Giant Bomb Presents: Introducing Ian Williams

Fuck, Giant Bomb is so woke right now!

I can't imagine this site without Austin anymore.

THE FUTURE Ian Williams

Oh wow. I have not thought of Elitist Jerks in a looooonnnnggg time.

I remember pouring over the information on rotation theory and stat weighting for Elemental Shaman on there back in vanilla/BC.

Glad Austin brought up "does anyone do it better" - Valve is a solid mention too from what I've heard even though they're fairly secretive. I wonder about companies like CD Projekt Red and those that have high regard from "doing their games right" and how the dollars to hours match up for time worked as well as environment. Great listen - keep this stuff up for sure.

I miss Seth Rollins :(

Austin you fucking rock by putting this together.

As a Canadian electrician in a heavy union zone, I can't fathom what it must be like working in a place with little to no organised labour protection. Even non union shops in the area have their shit together because that spectre of the union is there for their staff to go towards.

When I get asked to do overtime, its great, because that means I'm making 50% more money for those hours, and I can't be formally pressured to take it if I don't want to.

Being salaried and being forced to take overtime with no extra pay on threat of dismissal? No thanks.

Austin is getting it done.

austin retweet me u are news

@joe_mccallister: I've heard nothing but good things from paradox. Being based in the frozen socialist paradise of Scandinavia probably helps.

Is Ian Williams the new FireWatch?

"The accountants are working 60-70 hours?"

Probably not as much in corporate accounting, but tax and audit accountants definitely have busy seasons they pull long hours for. 80 hour weeks isn't unheard of.

@rincewind: word. He's been putting in so much fucking work.

Yr appreciated Austin.

GB presents is like surprise candy from your parents. You never know when to expect it but damn if it doesn't make your day.

I played WoW with that guy!

Welcome aboard.

@rincewind said:

He's probably my favorite thing to ever happen to Giant Bomb.

@ninkendo: I hated him so, so much. Then he became my favorite. He's going to come back, he and Triple H will have a title match, and we'll see another Hogan/Nash Poke of Doom, right?

@austin_walker:

Wait so if every one of these guest columns gets a podcast talk, should I be expecting a Greg Kasavin one as well? Or is "Lifers" something different?

I love these. Happy you are bringing them at a rapid pace Austin. Have to say: The 9-5 grind 100% exists in the games industry - some people just wanna work and get paid!

Thank you Austin for these interviews :)

A dude that's written for Salon? Ffs this is going to be terrible.

@nelson1tom: You don't know what you're talking about.

I did QA at Atari for a bit and we had a mandatory 60 hour work week. (booooo)
Was much different working for a dev rather than a publisher though.

@justthetip69: please enlighten me.

The thing about this passion to me on the outside isnt that you have folks working 80+ hours a week making games, its that it's being exploited by dysfunctional head honchos who know this will happen and it goes after those who want a longer-term job that'll last 10+ years instead of striking out on these indie projects. Differing minds and all that, you know? The leadership in bad situations know crunch can be long-term forced marches, they know that the braying for whatever "content" is that the playerbase feels that we can't do without can be done in rote blocks of fresh recruits outta vidya game schools, they know PR and advertising is easier to set up and more reliable than drasticly new gameplay, differing art direction, and restrictions that would make for more and better play.

I'm not sure if the cracking of the AAA market over the years has helped the "EA Wife" movement's work, either.

As unions fall away as the main face of compromise in labor/owner relations for many areas, this presents a lack of a threat in many fields as the employees' best bargaining chip, destroying the balance of power in the relationship. Little is emerging to replace it either, and I can't but see signs that its promoting demagoguery and stridently exploitative employer behavior.

More than 2 years after founding Waypoint, Austin posted on their forums this last month how the editors there under his supervision are still overworking to the point of burnout - all while they criticize game developers, like Rockstar, for their work practices. Glass Houses.