NRS working conditions - This NEEDS to be discussed

[Rozalin1780]

I think we should wait for all of the facts before jumping to conclusions. This isn’t a “defending corporations” thing, it’s an “innocent until proven guilty” thing. The court of public opinion has gotten out of hand these last few years and that applies to every entertainment industry there is currently.

 

[Sugarwatermixlegit]

Yikes this is shitty. This hurts as both a person and a huge ass MK fan. We as the community need to say something, saying "not our battle" is almost a nicer way of saying you're okay with it. Which is absolutely disgusting.

 

[Vagrant]

Some additional stuff in this article.

https://www.pcgamer.com/former-devs-speak-out-about-severe-crunch-at-mortal-kombat-studio/

 

[Jay Rupp]

It's their fucking job.. Stop being an ideological snow flake. This is how the world works. Every job has stressful deadlines.
This definitely DOESN'T need to be discussed any further.

 

[ATIWAB]

It's their fucking job.. Stop being an ideological snow flake. This is how the world works. Every job has stressful deadlines.
This definitely DOESN'T need to be discussed any further.

I work for a Fortune 5 company as a project manager. We also have deadlines. We also have "fucking jobs."

Nobody, and I mean nobody, at this company works 80-100 hour weeks regardless of what we're launching -- and it's bigger shit than video games.

 

[NeonGroovyGator]

It's their fucking job.. Stop being an ideological snow flake. This is how the world works. Every job has stressful deadlines.
This definitely DOESN'T need to be discussed any further.

Defending decent working conditions = ideological snowflake
Someone needs a time warp back to when work legislation didn't exist apparently

 

[Ray'sGoodLiquor]

inserts 19 years of working awful jobs for horrible people

Oh no! This is teeeeerrriiiibbblllleee. Lawyer up and contact your state’s labor department. Going to the media over not liking your highly competitive tech job doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. I agree that NRS can suck ass pretty bad, but your first option should be leaving. As far as I can tell, their employment is voluntary. They’re mad about temps not getting benefits and unisex bathrooms. A couple years ago I was working in a factory that was about 90% Laotian and Cambodian immigrants and we just didn’t get breaks. Period. God forbid one of these people took a wrong turn and ended up in the military lol.

 

[Gamer68]

Sucks to hear about this. The video game industry is such a fucking mess, Jesus Christ.

 

[Dankster Morgan]

That’s shitty for such a low amount of money

 

[Wrenchfarm]

crunch like this is never caused by a "competitive market place" or "games being too expensive to produce without sacrifice." It's pure corporate greed. It's CEO positions at publishers that are paid millions, sometimes billions a year. If you don't see how unjust it is that the people who actually make the thing you love are squeezed for every drop of blood they have just so some suit who probably never touched a single practical piece of the development process can buy a third mansion this year, I don't know what to tell you.

 

[ZeroSymbolic]

Deal with it or quit. People today fear hard work, and fear hard workers.

 

[HGTV Soapboxfan]

One thing that is funny and not necessarily like a real point or anything, just interesting in relation to all of this. I just got a job doing basic data entry for 14 dollars an hour full time without even having to do an interview. I passed a drug test and they gave me a start date based on me having a couple of years of college for music education. Meanwhile in the video game industry these people are working for 12 an hour in those conditions on a triple AAA very profitable game, on a job that was probably not that easy to get. There is something a bit fucked up about that lol

 

[HGTV Soapboxfan]

Deal with it or quit. People today fear hard work, and fear hard workers.

OR.... Maybe our culture puts so much emphasis on "hard work" and false illusions of a meritocracy to trick people into working in situations like these when there are obvious documented health drawbacks. "Deal with it" is such a nonsense take, come on. Why would we want a system that puts people through this? So you can get your game every two years? Is that really worth it?

 

[ATIWAB]

Deal with it or quit. People today fear hard work, and fear hard workers.

