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Scott Rohde on Amy Hennig's Departure [Up: Naughty Dog responds]
- Thread starter Jonboy
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Interfectum
Member
Yeah it's way too early in the morning to be reading threads like this.
I've been in the games industry - the machinations of the industry intrigue me. I don't think that's unreasonable.
Let be honest... the moment you say machinations it's just #paparazziGAF
And I am sure Amy is very happy about this too... because other studios may rethink hiring her because of possible future drama if something happens: a toxic and troublesome talent.
Something surely transpired, but as I've pointed out several times now, having disagreements doesn't mean anyone was somehow forced out or that there was some huge drama at Naughty Dog. Her leaving might seem sudden, but on the other hand people think about stuff like these inside their heads for a long time before acting on those thoughts. Maybe after all this time working on Uncharted she suddenly didn't feel like continuing on the franchise and Naughty Dog didn't want to jump into any new IPs in the near future she might've had in mind.
Servbot #42
Unconfirmed Member
you'll never know, let it go.
Any Sneak Press Fucks care to rectify the situation? WHAT TRANSPIRED ND!? What are Evan and Christophe hiiiiidddiiiing!
Evan Wells and Christophe Balestra either fired her or came to a mutual understanding to part ways. It's really none of our business.
Amy Hennig left/was let go from Naughty Dog for reasons that are none of our business and are very likely protected by NDAs that are there to protect both Hennig & ND, no matter if the reason is some SUPER MASSIVE drama between some people at Naughty Dog or if it was just Amy Hennig deciding to move on. They aren't discussing the reasons just like pretty much no other companies comment publicly on people leaving/being fired other than something like "we are sad to see her/him go"
I'd still like to know. would have loved to be a fly on the wall in that particular meeting room.
"Amy.... we need to have a talk"
DUN DUN DUN.
Edit: Also it's fun to speculate. What else are we going to do on a gaming forum?
Very true what if another studio hires Henning then she leaves a month later. Will that hypothetical studio be demonized also? Shameful but seemingly more and more the norm here.
Well let's not be so hasty, it's still pretty early in the west cost, in sure mitch dyer can come up with new "sources" and get the rumor train back on track
I approach it with much the same attitude that I approach news about Formula 1 negotiations, or TV production deals. I don't think having an interest in an industry beyond what it produces is a crime.
And I said largely similar things in my post.
There's absolutely no need for discretion if that's the case.
My interest boils down to "We don't have a straight answer, and I'm not entirely clear why". I don't think there's anything particularly unfair about having that spark curiosity, but it's only curiosity, not assumptions about who did what to whom.
Interfectum
Member
It's not really any of our business what transpired.
Yep. The people that want to know what happened to "defend" Henning is doing more damage to her than they think... buy to be precisely honest, they just don't care, they just want more drama for their reality show fix.
Who decides that?
One of the things I love of Retrogamer is that developers talk about the real stuff that happened back then and it´s super interesting how the different forces in a team can affect a game in one sense or another.
We will know the truth about this, maybe not now, but in some years for sure. It´s part of the history of one of the most prominent studios in our era.
And you are being delusional if you really think Amy left it its own volition. The fact that this didn't end with the typical "of mutual agreement we decided to part ways, yadda, yadda", it´s proof enough (and, BTW, that's what I meant before when I said they didn't explain anything at all). Sure, private companies aren't required to show the details of what's happening, but it´s pretty obvious to detect something wrong in their vague PR language.
The moment they both signed the NDA its mean to other people "Not of your business"
That... largely wasn't the context of the NDA I signed.
The alternate, evil dimension versions of Naughty Dog studios, complete with goatees, came through a portal and have now taken over, secretly keeping this dimension's versions of themselves locked in the studio basement.
Now you know.
Regardless, the fact that Amy hasn't refuted the rumors like Naughty Dog is telling. Her silence is a hundred times louder than Naughty Dog's denial.
I don't think you know what the word proof means.
To be fair, it's been a single day. For all we know she may still be hung over after partying all night, or something
It´s a way of speaking, change it for "proof enough for me" if you wish.
To clear the reputation of two men who have been defamed.
Earthpainting
Member
It's a little weird to see a bunch of people so readily accept that it isn't any of our business, and stating that we should move on. We're on a dedicated gaming enthusiast forum that even had threads about Hideo Kojima's food tweets. I don't think it's unreasonable for people to be interested in knowing the reasons why a celebrated industry figure is parting ways with a celebrated developer.
It has struck me that the reasons involved could be deeply personal, and that's something that absolutely does fall out of the realm of fair curiosity - but it'd also be acceptable to at least make some indications to that effect without going into detail.
again, you cant do that without saying what actually happened.
Sure you can. They just did. They achieved that goal adequately.
Interfectum
Member
Kojima tweets his food for the public to see. Hennig has not tweeted about the reasons she isn't working with ND anymore. Most of the thread is full of rampant speculation and nonsense. Most here are out for blood, not for any real conversation.
We could talk about games. Idle speculation and conspiracy theories about how certain people schemed to get someone tossed out, or revisionist history to diminish Hennig's work is damaging to all parties. I mean, we're talking about people here who have real feelings, and who oftentimes read GAF but don't post.. Speculating in the absence of facts is not going to do any good.
Was I also wrong to be interested in the persistent rumours that Ross Braun was being pushed out of Mercedes, despite few public overtures to that effect? About the *fascinating* rumours - but only rumours, as it stands - about Beth Willis and Piers Wenger, ex-producers on Doctor Who?
Behind the scenes stuff is interesting, and there's nothing wrong with that.
As far as I'm concerned, talking about the environment in which games are created is absolutely an aspect of talking about games.
you can, however, mention that two people who are being accused of being the culprits had nothing to do with what transpired.
I don't know if you ever thought of this, but video game fans aren't exactly the most mature bunch out there. So when something like this happens, you get people hell bent on boycotting games just because one or two people they don't like for God knows what, is making the game.
And there's only so much you can say without breaking NDA's.
PJV3
Member
Who knows, maybe she acted unreasonably and is embarrassed. We can make anything fit if we try.
As I suggested upthread: If you couldn't talk freely about a natural separation, that's a really odd NDA.
This is also a very viable possibility; while I'm perfectly happy to talk about the behind-the-scenes stuff, you're quite right that it's wrong to only consider situations which make one party 'the bad guy'. When I was laid off I was... briefly indecorous, but in pragmatic hindsight I do think it was the right decision.
This is true, and some of the posts in this thread have been despicable.
In any case, Naughty Dog is a studio that consistently talks up their internal culture and development process. They put their developers behind camera and praise their work, which is something I particularly love about them; some in this thread even said they watched a lecture on this very topic a week ago. The other side of the coin is that you can't expect people to lose interest when the topic doesn't suit their PR agenda.
edit: just to clarify... they're all well within their right not to comment, no doubt about that, but to say people shouldn't ask or even be curious is just wrong imo.
Ninja Kn1ght
Member
Now it's up to IGN to elaborate on what they've been told so we can see if they have more to back up their claims.
Maninthemirror
Banned
Why is Amy being the one who was wronged said as a fact when it might not be ?
PJV3
Member
Indeed. Any, none or all of the people involved could have been behaving like dicks.
If the reason is something like that, Amy Hennig coming out and saying "i was bored of Uncharted and didn't give enough of a shit on whatever new IPs they had planned so I decided to leave" wouldn't really reflect well on either her or Naughty Dog. If the reason for her leaving is some non-drama-including disagreement on what she should spend her time on in the next 3+ years, then I don't see why either side would reveal it.
Also, she just doesn't seem like the kind of person who'd divulge too much information about her personal life/thoughts, so I don't find it weird that she's quiet. I don't remember if she made too big of a fuss over leaving Crystal Dynamics some years ago. Leaving a liked company like Naughty Dog so (seemingly) suddenly is probably never fun or a positive thing for either the one leaving or the ones being left behind, even if the reasons behind that are nothing too dramatic, so I'm not surprised if no one wants to comment on the thing.
So basically either IGN's source was wrong about Drunkmann and Straley being involved or Naughty Dog is stretching the truth in their statement to protect their reputations. I'm more inclined to believe the former since they went as far as to call out IGN for 'unprofessional misreporting' which seems a bit extreme if their was some truth to the accusation. Nevertheless it's clear she didn't leave on good terms so I imagine somebody is to blame for her departure.
Why are some people calling for the topic to end because it is "none of our business?" It actually is our business. Naughty Dog made it our business. They put these people out there on press events, interviews and more for gamers to read and watch so that they can connect to the fans and sell their products. That is how these people actually become known. They are trotted out there as a face of a franchise or as part of a company. So when news breaks that involves one or more of these faces, we're just supposed to shrug and say "Oh, it's none of our business!" Sorry, it doesn't work like that. You can't have it both ways.
Or IGN's source sees the situation differently to ND's management.
The term "Creative differences" exists for a reason.
I do agree with this. It's not unreasonable that she's keeping herself to herself.
Maninthemirror
Banned
And it could be anyone, even herself
ape2man
Member
So? I still want to know what happened.
To be curious or ask is fine considering that ND is one of the top studios out there and is thought to have a great internal culture, like you said. And because Hennig is such a respected name in the industry. There's got to be a line though where the thread runs it's course where we don't know what happened and there's not much more to say.
There are people in here making fun of writers at IGN who got the story wrong with Druckman and Straley supposedly forcing Hennig out, which ND has since said was false. Then there are other people implying the same thing as what IGN said. Back to square one. At the end of the day, these kinds of things are personal, and if Hennig feels like sharing (and is allowed to) at some point, I'm sure she will.
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