A New EA Spouse Controversy, Now At Rockstar San Diego

MechaSlinky wrote:

I'd rather buy clothes made in a sweat-shop. What, you think there are better opportunities for sweat-shop workers? It's this or homelessness, and I'd rather help them get some food to eat and a roof to sleep under.

Can, open. Worms, everywhere!

beeporama wrote:

I know this is a P&C digression, but this is a little sexist, isn't it? The letter identified as "wives," but I don't think this is about "balls" and not hiding under "skirts."

I was actually going for a bit of humor there, sorry if it didn't come through quite right.

And I am sympathetic to them. Getting dicked over by your management sucks. A couple years back, I went through similar crap (though, not nearly as extreme). I worked for a medical research company, reading charts for specific types of cases. I was doing well, received a couple early raises, and was promoted to be one of three supervisors in our office. My wife and I both needed new cars, so we went ahead and took the plunge on that. Then a few months later, we ended up buying our first home together. I was doing good at work, so I had no reason to worry.

Then one week we got an email saying 5 people no longer worked for us. One I knew jumped ship, because she wasn't happy there, and already had another job lined up. But since there was talk about possibly losing the contract we were working under, the other four worried me a bit. The next week, I was called in, and let go. Seems they only needed one supervisor, so my promotion basically got me laid off.

Most of that year was hell. It was juggling which late fees were worse than others. I got hired for a few things that really didn't pan out. For instance, I think I'm still licensed to sell accident insurance in the state of Maryland, though I never made a dime from it (but it cost me $250 to get). Then I found a temp job working nights at a DHL warehouse printing shipping labels. It really sucked, and didn't pay much, but it was enough to get us by until I got picked up by Comcast.

To be honest, I hated working that job. I didn't realize it until long after. I had no interest in the work, and sitting at a computer for 8-10 hours a day is what ultimately gave me carpel tunnel. I doubt I'd have had the courage to just jump ship, but looking back, it worked out OK for me.

For these guys, EA really has no real reason to stop screwing them over yet. Bad publicity like this hasn't seemed to do much over the years, and I doubt this time is any different. I guess I just see this letter as a bit futile is all, not without the actual workers standing up for themselves.

Dysplastic wrote:
MechaSlinky wrote:

I'd rather buy clothes made in a sweat-shop. What, you think there are better opportunities for sweat-shop workers? It's this or homelessness, and I'd rather help them get some food to eat and a roof to sleep under.

Can, open. Worms, everywhere!

You're right. My original post was facile and kind of an oversimplification of my attempt to behave ethically in a world economy that is much more complex than most people acknowledge. More complex than I can claim to completely understand, certainly. I'm not going to crack open the can any further to elucidate, at least not in this forum, but let me at least defend myself by noting that I realize buying an Italian sweater instead doesn't suddenly give the third world minimum wage laws.

It is on-topic to note that I only have the time and money to buy and play a fraction of the games I'm interested in; I maybe buy one third of my so-called "must-play" games, knowing I'll only have time to play one third of what I buy anyway. Because of this, when I'm arbitrarily choosing which excellent-looking game gets my money, the other game might have an advantage.

PurEvil wrote:
beeporama wrote:

I know this is a P&C digression, but this is a little sexist, isn't it? The letter identified as "wives," but I don't think this is about "balls" and not hiding under "skirts."

I was actually going for a bit of humor there, sorry if it didn't come through quite right.

Fair enough, sarcasm doesn't translate well on the internet.

PurEvil wrote:

For these guys, EA really has no real reason to stop screwing them over yet. Bad publicity like this hasn't seemed to do much over the years, and I doubt this time is any different. I guess I just see this letter as a bit futile is all, not without the actual workers standing up for themselves.

Freudian slip? Should that be Rockstar?

Anyway, I know that EA's turnaround in working conditions has made me much more willing to buy EA games (interesting new IP doesn't hurt either)... but I also know I'm the exception rather than the rule. Unless Game Informer or a mainstream news outlet picks this up, most potential buyers won't even know about the flap, and of those that know I suspect a small fraction will care, much less sympathize.

beeporama wrote:
Dysplastic wrote:
MechaSlinky wrote:

I'd rather buy clothes made in a sweat-shop. What, you think there are better opportunities for sweat-shop workers? It's this or homelessness, and I'd rather help them get some food to eat and a roof to sleep under.

Can, open. Worms, everywhere!

You're right. My original post was facile and kind of an oversimplification of my attempt to behave ethically in a world economy that is much more complex than most people acknowledge. More complex than I can claim to completely understand, certainly. I'm not going to crack open the can any further to elucidate, at least not in this forum, but let me at least defend myself by noting that I realize buying an Italian sweater instead doesn't suddenly give the third world minimum wage laws.

It is on-topic to note that I only have the time and money to buy and play a fraction of the games I'm interested in; I maybe buy one third of my so-called "must-play" games, knowing I'll only have time to play one third of what I buy anyway. Because of this, when I'm arbitrarily choosing which excellent-looking game gets my money, the other game might have an advantage.

I was lying, anyway. I only buy the sweat-shop clothes because they're cheaper and they smell like crushed spirits and broken dreams.

Rockstar Responds

As canned as their response sounds, there really is nothing else they can reasonably be expected to do. Hopefully the employees are willing to go to their HR department and try to push for a resolution.

Neat Insights from GamePro

I have to say, I'm liking John Davison's influence on GamePro. You'd never see something like this out of them before.

The part that really interested me about this article is the one where a labour lawyer claims that unless it's about non-exempt employees not getting paid overtime hours, employees in fact have very little in the way of legal recourse against Rockstar and that the current labour laws are not really configured around the type of work they do, that they were in fact created for blue collar jobs and are woefully outdated to the typical workforce in today's economy.

Speaking of which...

In April of 2009, Rockstar Games settled out of court with with "over 100" Rockstar San Diego employees to the tune of $2.75 million (approximately $27,500 per person). The case, "Garrett Flynn, et al. v. Angel Studios, Inc./Rockstar Games et al.," was filed on August 21, 2006, by ex-Rockstar San Diego 3D artists Terri-Kim Chuckry and Garrett Flynn on behalf of themselves and fellow 3D artists, alleging that Angel Studios/Rockstar San Diego had "failed to pay overtime compensation ... to certain Angel employees whose primary duties are or were to create, produce, copy and/or install images into video games, using commercial or in-house software computer programs."

Sound familiar? That's likely due to the past week's barrage of Rockstar Games employees speaking out against alleged quality of life issues at the developer's various studios, including claims of "numerous non-exempt designers and artists have had their overtime pay cut as a result for being 'too senior.'"

In a press release issued after the settlement, Rockstar Games refuted the lawsuit's claims. "Angel denies the allegations in the lawsuit and admits no liability or wrongdoing in settlement." The settlement document (obtained earlier today by Joystiq) also spells out Rockstar's reasons for settling the suit, saying "further litigation would be protracted and expensive for all parties." Unsurprisingly, the company also contested in the settlement that a ruling against it was "relatively unlikely" for a number of reasons.

Well this just took a turn for the macabre. Rockstar's thinly veiled response to the "all seeing eye" comment of a former staff member by releasing a set of desktop wallpapers.

IMAGE(http://www.rockstargames.com/rockstar/local_data/US/img/news/TheEye1-640360.jpg)

This just strikes me as incredibly tasteless. This would have been clever and funny if they were responding to attacks from third parties (like say another publisher). But when the complaints come from your own staff some level of grace and tact are neccessary. Of course Rockstar has never been known to have an abundance of either of those qualities.

The message I'm receiving loud and clear from these wallpapers is "Eff those suckers who work here. Eff them hard and repeatedly and just for kicks let's laugh at them while we're at it."

AmazingZoidberg wrote:

This just strikes me as incredibly tasteless. This would have been clever and funny if they were responding to attacks from third parties (like say another publisher). But when the complaints come from your own staff some level of grace and tact are neccessary. Of course Rockstar has never been known to have an abundance of either of those qualities.

They're got their badass reputation to maintain yaknow. You might even called it a "Rockstar attitude." Eh? Eh?!

I wonder if the artist that made that had to work overtime to get it done.

I don't see this mentioned yet in this thread, but earlier this week Joystiq printed an article about another source saying the conditions at Rockstar Vancouver mirror those of San Diego.

It's sounding more and more likely that this whole story is true. Kinda sucky for the employees there. Wish I could say I could support them in some way, but it's not like I could even boycott the studio since I don't much care for Rockstar's games anyways.

Rockstar Officially Responds

A mix of corporate PR speak mixed with snark towards those who complained. Pretty much what I'd expect, an obvious attempt to dodge the issue while taking a pot shot at the squeaky wheels.