Dumbass take from a typical middle-class-or-lower worker who doesn't realize he's getting cucked by capitalism, tbh. This masturbatory "HURRRR HARD WORK HARD WORK HARD WORK IS PARAGON OF VIRTUE" mentality is something used by people in positions higher than you to exploit your labor.

 

[Thingy]

This is their fight, and the only way I can help is by reading articles really. I have been through the grinder in a lot of jobs, worked 80 hour weeks, etc...so while I understand people want better for their quality of life, I suppose I am just jaded by life experience. I totally "support" those in the gaming industry bringing light on their working situation, but to be honest this doesn't change my perception on NRS at all. If things like this bother you to the point of demonizing a company, you may want to consider a revolution against Corporate America. Treating employees like a horse pushing a cart is what they do for the most part. People still buy from Amazon, people still use Facebook and Google without thinking about the workers...

If these guys can achieve better rights at work, that would be great. But for the average joe like me, it doesn't hit my emotions to the point of wanting to be an internet workers rights advocate.

 

[HGTV Soapboxfan]

This is their fight, and the only way I can help is by reading articles really. I have been through the grinder in a lot of jobs, worked 80 hour weeks, etc...so while I understand people want better for their quality of life, I suppose I am just jaded by life experience. I totally "support" those in the gaming industry bringing light on their working situation, but to be honest this doesn't change my perception on NRS at all. If things like this bother you to the point of demonizing a company, you may want to consider a revolution against Corporate America. Treating employees like a horse pushing a cart is what they do for the most part. People still buy from Amazon, people still use Facebook and Google without thinking about the workers...

If these guys can achieve better rights at work, that would be great. But for the average joe like me, it doesn't hit my emotions to the point of wanting to be an internet workers rights advocate.

A revolution against Corporate America, now we are talking! lol

One point though, on Amazon Facebook etc, our society has been structured in a way that it is incredibly difficult to fully participate without using those services. Obviously to varying degrees but like you can't realistically ask someone to stop using google. Our clothing is made in horrible conditions in china, are you going to expect people who are already working full time to also make their own clothes from scratch? Even just saying to buy from better companies is often unfair because it always more expensive and many people simply cannot afford to. I know this isn't exactly what you are saying, just as a general comment on that kind of line of thinking. It is unfair to pass the buck to consumers and blame them for not refusing to buy from a company instead of just blaming that company for their predatory practices. It is kinda almost victim blaming in a way, if that makes sense.

And on the being too jaded by life experience thing, unfortunately that is part of the problem. Not you, with the system. They want you to be too tired to to challenge the status quo. They want people to assume this as normal. But it shouldn't be!

 

[ZeroSymbolic]

Dumbass take from a typical middle-class-or-lower worker who doesn't realize he's getting cucked by capitalism, tbh. This masturbatory "HURRRR HARD WORK HARD WORK HARD WORK IS PARAGON OF VIRTUE" mentality is something used by people in positions higher than you to exploit your labor.

I am actually a rags to riches story. The system does work, if you are willing to work the system. I'm proof. The young folks today complain about doing the work, and they wait for people to hand them a better situation whereas I was always willing to work HARD to improve my situation. I'd argue that the problem is that the young culture, as you just demonstrated, treats labor like it is beneath them, and treats people who do work the labor like they are idiots for doing it (as you just did).
The gaming equivalent is this; you love a character but they are a little weak. You can work the character or you can wait for buffs. I was always a "work the character' kind of guy.

 

[HGTV Soapboxfan]

I am actually a rags to riches story. The system does work, if you are willing to work the system. I'm proof. The young folks today complain about doing the work, and they wait for people to hand them a better situation whereas I was always willing to work HARD to improve my situation. I'd argue that the problem is that the young culture, as you just demonstrated, treats labor like it is beneath them, and treats people who do work the labor like they are idiots for doing it (as you just did).
The gaming equivalent is this; you love a character but they are a little weak. You can work the character or you can wait for buffs. I was always a "work the character' kind of guy.

