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I hate king.com for the many hours of potential productivity that I have paid them for the privilege of losing. Whenever I talk about how I was stupid for playi

I hate king.com for the many hours of potential productivity that I have paid them for the privilege of losing. Whenever I talk about how I was stupid for playing Candy Crush I feel like I'm victim blaming. Anyway, horrible company culture; I don't think they can reasonably expect great success from behaving in this manner.

timje1 13y ago
I don't think they can reasonably expect great success from behaving in this manner Zinga made a lot of money for its owners and investors before imploding.
- ido 13y ago
  I was surprised that in a way "justice was served" (and rather quickly, at that) in Zynga's case. I hope we see that happen to king too. But most likely they will get away with it, as usual.
  - sireat 13y ago
    Justice wasn't really served in Zynga's case, Marc Pincus managed to cash out quite a bit, the people suffering are the "Death Star contractors" that is the developers hired at Zynga.
    - talmand 13y ago
      Well, to be fair, the second time the rebels killed tens of thousands of those contractors they managed to get the two guys at the top.
    - Crito 13y ago
      Any developer working for Zynga knew the risk involved. If they got screwed over, it's their own fault. A developer should listen to his common sense, not his wallet. The money might be right, but they shouldn't take the job if the risk is too high.
- ghshephard 13y ago
  Well, Zynga is still worth $3Billion dollars...
  - timje1 13y ago
    You are quite right. The implosion I refer to is the share price going up to $15 mid 2012, and dropping down to a fraction over $2 by the end of it. Its future is not bright, but it could still pull something magical out of its hat.
  - jrs99 13y ago
    if i had 1 billion dollars, i would not trade it for all of zynga.
    - deleted 13y ago
      [deleted]
emitstop 13y ago
Really? C'mon man have some self control for god sakes. It's a video game on a phone. I'm not particularly fond of micro-transactions, I cannot stand the way intellectual property is handled in this country (US), and I dislike rip-off artists such as Zynga/King. However, all King is doing here is playing ball with current IP legislation, protecting whatever trademarks they can. There's hundreds of games that are exactly the same in every category of gaming, just because King has the capability to create a high-quality successful series of mobile games (which are based off of extremely common gaming concepts) does not mean they are horrible people. People get up in arms when these large corporations sue eachother over intellectual property. Why does the HN community have this double standard whenever a "little guy" can be made out to have been harmed? Just because you're the first person to think of a popular idea doesn't mean you own it forever. Patent/Trademark/Copyright legislation is very clearly all bunk in the age of the internet. Get mad at the stupid laws, not at the people taking advantage of them.
- deletes 13y ago
  Anyone willing to spend non-trivial resources to retaliate, because of a business deal that didn't get completed, is a sociopath. Also king is currently involved in a banner saga "saga", suing developers of a game of a completely different genre because they used the word saga in their title. http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/01/22/king-are-trying-to-candy-crush-the-banner-saga/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+RockPaperShotgun+%28Rock%2C+Paper%2C+Shotgun%29 http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/01/22/king-are-trying-t...
- maaarghk 13y ago
  I know, I know, I was being a little tongue in cheek and perhaps it didn't come off too well, but in all seriousness it obviously is just a lack of self control on my part. It isn't easy for me. But this story isn't about the fact they copied the idea at all. It's about the fact that they done it as a petulant response to a business deal that fell through. As for "just because you're the first person to think of a popular idea doesn't mean you own it forever" I see where you're coming from ethically but I don't agree. Love them or loathe them, patents are here to stay and although the rules do need cleaned up, they're not fundamentally wrong. You do deserve -some- protection.

timje1 13y ago

I don't think they can reasonably expect great success from behaving in this manner Zinga made a lot of money for its owners and investors before imploding.

ido 13y ago
I was surprised that in a way "justice was served" (and rather quickly, at that) in Zynga's case. I hope we see that happen to king too. But most likely they will get away with it, as usual.
- sireat 13y ago
  Justice wasn't really served in Zynga's case, Marc Pincus managed to cash out quite a bit, the people suffering are the "Death Star contractors" that is the developers hired at Zynga.
  - talmand 13y ago
    Well, to be fair, the second time the rebels killed tens of thousands of those contractors they managed to get the two guys at the top.
  - Crito 13y ago
    Any developer working for Zynga knew the risk involved. If they got screwed over, it's their own fault. A developer should listen to his common sense, not his wallet. The money might be right, but they shouldn't take the job if the risk is too high.
ghshephard 13y ago
Well, Zynga is still worth $3Billion dollars...
- timje1 13y ago
  You are quite right. The implosion I refer to is the share price going up to $15 mid 2012, and dropping down to a fraction over $2 by the end of it. Its future is not bright, but it could still pull something magical out of its hat.
- jrs99 13y ago
  if i had 1 billion dollars, i would not trade it for all of zynga.
  - deleted 13y ago
    [deleted]

emitstop 13y ago

Really? C'mon man have some self control for god sakes. It's a video game on a phone. I'm not particularly fond of micro-transactions, I cannot stand the way intellectual property is handled in this country (US), and I dislike rip-off artists such as Zynga/King. However, all King is doing here is playing ball with current IP legislation, protecting whatever trademarks they can. There's hundreds of games that are exactly the same in every category of gaming, just because King has the capability to create a high-quality successful series of mobile games (which are based off of extremely common gaming concepts) does not mean they are horrible people. People get up in arms when these large corporations sue eachother over intellectual property. Why does the HN community have this double standard whenever a "little guy" can be made out to have been harmed? Just because you're the first person to think of a popular idea doesn't mean you own it forever. Patent/Trademark/Copyright legislation is very clearly all bunk in the age of the internet. Get mad at the stupid laws, not at the people taking advantage of them.

deletes 13y ago
Anyone willing to spend non-trivial resources to retaliate, because of a business deal that didn't get completed, is a sociopath. Also king is currently involved in a banner saga "saga", suing developers of a game of a completely different genre because they used the word saga in their title. http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/01/22/king-are-trying-to-candy-crush-the-banner-saga/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+RockPaperShotgun+%28Rock%2C+Paper%2C+Shotgun%29 http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2014/01/22/king-are-trying-t...
maaarghk 13y ago
I know, I know, I was being a little tongue in cheek and perhaps it didn't come off too well, but in all seriousness it obviously is just a lack of self control on my part. It isn't easy for me. But this story isn't about the fact they copied the idea at all. It's about the fact that they done it as a petulant response to a business deal that fell through. As for "just because you're the first person to think of a popular idea doesn't mean you own it forever" I see where you're coming from ethically but I don't agree. Love them or loathe them, patents are here to stay and although the rules do need cleaned up, they're not fundamentally wrong. You do deserve -some- protection.