• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

343 Rescinds Job Offer to Halo Community Member Over Forum Post

Status
Not open for further replies.

Raven117

Member
Seems like a little bit of an over-reaction on 343's part, but...its their company. They can hire and fire whomever they choose.
 

Novocaine

Member
100% justified reaction. I can’t believe people are criticizing 343 over this. Lesson here is watch what you say because sometimes the shit you talk comes back to bite you in the ass.
 

MysteryM

Member
I fully understand 343's position, however on an emotional level I feel sorry for the guy. Spouting negativity about a potential employee was remarkably stupid, especially considering you work in he field that you love and your dream is to work for the company you are spitting vitriol against. However, the guy has come out with an apology and I'd love to see 343 get him back in and talk to him and take it from there.
 

Lowmelody

Member
Consider the vibe at the workplace when people find out what their fellow coworker said about them a mere 3 months earlier. The company has to consider the impact on their existing culture, not just the value of the prospective hire.
 

entremet

Member
Colleges should teach social media reputation management classes.

The termination seems justified culturally. He threw his future coworkers under the bus.
 

Sephzilla

Member
Considering game development can be a high-stress profession, imagine the added tension in the workplace when everyone knows that one of their coworkers thinks they don't deserve the job they're putting in massive overtime for. Rescinding the job offer is absolutely the right decision even if the timing sucks.
 

eot

Banned
I mean he was kind of saying he didn't deserve the job so.

Seriously though, even if that one specific post isn't super damaging, you don't want a person who would do something like that to be your community manager (edit: woops, misread). If you didn't sign the contract then the job isn't yours yet.
 
Corporations are people too.

Quick here take this bribe and give us a 9/10 in your review but don't say anything bad about us, ok?
He was so mad about something that said everyone at 343i should be fired. That's not legitimate criticism, it's just a nasty and immature thing to say.

I think the lesson here is just because you're on the internet doesn't mean you need dial up everything you say to 11. Think before you post.
 

D i Z

Member
Being a douche won't get you very far. Lesson learned I hope? And the 343 bashing over this is hilarious. There is only one party in the wrong here, and he's going to have to deal with his own bullshit.
 

Bsigg12

Member
I don't see the issue. Your online presence says a lot about who you are and your views and ultimately if a company you're trying to work for decides those views are harmful to them or their mission, they have no obligation to maintain an offer or even maintain your employment.
 

Lunaray

Member
I've been very critical and waxed ascerbicly about 343 Industries in the past, but criticizing them for this seems really bonkers. In almost no other setting would people apply this thinking, that publicly berating an organization and/or its members wouldn't injure or destroy your chances from being able to join it.

I hope they'd reconsider for this fellow's sake, but this isn't something to try to pin them on.

I find it amazing that people expect game companies to tolerate egregious amounts of abuse because its "casual hyperbole" and "they didn't mean it". Try bringing this justification to literally any other industry and see what response you get from their HR department.
 
I mean he was kind of saying he didn't deserve the job so.

Seriously though, even if that one specific post isn't super damaging, you don't want a person who would do something like that to be your community manager. If you didn't sign the contract then the job isn't yours yet.

He would be a level designer I think, but still.
 

brawly

Member
What's the context/thread of the post? If it was after the launch of Halo 4 he would've had every right to say that
/s
, but this seems rather recent.

I would feel really weird if for example I was gonna work for Tabata tomorrow. I'd at least look through my posts and maybe edit them
nah he deserves it, let him fire me
.
 

The Wart

Member
I am outraged at the idea that shit-posting and insulting people on the internet could have negative consequences. This is an attack on the very foundation of "gamer" culture!
 
He was hired through the community and they didn't know about any of this before they offered him the job. Sounds like he was right.
 
Have all you people seriously never badmouthed your employer or coworkers ever? Not one “everyone I work with are morons” or “I hope they get fired” or anything?

Keep in mind this was a flyby post on steam, not some public service announcement on the front page of a magazine. It’s the internet equivalent of venting to a friend at the bus stop where a coworker might overhear you. Such statements are rarely anywhere near serious as well, and that should be obvious. It takes some real petty assholes to take it so seriously you fuck the person over completely for it. Maybe go “hey, please don’t say that, maybe apologize” instead of turning it into a fuckin controversy that benefits nobody.
 

