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I'm always curious at what point in dealing with Zygna and their allies we are supposed to pretend that they don't steal from other programmers or try to ruin t

I'm always curious at what point in dealing with Zygna and their allies we are supposed to pretend that they don't steal from other programmers or try to ruin the business. When speaking with them or other programmers about them I am always super polite but when there are facts that it are too taboo to bring up, we can form conclusions about the entire company.

spiritplumber 12y ago
It didn't come up for us, we were doing a hardware project. What did come up was the fact that this one guy in particular somehow knew how to do our job (whether that be the metalwork, the electronics, the firmware...) better than us, about half a dozen times. I guess the sociopath attitude thrives in that environment.
- fennecfoxen 12y ago
  Perhaps it does. My encounter with a small group of Zynga programmers happened on Caltrain a week or three after the little kerfluffle about RSU grants being cancelled (they had originally inquired about a game I'd been playing on the train). We had a bit of a conversation about the incident; their conclusion was pretty much "sucks to be them".
- seanmcdirmid 12y ago
  People with egos and poor social skills abound in many tech companies, unfortunately. I think the sociopath label is applied too liberally, meaning you were probably dealing with a plain old asshole (real sociopaths have real social skills and make you like them so they can better manipulate you).
  - spiritplumber 12y ago
    Sociopaths try to manipulate you if they think they can get something out of it. If they think you're just beneath them, they revel in being asshats at you and knowing that there is nothing you can do about it. The measure of a man is making sure that you do something about it anyway.
    - seanmcdirmid 12y ago
      Perhaps you haven't met a real sociopath before? There are alot of them, they are always nice to you and use your positive feeling for them against you. They typically go into management. I have never seen a sociopath go the asshole route: they aren't going to do something so socially stupid, it doesn't serve their goals at all. I see people on HN a lot confusing low social IQ (what assholes have) for high social IQ (sociopaths); it is just very wrong.
x0x0 12y ago
I was about to ask if what zynga does is objectively all that different from other companies? I mean, command and conquer followed warcraft followed dune, etc. But then I googled zynga copy and wow. They don't follow in the footsteps of -- like command and conquer after warcraft after dune -- they flat out clone. Wow: https://twitter.com/eeen/status/161983237864955904 https://twitter.com/eeen/status/161983237864955904 leads to: https://s3.amazonaws.com/nbpromo/dearzynga.jpg https://s3.amazonaws.com/nbpromo/dearzynga.jpg and http://www.businessinsider.com/ea-lawsuit-zynga-2012-8?op=1 http://www.businessinsider.com/ea-lawsuit-zynga-2012-8?op=1 (scroll down) Though to be honest, the Samwer brothers make a damn good living...
- a1369209993 12y ago
  > https://s3.amazonaws.com/nbpromo/dearzynga.jpg https://s3.amazonaws.com/nbpromo/dearzynga.jpg I like how the pixel art game made by apparently three peope has better art than zynga's clone; one would think they could at least compete on graphic design competence.
  - vinbreau 12y ago
    Personally I agree with you. Yet I know many people who dislike anything that looks like pixel art. I'm not one of them and try to judge games on their individual merits. I believe Zynga knows that they could attract more casuals with 'updated' graphics that didn't look 'retro'. I have friends who will ignore all games that use the current pixel styles. I extrapolate from that there must be many more casual gamers who also agree with them. I think Zynga goes after that group by offering similar experiences with 'better' graphics.

spiritplumber 12y ago

It didn't come up for us, we were doing a hardware project. What did come up was the fact that this one guy in particular somehow knew how to do our job (whether that be the metalwork, the electronics, the firmware...) better than us, about half a dozen times. I guess the sociopath attitude thrives in that environment.

fennecfoxen 12y ago
Perhaps it does. My encounter with a small group of Zynga programmers happened on Caltrain a week or three after the little kerfluffle about RSU grants being cancelled (they had originally inquired about a game I'd been playing on the train). We had a bit of a conversation about the incident; their conclusion was pretty much "sucks to be them".
seanmcdirmid 12y ago
People with egos and poor social skills abound in many tech companies, unfortunately. I think the sociopath label is applied too liberally, meaning you were probably dealing with a plain old asshole (real sociopaths have real social skills and make you like them so they can better manipulate you).
- spiritplumber 12y ago
  Sociopaths try to manipulate you if they think they can get something out of it. If they think you're just beneath them, they revel in being asshats at you and knowing that there is nothing you can do about it. The measure of a man is making sure that you do something about it anyway.
  - seanmcdirmid 12y ago
    Perhaps you haven't met a real sociopath before? There are alot of them, they are always nice to you and use your positive feeling for them against you. They typically go into management. I have never seen a sociopath go the asshole route: they aren't going to do something so socially stupid, it doesn't serve their goals at all. I see people on HN a lot confusing low social IQ (what assholes have) for high social IQ (sociopaths); it is just very wrong.

x0x0 12y ago

I was about to ask if what zynga does is objectively all that different from other companies? I mean, command and conquer followed warcraft followed dune, etc. But then I googled zynga copy and wow. They don't follow in the footsteps of -- like command and conquer after warcraft after dune -- they flat out clone. Wow: https://twitter.com/eeen/status/161983237864955904 https://twitter.com/eeen/status/161983237864955904 leads to: https://s3.amazonaws.com/nbpromo/dearzynga.jpg https://s3.amazonaws.com/nbpromo/dearzynga.jpg and http://www.businessinsider.com/ea-lawsuit-zynga-2012-8?op=1 http://www.businessinsider.com/ea-lawsuit-zynga-2012-8?op=1 (scroll down) Though to be honest, the Samwer brothers make a damn good living...

a1369209993 12y ago
> https://s3.amazonaws.com/nbpromo/dearzynga.jpg https://s3.amazonaws.com/nbpromo/dearzynga.jpg I like how the pixel art game made by apparently three peope has better art than zynga's clone; one would think they could at least compete on graphic design competence.
- vinbreau 12y ago
  Personally I agree with you. Yet I know many people who dislike anything that looks like pixel art. I'm not one of them and try to judge games on their individual merits. I believe Zynga knows that they could attract more casuals with 'updated' graphics that didn't look 'retro'. I have friends who will ignore all games that use the current pixel styles. I extrapolate from that there must be many more casual gamers who also agree with them. I think Zynga goes after that group by offering similar experiences with 'better' graphics.