Have you ever heard of survivorship bias? Basically the idea that we are more likely to listen to people who are successful than those who are not pretty much out of visibility. This leads to a bias where we trust the system more than we should because we only hear from the people it worked for.

As awesome as it is that your hard work paid off, it doesn't for many people. Surely you are willing to admit that there was an element of luck or opportunity somewhere along the road for you? And that there are people that do put in the hard work but circumstances aren't right for them and they get stuck? I don't think it is controversial to say that our culture is nowhere near a meritocracy.

 

[ZeroSymbolic]

Have you ever heard of survivorship bias? Basically the idea that we are more likely to listen to people who are successful than those who are not pretty much out of visibility. This leads to a bias where we trust the system more than we should because we only hear from the people it worked for.

As awesome as it is that your hard work paid off, it doesn't for many people. Surely you are willing to admit that there was an element of luck or opportunity somewhere along the road for you? And that there are people that do put in the hard work but circumstances aren't right for them and they get stuck? I don't think it is controversial to say that our culture is nowhere near a meritocracy.

Well lets see. I was born in the backwoods of Nebraska. My home was a dirty and falling about farm shack with no indoor plumbing. I wore cloth diapers, neither of my parents could read, and my dad was the oldest by 3 years at 17.
When I was 11 my parents divorced and mom moved us out to the projects where people got shot up on the block weekly and drug abuse was prevelant.
Was it my college years, where I worked a full time job, part-time job, and odd jobs on the weekends while taking a full course load?
Was it the move to post-auto crash Detroit, which we all know was a booming economic time and place?

Where were these lucky advantages bruh... it didn't feel lucky at the time.

You can call it luck if you want to, but I believe that I made my own "luck". I was told by my bosses consistently that I was the hardest working kid they had ever seen. Coincidence?

 

[Vagrant]

Well lets see. I was born in the backwoods of Nebraska. My home was a dirty and falling about farm shack with no indoor plumbing. I wore cloth diapers, neither of my parents could read, and my dad was the oldest by 3 years at 17.
When I was 11 my parents divorced and mom moved us out to the projects where people got shot up on the block weekly and drug abuse was prevelant.
Was it my college years, where I worked a full time job, part-time job, and odd jobs on the weekends while taking a full course load?
Was it the move to post-auto crash Detroit, which we all know was a booming economic time and place?

Where were these lucky advantages bruh... it didn't feel lucky at the time.

Good for you man. The shit that happened to you was unfair and wrong and good for you for overcoming it. It doesn't mean that the stuff that's happening to these employess is not also unfair and wrong.

This whole "well you're not in Auschwitz or anything so therefore nothing is unfair because it's not as bad as the most extreme of circumstances so we don't need to change it" is a cheap talking point, and doesn't hold up to scrutiny, regardless of how commendable you overcoming hardship is. It's okay to have empathy for other people who are being treated unfairly even if they aren't being treated as unfairly as you were.

 

[HGTV Soapboxfan]

Well lets see. I was born in the backwoods of Nebraska. My home was a dirty and falling about farm shack with no indoor plumbing. I wore cloth diapers, neither of my parents could read, and my dad was the oldest by 3 years at 17.
When I was 11 my parents divorced and mom moved us out to the projects where people got shot up on the block weekly and drug abuse was prevelant.
Was it my college years, where I worked a full time job, part-time job, and odd jobs on the weekends while taking a full course load?
Was it the move to post-auto crash Detroit, which we all know was a booming economic time and place?

Where were these lucky advantages bruh... it didn't feel lucky at the time.

See this is tough because I need to make it clear. I am not trying to take away from your struggles and accomplishments. That would be silly because clearly you worked your ass off and you have every right to be proud of that. Instead my argument is this

1. There are unfortunately tons of people in situations similar to yours. And statistically most of them do not end up having as much success as you. Do you believe that is purely that you worked so much harder than all of them and everyone could be as successful as you if they just tried hard enough? Or is there some level of selection that happens somewhere along the line? Maybe you got one of those jobs over someone else at some point even though you were both qualified but they had to pick one. Maybe they have a mental illness and simply were incapable of working those kinds of hours. Etc etc. Knowing that it doesn't take away from your hard works and your accomplishments, can you see how some arbitrary or random element could have lead to you succeeding over someone else?

