Blimey, night of the long knives in Valveland? That came out of nowhere. I do hope we get the details sooner or later.
Update: Valve Fires Hardware Guru
- Thread starter Karloff
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Wow things are going down in Valve HQ. I guess that means the Steambox's future is under question now.
Jesus jumped-up Christ are people flipping shit over this.
Valve's a business, people. Businesses hire AND fire people on a regular basis; for any number of reasons.
Valve laying off these people (most of which are still unconfirmed, and only Ms. Ellsworth mentioned the word "fired"), isn't some odd, out-of-place occurrence. These things happen all the time; for any number of reasons.
This news isn't ringing the death knell of Valve, Steam, their game development, nor even their hardware development. It also doesn't mean Gabe Newell has suddenly flipped his lid and is going on a "firing spree". It simply means there were a few employees whose positions, personalities, or talents either became redundant or no longer meshed with the companys direction or structure.
Can we all relax a bit? In the very least until we get solid confirmation on what's actually going on?
Overreaction and hyperbole work both ways, my friend.
Valve's a business, people. Businesses hire AND fire people on a regular basis; for any number of reasons.
Valve laying off these people (most of which are still unconfirmed, and only Ms. Ellsworth mentioned the word "fired"), isn't some odd, out-of-place occurrence. These things happen all the time; for any number of reasons.
This news isn't ringing the death knell of Valve, Steam, their game development, nor even their hardware development. It also doesn't mean Gabe Newell has suddenly flipped his lid and is going on a "firing spree". It simply means there were a few employees whose positions, personalities, or talents either became redundant or no longer meshed with the companys direction or structure.
Can we all relax a bit? In the very least until we get solid confirmation on what's actually going on?
As opposed to people like you that make a point of finding a negative connotation to anything Valve related?Frostbite3789 said:
Overreaction and hyperbole work both ways, my friend.
My guess is there's been a massive restructuring within the company. A shifting of priorities, especially on the hardware front. Not that they're cancelling development but perhaps changing direction and their end goals.j-e-f-f-e-r-s said:
As such, several lay-offs from the hardware labs isn't that big a stretch.
Regardless, it's all speculation at this point. Until more solid details come out, we have nothing more to go on than Ms. Ellsworth's tweet and Valve's employee list changing.
He didn't say players were "retarded and autistic". People have been misquoting and misinterpreting that statement since he made it at the University of Texas.
What he actually meant was, in the context of a game attempting to tell its story in a fashion similar to film, the main character in the game, as controlled by the player, would look "retarded and autistic" from an outside observers point of view.
Or, as an article from Storify put it:
"..,what Newell actually was referring to was that single player games try to be like films, however since the player is in control of the main character, they can do whatever they want. It would be like Luke Skywalker banging his head on the wall while Darth Vader is talking to him."
But the internet being the internet, people immediately took the quote out of context or misunderstood his meaning; much like they do with comments from any high-profile speaker. Since then, it's been a veritable shit storm of nonsense.
To be fair, I took that as an act of irony. Especially given the usual fiery vitriol you bring to discussions on the topic of Valve. (though certainly not to the degree Baahlspawn likes to) <.<Frostbite3789 said:
I probably seem the same way in regards to EA; even if it's not purposeful.
My apologies. I meant no offense. There's no need to get riled up.j-e-f-f-e-r-s said:
I understand where you're coming from. I really do. Still, I think far too many are taking the comment out of context. Many going so far as to feel personally offended. It's as if they think he was personally insulting fans of single-player games.
Something he most certainly wasn't. Especially when put into the context of his speech.
Only one possible conclusion to make here....
She done gone and sexually harrased all the boys... call in the panda!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQnNH7I07RY
She done gone and sexually harrased all the boys... call in the panda!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQnNH7I07RY
It's odd because Valve have a very fussy hiring process, which involves picking people who have particular strengths as well as broad ones - the idea is that people are able to move from one project to another as and when they see fit, whilst retaining core strengths specific to themselves. They've also said they have no problem with things going wrong, as long as the person(s) involved learn and move on from it. Added to that the whole "no boss" idea, where performances are analysed by peers, and it would seem a pretty difficult place to get fired from.rhizhim said:
It's irritating to see people act as if Gabe's turned around and started twirling his moustache, but it's not surprising that there's some surprise around the whole thing. You hardly ever hear of people leaving Valve, let alone getting fired. Now apparently there's 25 of them in one fell swoop.
Perhaps they've had to instigate a mass exodus to contain it within the building. Gabe'll be the last to walk out, and with the only copy.EHKOS said:
And then the world ends.