Posts by Radu

I like the look of some of those locations. Hopefully we can see an actual gameplay video soon

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Don't know how many of you played the first game, but it's pretty good. It managed to tie the mechanics into the narrative super well, to the point where you had to stop to consider the fantasy implications of your decisions. Not a lot of games manage to do that for me at least. And they recently announced the sequel where it's all about the oil ?

Also a recent article on their goals as a studio:

11 bit makes moves to bring "meaningful games" into AAA realm "Warsaw, Poland-based 11 bit Studios is best known for finely-crafted, systems-centric strategy games that aim to do more than just encourage players to solve problems, but to solve problems that account for deeper human emotions.

"Meaningful games" is the term used often by 11 bit CEO Przemyslaw Marszal. The studio's most recent games, This War of Mine and Frostpunk, are superb examples of the concept of meaningful games. They both explore the value of human life and relationships, while forcing the player to make difficult decisions to the point where they're choosing the "best" options out of many terrible options."

"[I want to make] meaningful games, those valuable games, the games that respect players' time, [that] respect the player," he said. "I would like to make games that are entertaining, that I would like my children to play. That guides me, so I instill those values in our games."

https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/11-bi…-into-aaa-realm

It's happening

Pics or didn't happen

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Yeah, I think that about covers it. GG close the thread

There is no campaign. It's just backstory for the multiplayer world.

Quote from blackdog

30 minutes ago, blackdog said: I imagine you mean it’s fucked up that you’re forced into doing that because of the ceiling

As far as I’m concerned, I’m so at the bottom end of the IT salary scale that for me it would be a great reward just to be able to work on projects I put forward/choose, eventually with bonuses depending on success of those. Pushing the concept to an extreme one could treat the company as an incubator and even give a revenue share on projects (for a limited time?), but then nobody would want to work on maintaining the releases and just work on a new thing that monetise.

Yeah, that's what I mean. It's even worse if the company is lagging behind industry standards. In that situation, you should notice a consistent turnover rate, less seniors and more juniors.

But yeah, back on topic, anyone played this yet?

Quote from blackdog

31 minutes ago, blackdog said: Found that bit interesting as well, but I took it as a more general guesstimation, as in: it takes about that time for devs to transition between (big) projects.

It’s nonetheless a very great way and place to work, rarely you can find companies with such a breadth of branches/projects. And even then, big corp that might, don’t encourage moving around, once you’re in your pigeon hole, they want you there.

With this structure,

1. people have the opportunity to tick completion on many projects or features

2. Retention: people that thrive in this sort of environment will stay. I recently watch some talk mentioning people tend to look for a new job every 2 years (although I’d like to see where the data comes from, if works only when you’re in the big tech league)

It is appealing to imagine a place where you can start your own project and then pitch it to people with the potential to develop it into a full fledged thing.

1. From what I've been hearing on the internet from multiple sources, their bonus system does force people to stick on projects until their completion. If they leave early, they don't get the bonus. So people might limit themselves to short term projects or features instead of pursuing longer term options, which might not be ideal.

2. It's called job hopping and it's fucked up. Basically, people will apply to another company and negotiate for 10-20% increase of their previous salary. The reason why they do that is because companies have fixed salary ranges, so if you get close to the top of your range, you're not gonna get too much of a raise going into the future. Of course, it depends on the company, but there are situations where someone who's been with the company for X years in Y position is at a point where their salary is the same as someone who just joined their company. And they're not gonna be too happy to learn that.

Activision Blizzard shareholder calls company response "inadequate"

"Investment group SOC says that Activision Blizzard's recent promises to improve its culture do not go "nearly far enough to address the deep and widespread issues with equity, inclusion, and human capital management" that the company is facing."

https://www.axios.com/activision-bli…cd80ea2f1e.html

This part of the letter made me laugh. Don't know how much experience the directors have, but I wouldn't be surprised if none ever worked in development. But damn, man, there's word of cutting bonuses for this year. That's some real shit.

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Sponsors drop Overwatch League after harassment lawsuit

"The Overwatch League has lost a number of advertising sponsors in the wake of California's lawsuit against Activision Blizzard for harassment and civil rights violations, as reported by The Washington Post.

Coca-Cola, Kellogg, and State Farm all told the paper that they were revaluating their Overwatch League partnerships."

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-…assment-lawsuit

Waldo laying down the facts, especially that last one. I don't think a lot of people would put the collective first before themselves.

One thing that really didn't help with people's fears are the few cases of thrombosis associated with AstraZeneca.

Well, something happened. And that something is this:

Blizzard president J. Allen Brack is out after sexual harassment suit, employee walkout

Employees were informed of J. Allen Brack’s departure this morning, and an announcement from Activision Blizzard says that former Vicarious Visions leader Jen Oneal and former Xbox executive Mike Ybarra will take over as co-leaders of the company.

https://www.theverge.com/2021/8/3/22607…t-protest-brack

Oh yes, please, any excuse to replay the series is welcome.

"With COVID-19 surging around the United States and vaccination rates stagnating, federal agencies and state governments started announcing vaccine mandates for their workers.

Private companies are doing the same. Google said Wednesday that employees would have to be vaccinated to come to the office, and Facebook and Lyft followed with their own announcements hours later. Some New York City restaurants are requiring that employees get vaccinated and are asking diners to show proof of vaccination."

https://www.theverge.com/22600423/vacci…google-facebook

Earlier today I talked to someone who is "not anti-vax, but not pro covid-19 vaccine either". Their key points were that:

- the vaccine is about control, not health, and cutting rights little by little (arguing that you should have the freedom to decide what to do with your body, not be forced to get the vaccine in order to keep your job)

- it's not a regular vaccine ("Vaccines contain weakened or inactive parts of a particular organism (antigen) that triggers an immune response within the body. Newer vaccines contain the blueprint for producing antigens rather than the antigen itself". source: https://www.who.int/news-room/feat…o-vaccines-work)

- long term effects are not known (with several doctors telling them to wait to see what happens after this experiment)

Pretty sensible points? This whole subject has been super polarising overall. If the vaccine becomes mandatory in order to resume work, it will be interesting to see what happens.

They responded to his comment by noting that he failed to address the points raised in the open letter. I hope people can keep up the pressure.

But wait, there's more.

"Ubisoft workers demand company accountability in open letter

Close to 500 current and former employees of “Assassin’s Creed” publisher Ubisoft are standing in solidarity with protesting game developers at Activision Blizzard with a letter that criticizes their company's handling of sexual misconduct."

https://www.axios.com/ubisoft-worker…a7c4534bb3.html