Jaraghan

Member
I don't agree with 343 on a lot of things, but I do here. "Noone at 343 deserves their jobs" is just a shitty thing to say.
 
I'm sure 343 would have let it go if the post he made was a couple years ago, but that comment was made a couple of months back.

But still.. they should have at least spoken to him so that he could explain himself(?)
Maybe two years ago, but even so, if he was already working in the games industry, he should have known better.

Three months ago, he absolutely was working in the games industry, and he should have known better.
 

nekkid

It doesn't matter who we are, what matters is our plan.
Except you can claim unfair dismissal which anyone would in the guys circumstances.

I’m fairly certain you can’t in the UK. Not in your probationary period. You can be let go for simply having the wrong chemistry with your coworkers.
 

Sephzilla

Member
Except you can claim unfair dismissal which anyone would in the guys circumstances.

I'll entertain this conversation.

1) Since he was technically never an employee, he can't really claim unfair dismissal from a job he never had.

2) Considering there's evidence of him shit-talking fellow employees, it's hard to argue that said dismissal was unfair.
 

LordRaptor

Member
Except you can claim unfair dismissal which anyone would in the guys circumstances.

What? No you can't.
1) If you haven't even signed a contract, you're not employed
2) If you have signed a contract and are in your probationary period, you can be terminated for any reason. ANY reason, (outside of discrimination legislature) like not getting someone a coffee or just 'not being a good fit'. Or saying all your coworkers don't deserve their jobs.

e:
I mean, sure you can claim it when you go back to the dole office and your case worker says "What the fuck did you do?" but you're not getting your job back, any money, or any recompense. At best you waste a tribunals time.
 
i see a ton of drive by "fuck 343" comments.

lets put this shit to the test then.

go online to facebook, instagram, whatever. something with your real name attached.

tag your company, boss, manager, whatever, but make sure someone there sees it.

now tell them they don't deserve their jobs.

we'll wait.
 

Megatron

Member
I would like to take this time to rescind all comments I have made about Reggie. He is not just nintendo's mascot. He has real power and influence and makes important decisions.
 

platocplx

Member
So how do you think those Monday morning water cooler conversations would go, "so you're the new guy, enjoying the coffee? How's the commute?... Do you think I deserve my job? "

yep. LOL. You are employing someone who is hostile towards everyone who workd there currently. and this wasnt something from years ago. he posted this crap like a few months ago. Which says he still shares those sentiments. Metered Responses on forums will allow you got get out of sticky things. But shit like that was just dumb especially if he works in that industry.
 
He's learned his lesson in a harsh way. I do have sympathy for the plight he finds himself in. Being jobless, homeless and a few grand out of pocket is bad enough, but to also lose your dream job for the sake of a throwaway comment on a forum is cruel. That's not to say 343i didn't do the right thing though. I doubt my studio would hire someone who made a post like that either, but I think the price he has paid is disproportionate to the offence, and for that I'm sympathetic.
 

JBourne

maybe tomorrow it rains
I wouldn't want to work with someone who told me I didn't deserve my job. Understandable that they didn't want him to join the team.
 

Stiler

Member
Wow, seriously a shitty move to do.

Getting a dream job and putting thousands of dollars into it and getting canned over a forum post, that has to really suck.

I mean what he said was bad, but to me it seemed like more of a knee jerk reaction , not something he would actually mean or want to happen.

They could have simply brought it up once he got in and explained that they don't want anything like that from him in the future or something, instead of literally leaving him holding the bag without a job or place to live.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
I really hate posts like these. They make no sense, and most likely won't reply after you call them out on it.

The dude literally said "No one at 343i deserves there job".

Whats the criticism? There is none, it's not constructive. It was a shit post for all intents and purposes on their official forums, and insulting in general why the fuck would 343 hire him?

Why does criticism need to be constructive? Did he know that 343i would be reading his posts? He is just venting online.

Do you post impressions of games here thinking developers might read them? Of course not. that would be silly. you post your impressions, your rants, for the forum members... not for some random dev might come in and take notes one day. If they do, they should ignore that post and use other more valid criticisms instead.

at the end of the day, its just a silly thing for him to say. it doesnt mean anything. if they had any sense of humor, they would poke fun at him, embarrass him a little and move on.but they got butthurt and decided a guy they felt worthy of a level designer job was no longer worthy because he once got angry and posted an innocuous post on the internet.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom