EA Spouse follow up ...

[Bass]

Taken from http://www.bluesnews.com/

This refers back to the EA Spouse story a few of you might have heard me mention in relation to how EA works.
http://ea-spouse.livejournal.com/274.html

EA Spouse Follow-up [April 27, 2006, 10:33 am ET] - 25 Comments
Nicole Wong Reveals Identity Of EA Spouse (thanks Shacknews) has a follow-up on the tale of EA Spouse (), revealing Erin Hoffman as the identify of the then-anonymous whistle-blower who exposed working conditions within the game development industry that paved the way for the EA lawsuit (story) and other steps toward reform. Here's a bit:
So Hoffman, then 23, poured out her frustration -- under the pen name EA Spouse -- in a November 2004 blog that resonated so strongly with other video game developers that it helped spark an employee uprising inside EA and six lawsuits for unpaid overtime against three of the industry's most prominent
employers.

Hoffman wrote on the blog that EA's attitude toward its workers was: "If they don't want to sacrifice their lives and their health and their talent so that a multibillion dollar corporation can continue its Godzilla-stomp through the game industry, they can work someplace else.''

Now, more than a year later, game developers have won settlements in three class-action lawsuits alleging EA created exhausting work schedules without paying overtime and successfully pressed employers to ease unrelenting workloads. And EA Spouse, whose true identity has been cloaked until now, is becoming a voice against America's culture of overwork.

[FeralBanana]

Stoopid EA

[stoke]

Yup ... they should overwork them for 6 months and then give then 6 months off.
It's hektic man, but in order to program effectively, programmers must be nailed like that.

[NerdBoyZa]

@Stoke.

I disagree. I'm more likely to produce quality, if I have a peaceful, clean, etc, etc, etc environment to work under. I don't think chicken coop kind of farms work well.

....... Hang on. Where you just revving up the programmers there.....

[stoke]

me ... being a programmer meself ... would never revv up da programmers.
I really believe that a 6 months of hell followed by 6 months of bliss is tghe way to go.
I have done it for 5 years and it was extremely awesome.

[doobiwan]

Ahem, but as a programmer "with family" I can say it's unsustainable and soul destroying. I'd much rather work in a pleasant environment, 8 hours a day, go home and be able to forget about code for a while.

I've just changed jobs to a company that runs like that and the effect just on me, let alone the fam, is fantastic.

[stoke]

@doobi ... agree'd.
That's why I don't do it any more either.
But ... I also don't do hardcore programming nowdays either.
This is all just woessie business stuff.

If you want to do hardcore stuff then long hours are a must cos otherwise tomorrow morning you've forgotten what you were doing.

[NerdBoyZa]

Sorry Stoke.

My vote goes with Doobi... Keep the hours sane, and the work environment friendly etc, and I believe even hardcore programmers will give you better product.

If your method worked, EA wouldn't push out such sh*t all the time now would they?

[stoke]

NBZ wins hands down with that last comment ... except ... well ... blerry well ... look at us ... we've even formed a blerry clan over one game ... LOLLIES !

[NerdBoyZa]

@Stoke: