3 ms·

I work in video games industry for one of the top 3 publishers and easter eggs definitely aren't a "fireable offsense", unless I guess they are in particularly

I work in video games industry for one of the top 3 publishers and easter eggs definitely aren't a "fireable offsense", unless I guess they are in particularly poor taste or something. If you mean things hidden in the game without explicitly telling the player about them and hoping they find them, that still happens all the time. But even things which are hidden which no one really approved also happen on pretty much all levels, both from programmers as well as artists.

wldcordeiro 4y ago
No experience in gaming but given the amount of creative control I'm given in other dev work it's not surprising when you're talking about projects at the scale of most video games.
- gambiting 4y ago
  My last project had 800 people on it and little things were added pretty much all over the place without the art directors ever knowing - even us as programmers shipped some programmer art that definitely wasn't meant to be there but it got "accidentally" left in the game files and shipped. And then there is a whole category of "official" easter eggs that obviously get approved by creative directors and are meant to be there for players to eventually find.
userbinator 4y ago
Emphasis on if you're not in a creative line of work.
- klabb3 4y ago
  So managers, accountants and VPs?
snarfy 4y ago
They are by definition something an engineer snuck in. Anything else is a regular feature that has been premeditated. If it was snuck in, what else has been? What does it say about your security policies and practices if engineers can sneak stuff in? This is why they are fireable offenses. It might not be for a piece of entertainment software like a video game, but sneak one in while working at FAANG and you'll most likely get fired.
- vlovich123 4y ago
  Maybe these days. There’s a famous story from early YouTube though and no one got fired. And Google frequently throws in Easter eggs like the time searching for cats or dogs let you trigger a mode where you can make paw marks on the page, although those are more formal affairs probably and not some random thing you throw in there on a whim.
  - cauthon 4y ago
    Just to rephrase the OP’s point, I think they are drawing a distinction between “a feature not directly advertised to the user” and “a feature not authorized by whatever chain of command is supposed to be followed at the developer”. The paw marks are an example of the former, but I believe OP was saying the latter is the fireable offense
    - vlovich123 4y ago
      The YouTube story I mentioned (couldn’t find it) is an example of the latter. There was like 1 guy and when Google introduced approvals he co-opted a coworker to stamp his PRs. This was a while back so unlikely to fly anymore, but only because the companies are so big and have all sorts of government and large business contracts that prevent that kind of stuff from a regulatory perspective.
- Aeolun 4y ago
  > What does it say about your security policies and practices if engineers can sneak stuff in? I mean, what does it say about hospitals that doctors can kill you with one stray cut? Ultimately you trust them to be benevolent.
  - LanceH 4y ago
    Heh. What does it say about your engineers if they can't sneak something in?
    - 4y ago

wldcordeiro 4y ago

No experience in gaming but given the amount of creative control I'm given in other dev work it's not surprising when you're talking about projects at the scale of most video games.

gambiting 4y ago
My last project had 800 people on it and little things were added pretty much all over the place without the art directors ever knowing - even us as programmers shipped some programmer art that definitely wasn't meant to be there but it got "accidentally" left in the game files and shipped. And then there is a whole category of "official" easter eggs that obviously get approved by creative directors and are meant to be there for players to eventually find.

userbinator 4y ago

Emphasis on if you're not in a creative line of work.

klabb3 4y ago
So managers, accountants and VPs?

snarfy 4y ago

They are by definition something an engineer snuck in. Anything else is a regular feature that has been premeditated. If it was snuck in, what else has been? What does it say about your security policies and practices if engineers can sneak stuff in? This is why they are fireable offenses. It might not be for a piece of entertainment software like a video game, but sneak one in while working at FAANG and you'll most likely get fired.

vlovich123 4y ago
Maybe these days. There’s a famous story from early YouTube though and no one got fired. And Google frequently throws in Easter eggs like the time searching for cats or dogs let you trigger a mode where you can make paw marks on the page, although those are more formal affairs probably and not some random thing you throw in there on a whim.
- cauthon 4y ago
  Just to rephrase the OP’s point, I think they are drawing a distinction between “a feature not directly advertised to the user” and “a feature not authorized by whatever chain of command is supposed to be followed at the developer”. The paw marks are an example of the former, but I believe OP was saying the latter is the fireable offense
  - vlovich123 4y ago
    The YouTube story I mentioned (couldn’t find it) is an example of the latter. There was like 1 guy and when Google introduced approvals he co-opted a coworker to stamp his PRs. This was a while back so unlikely to fly anymore, but only because the companies are so big and have all sorts of government and large business contracts that prevent that kind of stuff from a regulatory perspective.
Aeolun 4y ago
> What does it say about your security policies and practices if engineers can sneak stuff in? I mean, what does it say about hospitals that doctors can kill you with one stray cut? Ultimately you trust them to be benevolent.
- LanceH 4y ago
  Heh. What does it say about your engineers if they can't sneak something in?
  - 4y ago