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Any developer with a moderate amount of common sense who chose to work for Zynga should've seen this coming. Zynga has been criticized for its business model an

Any developer with a moderate amount of common sense who chose to work for Zynga should've seen this coming. Zynga has been criticized for its business model and the way it treats its employees for a long time now.

moocow01 14y ago
While I have never worked there, I think the assumption pre-IPO was that yes you might get abused but it will all be worth it in the end because of the equity - remember Zynga according to tech blogs was the hottest thing coming out of the oven a couple years ago. This also isn't all that unusual of an attitude in a hyped startup - management will abuse you (ahem, I mean expose you to a dynamic exciting work environment) and you will take it because your going to be rich in a few years... or not.
- kika 14y ago
  I'd say: "expose you to a dynamically exciting work environment". The direction of the dynamics is another story, right.
  - dredmorbius 14y ago
    Winningest quote ever from DotCom 1.0: "It has a ballistic trajectory".
    - cmccabe 14y ago
      That's really special. And appropriate here.
    - josephlord 14y ago
      Technically I think orbit can be achieved ballistically, or even planetary/solar escape but the overwhelming majority of projectiles do land. And some of them very hard, others barely get off the ground. All of which makes it quite a good metaphor really although not the originally intended one.
      - dredmorbius 14y ago
        Ballisticality has a lot less to do with sustaining the trajectory than attaining a minimal orbital velocity, or escape velocity. NB: Ballisticality isn't a word. Pity.
- greedo 14y ago
  Life is short. Putting up with abuse in the pursuit of a potential windfall is part of what's wrong with our lottery culture these days. As a gamer friend always reminds me, "The cake is a lie."
  - LockeWatts 14y ago
    I find that quote interesting. Your gamer friend might not have given you the context of the game, but it's interesting: You pretty much know there is no cake. GLaDOS, the malevolent and controlling AI telling you there is cake, lies to you consistently. You catch on quickly that she's lying. The warning "The cake is a lie" is scrawled in blood inside a hidden antechamber, inside one of the levels. Somehow I feel like there are parallels here that you stumbled on more or less accidentally. Or maybe I'm being far too literary.
andrewfelix 14y ago
While I agree with this statement somewhat, I can't imagine the talented devs at Zynga didn't have common sense. Seems harsh to write those people off with essentially 'you only have yourselves to blame'. That attitude also removes some of the responsibility from the folks at the top.
- w1ntermute 14y ago
  > I can't imagine the talented devs at Zynga didn't have common sense. There are a lot of very smart people who are easily blinded to the truth when confronted with the possibility of vast riches. Making the right decision here was less about talent/intelligence and more about wisdom.
  - MartinCron 14y ago
    Or it is about risk tolerance. I can see joining an overhyped overvalued yet detested company with eyes wide open, realizing that the risk is huuuge.
    - w1ntermute 14y ago
      Yes, that's certainly possible. However, I don't think the math worked out in Zynga's favor in this case. And the reason why people joined anyway was because it's emotionally difficult to do that math correctly when your eyes are blinded by dollar signs.
- rhizome 14y ago
  Going to the mat to double your options and attempting to deal with them with your eyes open, only to have shenanigans on the back end is nothing that can be protected against. Hey, they're a public company, the shenanigans are out of the bosses hands...or are they?
kevingadd 14y ago
Lots of Zynga employees ended up there due to acquisitions. It's not their fault if their employer got bought and their equity (if any) at the old company became Zynga equity...
- davidwparker 14y ago
  That's not entirely true. Employees still have a choice. Specifically, I remember reading this article: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/167244/Turning_down_Zynga_Why_I_opted_out_of_the_210M_Omgpop_buy.php http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/167244/Turning_down_Zynga... and thinking to myself, "at least someone isn't just in it for a quick buck."
barce 14y ago
This reminds me of the riddle Varys poses Tyrion in "Game of Thrones": Three great men sit in a room, a king, a priest and the rich man. Between them stands a common sellsword. Each great man bids the sellsword kill the other two. Who lives? Who dies? Replace sellsword with employee. All these employees got screwed, yet like the sellsword they should have had the power to get a better deal.

moocow01 14y ago

While I have never worked there, I think the assumption pre-IPO was that yes you might get abused but it will all be worth it in the end because of the equity - remember Zynga according to tech blogs was the hottest thing coming out of the oven a couple years ago. This also isn't all that unusual of an attitude in a hyped startup - management will abuse you (ahem, I mean expose you to a dynamic exciting work environment) and you will take it because your going to be rich in a few years... or not.

kika 14y ago
I'd say: "expose you to a dynamically exciting work environment". The direction of the dynamics is another story, right.
- dredmorbius 14y ago
  Winningest quote ever from DotCom 1.0: "It has a ballistic trajectory".
  - cmccabe 14y ago
    That's really special. And appropriate here.
  - josephlord 14y ago
    Technically I think orbit can be achieved ballistically, or even planetary/solar escape but the overwhelming majority of projectiles do land. And some of them very hard, others barely get off the ground. All of which makes it quite a good metaphor really although not the originally intended one.
    - dredmorbius 14y ago
      Ballisticality has a lot less to do with sustaining the trajectory than attaining a minimal orbital velocity, or escape velocity. NB: Ballisticality isn't a word. Pity.
greedo 14y ago
Life is short. Putting up with abuse in the pursuit of a potential windfall is part of what's wrong with our lottery culture these days. As a gamer friend always reminds me, "The cake is a lie."
- LockeWatts 14y ago
  I find that quote interesting. Your gamer friend might not have given you the context of the game, but it's interesting: You pretty much know there is no cake. GLaDOS, the malevolent and controlling AI telling you there is cake, lies to you consistently. You catch on quickly that she's lying. The warning "The cake is a lie" is scrawled in blood inside a hidden antechamber, inside one of the levels. Somehow I feel like there are parallels here that you stumbled on more or less accidentally. Or maybe I'm being far too literary.

andrewfelix 14y ago

While I agree with this statement somewhat, I can't imagine the talented devs at Zynga didn't have common sense. Seems harsh to write those people off with essentially 'you only have yourselves to blame'. That attitude also removes some of the responsibility from the folks at the top.

w1ntermute 14y ago
> I can't imagine the talented devs at Zynga didn't have common sense. There are a lot of very smart people who are easily blinded to the truth when confronted with the possibility of vast riches. Making the right decision here was less about talent/intelligence and more about wisdom.
- MartinCron 14y ago
  Or it is about risk tolerance. I can see joining an overhyped overvalued yet detested company with eyes wide open, realizing that the risk is huuuge.
  - w1ntermute 14y ago
    Yes, that's certainly possible. However, I don't think the math worked out in Zynga's favor in this case. And the reason why people joined anyway was because it's emotionally difficult to do that math correctly when your eyes are blinded by dollar signs.
rhizome 14y ago
Going to the mat to double your options and attempting to deal with them with your eyes open, only to have shenanigans on the back end is nothing that can be protected against. Hey, they're a public company, the shenanigans are out of the bosses hands...or are they?

kevingadd 14y ago

Lots of Zynga employees ended up there due to acquisitions. It's not their fault if their employer got bought and their equity (if any) at the old company became Zynga equity...

davidwparker 14y ago
That's not entirely true. Employees still have a choice. Specifically, I remember reading this article: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/167244/Turning_down_Zynga_Why_I_opted_out_of_the_210M_Omgpop_buy.php http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/167244/Turning_down_Zynga... and thinking to myself, "at least someone isn't just in it for a quick buck."

barce 14y ago

This reminds me of the riddle Varys poses Tyrion in "Game of Thrones": Three great men sit in a room, a king, a priest and the rich man. Between them stands a common sellsword. Each great man bids the sellsword kill the other two. Who lives? Who dies? Replace sellsword with employee. All these employees got screwed, yet like the sellsword they should have had the power to get a better deal.