HR to report it. Hr then reports to the group and gives them a lecture, sensitivity training, the whole shebang all because someone not even a part of the conversation heard a bad word out of context (or maybe didn't even care about the context).

That group is going to know who reported on them, because those people who are easily offended are rather easy to sniff out, especially if you work together or near each other for any length of time. What happens then is conversation gets quieter and the offended person becomes the black sheep of the office. And nobody wins in that scenario.

And truthfully, what does anyone gain from that behavior? You think you stop people from changing their outlook? No it just make people hate you and what good is that. If you don't like somebody, just like if you don't like a TV show or game, then avoid it.

Yes that kind of thing doesn't technically belong in a workplace. But people aren't robots. And entire careers shouldn't be lost based off something as mundane as words unless the context of those words were used in an assault towards another person. Talking about a shitty movie is a lot different than called Steve from accounting a fucking Fig-newton.

Now Techland's situation in terms of this art situation IMO is a boss is a dickhead sure, but probably wouldn't be worth the hassle of complaining and expecting something from it. Be an adult, let the comment roll off your back, and if it bothered you enough look for another job in your free time. Don't cut your nose off despite your face, you know what I mean?
 

CriticalGaming

Elite Member
Legacy
Dec 28, 2017
10,898
5,422
118
Perhaps not so surprising. Poland has a bit of reputation when it comes to homophobia.
See that's the thing too, its culturally different there obviously. Who is more offended by the "homophobia", the people working there or people reading the article going "THESE MONSTERS!!".

It's the same kind of thing I put forth when people complain about anime tittie games. Japan has a much different culture that expresses sexual frustration in media like games, manga, and anime/hentai. People in the west might have a problem with the girl's designs, but that doesn't mean Japan is in the wrong for enjoying that kind of content. So i don't understand the reason to hate on it. Sexualization does not equal objectification.

Just like using terms like fa***t (which is cigarette in England), gay, etc do not equal homophobia.
 

Chimpzy

Simian Abomination
Legacy
Escapist +
Apr 3, 2020
12,300
8,578
118
Who is more offended by the "homophobia", the people working there or people reading the article going "THESE MONSTERS!!".
Well, in Poland chances are good the homophobes would be the most offended at being called pedalski. Tho chances are also good they would voice their displeasure to your face, rather than online. With their fists.
 

CriticalGaming

Elite Member
Legacy
Dec 28, 2017
10,898
5,422
118
Well, in Poland chances are good the homophobes would be the most offended at being called pedalski. Tho chances are also good they would voice their displeasure to your face, rather than online. With their fists.
Man I remember the good old days of just getting hit if you talked shit. Simpler times man
 

XsjadoBlayde

~it ends here~
Apr 29, 2020
3,224
3,362
118
Perhaps not so surprising. Poland has a bit of reputation when it comes to homophobia.
With the current leadership, it's not so good for women or any of the LGBT community neither, and getting worse.
Just like using terms like fa***t (which is cigarette in England), gay, etc do not equal homophobia.
Well, it's just "fag" or "fags" for a cigarettes. A f@ggot is a Scottish (I think) meaty ball type dish...pics incoming!

ezgif.com-webp-to-jpg-44.jpg

You can always get these premade at most frozen food stores too.
 

thebobmaster

Elite Member
Legacy
Apr 5, 2020
2,088
2,068
118
Country
United States
With the current leadership, it's not so good for women or any of the LGBT community neither, and getting worse.

Well, it's just "fag" or "fags" for a cigarettes. A f@ggot is a Scottish (I think) meaty ball type dish...pics incoming!

View attachment 3143
A f*ggot is also a bundle of sticks. That said, I think it is pretty obvious what meaning is intended for the word based on context. They weren't comparing the art to a British dish or a bundle of sticks.
 
  • Like
Reactions: XsjadoBlayde

CriticalGaming

Elite Member
Legacy
Dec 28, 2017
10,898
5,422
118
A lot of people will feel better that their sexual orientation, ethnicity or gender isn't being used as a casual insult? I mean, this is so damn obvious that it shouldn't have to be spelled out every time we have this discussion.
But the words themselves aren't solely linked to the sexuality. Words have different meanings all over the place depending on how they are used. Just because a group of people have "claimed" a word doesn't mean the other uses automatically have to be invalidated. Nor does it mean that use of the word has to automatically be offensive to anyone. Taking offense by something is an extremely personal thing, what one person finds offensive other's do not. It shouldn't be anyone's responsibility to monitor what other people find offensive. Nor should you being offended by something drive you to trying to ruin their lives (cancel culture, getting person fired, public shaming, whatever) I just don't think it's a proportional response.