2. Even if it is 100 percent merit. You are smarter, work harder, etc than the rest. We have the resources for people to not have to go through that. Why would you look at your shitty situation and not say "I wish other people didn't have to do that"? You fucking kicked ass, beat all the odds, gave everyone the middle finger through sheer force of will. That is incredible. But do we really want that to be something we have to expect of people, while those at the top don't have to do anything of the sort?

 

[ATIWAB]

Where were these lucky advantages bruh... it didn't feel lucky at the time.

Why are you confusing "luck" with "advantages?"

Do you know how many other college educated people also live in "post-auto crash Detroit" and "work hard" but don't end up making decent wages? That's what he's talking about. There's always an element of random chance involved.

PS - you're a school teacher, so "riches" is a bit of a stretch, and the "luck" in your case is that the Michigan school district you're in has had a major shortage of teachers for a while now. There are other areas of the country where people have had it just as hard as you, worked just as hard as you, but don't live in an area where the same kinds of opportunities are available in that field and end up working shitty retail jobs until they can relocate -- or some can't, due to other mitigating circumstances. Stop defending a shit system.

 

[ZeroSymbolic]

Good for you man. The shit that happened to you was unfair and wrong and good for you for overcoming it. It doesn't mean that the stuff that's happening to these employess is not also unfair and wrong.

This whole "well you're not in Auschwitz or anything so therefore nothing is unfair because it's not as bad as the most extreme of circumstances so we don't need to change it" is a cheap talking point, and doesn't hold up to scrutiny, regardless of how commendable you overcoming hardship is. It's okay to have empathy for other people who are being treated unfairly even if they aren't being treated as unfairly as you were.

Life is unfair. Scrutinize all you want, but I take it back to the Fighting Game analogy: You can keep asking and waiting for that patch, but until it comes you got to play the game as it is, so get on your grind!

 

[ZeroSymbolic]

Why are you confusing "luck" with "advantages?"

Do you know how many other college educated people also live in "post-auto crash Detroit" and "work hard" but don't end up making decent wages? That's what he's talking about. There's always an element of random chance involved.

PS - you're a school teacher, so "riches" is a bit of a stretch, and the "luck" in your case is that the Michigan school district you're in has had a major shortage of teachers for a while now. There are other areas of the country where people have had it just as hard as you, worked just as hard as you, but don't live in an area where the same kinds of opportunities are available in that field and end up working shitty retail jobs until they can relocate -- or some can't, due to other mitigating circumstances. Stop defending a shit system.

I'm a school teacher as a leisurely job I work to stay active and contributing to society. My big income is saved money from welding, factory, and roadcrew jobs some of which has been wisely invested.

 

[ATIWAB]

I'm a school teacher as a leisurely job I work to stay active and contributing to society. My big income is saved money from welding, factory, and roadcrew jobs some of which has been wisely invested.

And I'm a project manager, from home, as a leisurely job for tax purposes. My "big income" is from bitcoin I sold after buying a lot in 2011 to get LSD with and then mostly forgot about until 2014-2015 climbs. Entirely luck. Now it's all in an individual brokerage account. Never went to college. Never cared to.

There's no real "hard work" in anything I do outside of my hobbies. There are people that work harder than I do every day, and will never get ahead of me financially or stability-wise. It's absolutely moronic to pretend that "anyone who just works hard will get ahead eventually!" You can be the best retail clerk on earth, good enough to make assistant manager or manager even, "HARD WORK" your way up the corporate ladder and I'll still always be ahead of you. You'll still be a wage slave to someone who makes 400x your salary working much less "hard" than you.

My direct reports all work significantly "harder" than I do... which makes my projects look good, which gets me bonuses. The system is hilariously broken, but I love watching people who were one misstep away from being mired in the shit of it defend it.