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Presumptuation
November 12, 2004
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Back once again. Yes, I know I've tended to skip in and out lately, but... er... blame World of Warcraft? Yes, yes, do that! For Web Guy Josiah has gotten himself an account on the open beta and now we roam Kalimdor together. Bliss! ::grin:: Oh, and I should say: if you have an account on the open beta (because signups are sadly closed now), feel free to keep an eye out for Web Guy Josiah (male troll hunter - "Jobah" - though it really should have been Jo'Bah) and myself (male tauren druid - "Rochambeaux") on Server #10. Message us if you see us, and we'll hang out, grind mobs and all that. Currently the two of us are only level 12, but if you're lower we'll probably powerlevel you, and if you're higher... er... give us a few days? Anyhow.
IN MORE CUTE NEWS: we've gotten two kittens. Cutest kittens in the history of ever. Two little ladies named Doki-Doki (Japanese onomotopoeia for a quickly-beating heart) and Abunai (Japanese for "look out!"), and the sweetest pair ever. They're both cuddlers, and play all the time. I have never seen cats more bonded than these two sisters... they play together, they snuggle and sleep together, and Jeebus Bob, they even use the litterbox one after the other (which is not so cute... egk, 2x cat poo stink! How the fuck can something so tiny and cute make such a hideous smell?!) I feel like a new parent right now, wanting to snuggle and play with the cats all the time and worried about them chewing on the plants, the pain of cleaning the litterbox, and the worry about how well they're going to do the first time we actually leave them alone (either Web Guy Josiah or I have been with them constantly since the time we picked them up from the shelter on Wednesday afternoon). But yeah. Insane cuteness.
But here is some unrelated seriousness that I ask you to focus upon.
Now, I know many (but not ALL) of you out there buy, or at least play video games. You should know - like you should be aware that WalMart treats its workers like something that came out of a butt - that EA (Electronic Arts) treats its workers much in the same fashion. Oh no, wait. EA might actually treat its workers worse, because for all the shit WalMart does to their employees, they don't ask them to work 7-day, 90-hour work weeks for the near-entirety of a 16-month project, AND blame them for problems they cannot fix and guilt them for wanting to spend time with their families. Sick days? Nope. Ill family members? Not on company time, which is all the time. There exist horror stories of workers expected to stay in until 4 AM and required to be back at work no later than 10 AM, of people yelled at for coming in an hour late because they stayed up until 7 AM to take care of their sick daughter, and those stories are true... and overwhelmingly the same tale, told in different ways. EA isn't just abusing their workers, they're grinding them into the ground. And their behavior is spreading.
EA hires novices straight out of college, and grinds them into the dirt. I ask you, those who might think about getting into the industry, heed the calls of ea_spouse, who was so frustrated about her husband's treatment that she let EA have it in LiveJournal form, and now is getting some serious attention for her tale... the page has been Slashdotted, and there are more than a few comments within from various gaming media sources asking for interviews (I link it here because alert reader and good friend Brenden saw fit to send me the link, and actually I got in a thread of comments back on page 2 - previous to the /.ing, go B and me). People are coming out of the woodwork with similar tales, including Joe Straitiff, and well...
What am I asking?
Game buyers, do your best to avoid buying EA products. Tell other gamers about their abuses of employees. You don't have to start a letter-writing campaign or anything, just try to get the word out.
Those looking for a job in the industry: don't give up hope for a good place to work, and don't settle for EA and those of their ilk. Sure, right out of college, the gobs of money they offer look tantalizing, and 80 hours a week doesn't sound too bad if you're doing something you love, but TRUST me, working there will sap the love for making games right out of you, and what good is money if you've got no time to spend it? Deny EA its crop of novices to chew up and crap out - tell your friends to basically give EA recruiters the finger - and hang in there. I swear to you, you'll be far better off in the long run.
NOTE: I am not saying in any way that I'm against the people who work at EA in general. I'm with you guys 100%, I feel for you, and as I have heard it, the very vast majority of you are being treated like rat crap by shithead superiors, and asked to work in unforgivable conditions while the company brass takes long holidays and buys their kids more fancy cars. Doing what we love is important, but what's more important is being with the people we love. You should never, ever be asked to sacrifice that. ::raises fist in solemn solidarity:: Fight the good fight, my brothers and sisters, my peeps in programming and art, testing and design, writing and quality assurance and more! I am with you.
Anyhow. That's it for me on that one. ::gets down off of soapbox::
Now I give you... this week in LINKS!
* Wowzers, lookit: authentic ancient Roman makeup! I wonder if they had Avon ladies in ancient Rome?
* Nastiest soda idea EVER. No, I love Jones Soda, don't get me wrong, but just... look at the FLAVORS. Eeeugh. (Oh, and I ganked this link from Josh Mirman. Heehee. YOINK!)
Well, I'm done for this week. Be good, peeps, and I'll be seein' you all on Tuesday. Oh, and I should mention Web Guy Josiah and I will be going out of town from next Friday (the 19th) until the 28th, so if you feel like giving me any guest art... or guest strips... um... please do? Pleeeeze?
Metal Gear Goofnut,
Annie "Blue" C
I'm lookin' California
But feelin' Minnesota
- Soundgarden
"Outshined"
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