Developers vs. Publishers 41
An anonymous reader writes "CNN's Chris Morris takes a look at the increased animosity of late between game developers and publishers in the latest installment of Game Over. The column examines this weekend's catfight between Valve and Vivendi, where Vivendi threatened to sue Valve for authenticating copies of Half-Life 2 that had been sold before the retail embargo date; the misery that is crunch time and the recent campaigns against Electronic Arts miserable working conditions."
Why are people pissed off about steam? (Score:1, Insightful)
And please don't bitch about online activation if you're posting on slashdot (unless you mail in all your posts to the editors).
So they want to curb the piracy. Good for them. Sure it looks like it's already been cracked and is out for download, but they did a fantastic job by not having it on torrent trackers before it ever came out.
And no, I'm not a rabid fanboy, I just happen to like their distribution method, it works fine for me, and saved me a trip to the store. But then again I also happen to buy my music off iTunes, so that probably puts me in a minority here.
Coverage (Score:5, Insightful)
It seems to me that now the industry is making so much cash that pehaps there is an expectation for some tension to be slackened. With the release of GTA:SA, Doom3, Half-Life2 and Halo2 there has been a very widespread understanding of just how big the gaming industry (and by corollary, the software industry at large) has become. An industry of such size with such resources should not be able to treat its core employees in such a fashion. All big business has hit this stumbling block at some point. Manufacturing had to deal with unionisation. The entertainment industry has suvived the creation of the Guilds (which are just unions). Anyone who is a hockey fan knows that there are unions in pro sports. So why are there no unions for programmers? Is it because they move from company to company? I don't think so, actors and directors, for example, work on different projects for different studios and have protection from exploitation.
So what is up with this? Why is it that thousands of intelligent and motivated professionals are allowing themselves to be exploited and treated so poorly?
Re:Coverage (Score:4, Insightful)
I think everything is happening (in reaction to the situation/environment) as it should. There are people who can deal with the environment and those that can't. Every company I've worked for has as a salaried employee has taken advantage of unpaid overtime, because I allowed them to (I was having fun). When I no longer enjoyed the enviromnment I left. At will employment.
I don't think that means that employees can't or shouldn't complain, but painting EA (for example) as a villan degrades their argument to whining. By making practices public knowledge, there's a better chance that EA and companies like it will consider change, unless they have an endless stream of potential employees ready to deal with the status quo.
Activation not a great idea for consumers (Score:3, Insightful)
Delayed Again! (Score:2, Insightful)
Really, its sad when a publisher, who really didn't do anything to produce the game, makes loyal fans (who in turn are going to buy the game and therefore pay their salaries) wait just 'because thats how they want it.' In the end, they are only hurting themselves AND the developers, because most people will get angry over something as little as this and NOT buy the game. (Ive heard many people say they wouldn't support Valve or VU because of the constant delays and BS between the two companies.)
Considering how good this game is, I doubt anyone will actually stick to it and NOT buy it, but thats all due to Valves Hard work. VU just gets to laugh all the way to the bank.
Re:Delayed Again! (Score:4, Insightful)
Buy it on steam. It's cheaper for the best deluxe extra (HL1:Source) and as I understand it, VU sees no/little money for it.
Re:Why are people pissed off about steam? (Score:4, Insightful)
Valve actually works really hard to make the community better. They are involved, they worked hard on this system to distribute the game and cut OUT the middle man (therefore in the long run, probably making it less expensive for us, the end users.) Plus, they spend an extended ammount of time developing and tweaking it, to be the *BEST* gaming experience it could be. Ive only played it 3 hours, and Im convinced they not only put their skill into making it, but their heart and soul. They took the time to give you everything you could possibly want, wrapped in a neat distribution package with a nice card labeled "STEAM" on the top, and you are hung up on 'not being able to use the internet at home, so im going to steal it instead!'
It angers me that instead of just getting off your lazy crack, dragging your box to a friends house and using his internet to do the *ONE-TIME Authentication* to unlock the game, you are going to go through the effort of downloading, cracking, burning, just so you can not pay for these peoples hard work.
I am sure its not by choice that 'you dont have internet' at your main residence, but there are alternatives to stealing. This is one game worth supporting the developers, and I think it's sad that something so miniscule as an authentication process (to gaurantee that the game isnt 'cracked' in the first place) would DRIVE you to doing just that.
Maybe stupid wasn't the right word, but if you can fill in the blank for me, feel free.
Re:Why are people pissed off about steam? (Score:2, Insightful)
The Solution (Score:4, Insightful)
Not Black and White (Score:2, Insightful)
Bad management and employee exploitation are wrong and should be stopped. Just please keep in mind that EA isn't the alpha and omega of programmer abuse.
Re:The Solution (Score:2, Insightful)