For developers, it's not all fun and games

No_Style · Nov 18, 2004, 04:43 PM

To Joe Straitiff, it was clear that video game giant Electronic Arts expected its employees to more or less live at the office.

His manager hung a neon sign that said "Open 7 days" and "constantly sent out e-mails to his whole team, saying that he'd see them over the weekend," said Straitiff, who worked as a software developer at EA for about a year and a half until fired a few weeks ago. Straitiff says his termination owed partly to his refusal to put in 80-hour weeks for months on end.

"You can't work that many hours and remain sane," Straitiff said. "It's just too harsh."

Brutally long hours are nothing new in the software business, where programmers are used to demanding schedules. Job-induced fatigue comes with the territory. Shipping a new release--whether in the game industry, the commercial software business or corporate IT--often means relentless hours of programming with little or no time off.

But employees at EA and other game publishers are speaking out. They're saying, in essence, that the game industry is crossing the line when it comes to reasonable work hours and are challenging it to change its ways.
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Read More/Source: C|Net Tech News

No_Style · Nov 18, 2004, 04:48 PM

It's truly tough for developers. Especially when their parent companies, fans and others are holding them to the deadlines set.

LeanWolf · Nov 18, 2004, 08:04 PM

brutal! how fun is that job?

blade5545 · Nov 18, 2004, 08:59 PM

I belive we should unionize the entire computer industry, beacuse right now we are at mercy of people which have no idea how to even turn on a computer and those are the same people which offer $10 per hour to run their freaking network and expect you to work for that much but at the same time hold 20 certs, for some reason some people have this cracked out perception that if your working on a computer your not really working .

fibonaccov · Nov 19, 2004, 01:05 AM

that and when you not fired because your company outsourced your position to India or China...

rudedog · Nov 19, 2004, 01:12 AM

I think we the customers are somewhat to blame. We expect new games/add ons to ship within 6 months of each other. We are always pushing the developers to release something new fast and bug free. I'm starting to think this is the main reason we see so many bugs in games lately.

When I was out at EALA, over the summer. We left around 10PM and there was still many people working late into the night. Funny thing is these guys are still dedicated to thier fans and customers.

I love the gaming industry, just not that side of it I guess.

ericdrum · Nov 19, 2004, 02:39 AM

LOL. I left M$ because my gaming suffered tremendously. I've had a normal progression with my hobbies. I was going to be a professional drummer and it was my major in college for a year. It turned my hobby into too much of a job. I switched to software engineering wanting to do games. The games industry is harsh. It's fun and all at times, but you work way too many hours and you don't ever get to enjoy gaming. You end up playing your game, and no matter how good it is, playing anything over and over and over is not fun. It is a job. Now I'm still a software engineer, but I don't do games. I work 45 hours a week or so and get paid more money. While I doubt that there's anything more satisfying than working on a game that sells well, it is an ardous process not for the faint of heart. I actually have as much sympathy for the testers. They have a very monotonous job.

Nov 18, 2004, 04:43 PM	#1
No_Style Styleless Wonder Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Ottawa, Ontario Posts: 6,034 Rep Power: 0	For developers, it's not all fun and games To Joe Straitiff, it was clear that video game giant Electronic Arts expected its employees to more or less live at the office. His manager hung a neon sign that said "Open 7 days" and "constantly sent out e-mails to his whole team, saying that he'd see them over the weekend," said Straitiff, who worked as a software developer at EA for about a year and a half until fired a few weeks ago. Straitiff says his termination owed partly to his refusal to put in 80-hour weeks for months on end. "You can't work that many hours and remain sane," Straitiff said. "It's just too harsh." Brutally long hours are nothing new in the software business, where programmers are used to demanding schedules. Job-induced fatigue comes with the territory. Shipping a new release--whether in the game industry, the commercial software business or corporate IT--often means relentless hours of programming with little or no time off. But employees at EA and other game publishers are speaking out. They're saying, in essence, that the game industry is crossing the line when it comes to reasonable work hours and are challenging it to change its ways. _______________ Read More/Source: C\|Net Tech News __________________ "The Best Style Is No Style" Specifications Here

Nov 18, 2004, 04:48 PM	Thread Starter #2
No_Style Styleless Wonder Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Ottawa, Ontario Posts: 6,034 Rep Power: 0	It's truly tough for developers. Especially when their parent companies, fans and others are holding them to the deadlines set. __________________ "The Best Style Is No Style" Specifications Here

Nov 18, 2004, 08:04 PM	#3
LeanWolf alpha male Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Skyrim Posts: 5,714 Rep Power: 84 System Specs	brutal! how fun is that job? __________________

Nov 18, 2004, 08:59 PM	#4
blade5545 Shoots first ask's questions later Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Austin,TX Posts: 330 Rep Power: 0	I belive we should unionize the entire computer industry, beacuse right now we are at mercy of people which have no idea how to even turn on a computer and those are the same people which offer $10 per hour to run their freaking network and expect you to work for that much but at the same time hold 20 certs, for some reason some people have this cracked out perception that if your working on a computer your not really working . __________________ Dell Inspiron 700m 2 ghz Intel Mobile 2mb L2 cache 12.1 Ultrabrite 1.25 gig ram 80gig hdd 8x DVD-RW 4.5lbs 1.5" thick 5 hours battery DFI NF4 Ultra - D AMD Winchester 64 3200+ @4125+ 2.62ghz sold Swiftech H20-120-BB REV. 3 LIQUID COOLING KIT 2x512 OCZ EL DDR PC-3200 Dual Channel sold Platinum Rev 2 OCZ POWERSTREAM 520W sold ATI X700 PRO SEAGATE 160GIG SATA Windows XP PRO SP2 / PearPC - Apple OS X 10.2 Unknown "The problem with America is stupidity. I'm not saying there should be a capital punishment for stupidity, but why don't we just take the safety labels off of everything and let the problem solve itself."

Nov 19, 2004, 01:12 AM	#6
rudedog DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Florida, USA Posts: 80 Rep Power: 0	I think we the customers are somewhat to blame. We expect new games/add ons to ship within 6 months of each other. We are always pushing the developers to release something new fast and bug free. I'm starting to think this is the main reason we see so many bugs in games lately. When I was out at EALA, over the summer. We left around 10PM and there was still many people working late into the night. Funny thing is these guys are still dedicated to thier fans and customers. I love the gaming industry, just not that side of it I guess. __________________ [color=Blue]Not so Rude,Rudedog http://www.FPSadmin.com[/color] Main Box:AMD Athlon 64X2 4800[color=Red]\|[/color]ASUS A8N-SLI Delux BIOS-1015 Nforce 6.66[color=Red]\|[/color]2GB(1GBx2)crucial Ballistix DDR PC4000[color=Red]\|[/color]2x BFG 7800GTXOC 512-83.40[color=Red]\|[/color]74Gig Raptor SATA[color=Red]\|[/color]4x WD 250Gb SATA[color=Red]\|[/color]2x Lite-on 1673S DVDRW-all[color=Red]\|[/color]X-Fi Fatal1ty 2.07.0004[color=Red]\|[/color]Logitec G7-setpoint 2.46.544[color=Red]\|[/color]Ergodex DX1-firmware 1.1-driver1.1[color=Red]\|[/color]-Dell UltraSharp 2405FPW 24-inch LCD[color=Red]\|[/color]PCPower and Cooling TurboCool 850 SSI[color=Red]\|[/color]Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2, DirectX 9.0c(4.09.0000.0904)[color=Red]\|[/color]Klipsch THX 5.1[color=Red]\|[/color] Second Box:FX-55[color=Red]\|[/color]ASUS A8N-SLI Delux BIOS-1015 Nforce 6.66\|2GB(1GBx2)DDR PC4000[color=Red]\|[/color]2x eVGA 7800GTX -81.89[color=Red]\|[/color]74Gig Raptor SATA\|2x WD 120Gb SATA[color=Red]\|[/color]Sony DVDRW DRU-500A[color=Red]\|[/color]Turtle Beach Santa Cruz-5.12.1.4193[color=Red]\|[/color]Antec true 550[color=Red]\|[/color]Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2, DirectX 9.0c(4.09.0000.0904)[color=Red]\|[/color]

Nov 19, 2004, 01:05 AM	#5
fibonaccov DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 67 Rep Power: 0	that and when you not fired because your company outsourced your position to India or China...

Nov 19, 2004, 02:39 AM	#7
ericdrum DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: The SLC Posts: 149 Rep Power: 0	LOL. I left M$ because my gaming suffered tremendously. I've had a normal progression with my hobbies. I was going to be a professional drummer and it was my major in college for a year. It turned my hobby into too much of a job. I switched to software engineering wanting to do games. The games industry is harsh. It's fun and all at times, but you work way too many hours and you don't ever get to enjoy gaming. You end up playing your game, and no matter how good it is, playing anything over and over and over is not fun. It is a job. Now I'm still a software engineer, but I don't do games. I work 45 hours a week or so and get paid more money. While I doubt that there's anything more satisfying than working on a game that sells well, it is an ardous process not for the faint of heart. I actually have as much sympathy for the testers. They have a very monotonous job. __________________ AMD Athlon 64 3500+ MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum nForce3 Ultra 2 gig Corsair XMS 3200 eVGA 6800 GT SB Audigy2 w/ KX Project Drivers 2-80 gig Western Digital SATA 7200 RAID 0 200 GB Seagate Barricuda 7200 for Storage Ultra Xconnect 500W Power Supply Windows XP SP2 Antec P160W case