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Back when I worked in the incredibly dysfunctional video game industry, it was common for various key technical people to become soured over the course of the 1
by bsenftner 3y ago
Back when I worked in the incredibly dysfunctional video game industry, it was common for various key technical people to become soured over the course of the 18 months of 7 day weeks... After they'd threatened to quit multiple times, extorted the studio for as much raise as the studio could afford... they'd call me in to be the guy that talks his attitude down for the duration of the remainder of the production. I have the skills to evaporate anguish, overt aggression, and talk pragmatic sense into people pushed over the edge. You may have heard of the incredibly stressful day to day working at EA Sports; several of those games in the 90's were in serious risk of never completing because the team were going to kill one another - then they called me in.
- mattbrewsbytes 3y agoEnlighten us, gamedev whisperer. Seriously though - that had to be some stressful situations and a lot of people could benefit from hearing how you were able to de-escalate things.
- bsenftner 3y agoJust be a person, real person that listens to them, agrees when they make sense, but also point out contractual obligations, ramifications of leaving, never threats, just calm discussion. I was at E.A. when 3D0 flopped, and learned a lot about handling stress.
- gilmore606 3y agoI choose to believe it's because of you that I got to play the best version of Road Rash. Thank you for your service.
- bsenftner 3y agoWell, I wrote the video subsystem for RoadRash3D0.
- johnnyanmac 3y ago>they'd call me in to be the guy that talks his attitude down for the duration of the remainder of the production. sounds like the solution is to not work 7 day weeks, or pay them more in some way (more vacation after shipping, more money). But I get it, that's unheard of for 90's game industry.