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"Unpaid crunch deserves no sympathy" - Michael Pachter

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NotTheGuyYouKill

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http://www.develop-online.net/news/38317/Unpaid-crunch-deserves-no-sympathy-Pachter

Article on some comments said by Michael Pachter recently where he expresses that he does not have sympathy for unpaid crunch time and that game developers do not need a union. Not a great summary, I know, I'm at work so I don't have the time to copy and past all bolded important bits. I thought the article would make for an interesting discussion. Also, Pachter's new beard makes him look evil.

If someone takes the time to copy and bold important bits, I'll put it here.
 
Screw him. Unpaid overtime is garbage no matter what you're doing.

Michael Pachter said:
“I do get that it is a bad and unfair business practice to work 18 months non-stop overtime, I don’t think anybody was entitled to overtime pay.”

The point that everyone is missing in the LA Noire scandal, Pachter said, is that the Team Bondi development staff will receive generous bonus packages.

That claim has not been substantiated. Numerous alleged former Team Bondi staff claim they had not been paid bonuses. These accusations have not been substantiated either.

“I just don’t have a whole lot of sympathy for people who say ‘I worked for such-and-such, and I didn’t get paid, and that’s not fair’,” Pachter continued.

“If you want to be an hourly employee, go build automobiles, and what will happen is they’ll close down your plant some day and you’ll be out of work.
Click to expand...

Pachter is reaching full-blown douche status with this one. Unbelievable.
 
huh, how is it even possible to have unpaid overtime ? " Hey man I know you're done for the day but you wanna stay out of good will and keep working? "
 
Pay people when they work motherfuckers...or don't use them for their services. Isn't it against the law to do things like this? I thought there were laws around this, and only way around it is commission jobs.
 
“I hear from lots of people on Twitter about these Team Bondi guys in Australia, [hearing complaints about how] they’re young and right out of school, well, don’t pick that as a profession then.

“If your complaint is you worked overtime and didn’t get paid for it, find another profession," he said.
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Uh, wow.
 
I was going to copy/paste/bold, but basically his argument is "you knew what you were getting into when you chose this as a profession so don't bitch."
 
“I just don’t have a whole lot of sympathy for people who say ‘I worked for such-and-such, and I didn’t get paid, and that’s not fair’,” Pachter continued.

“If you want to be an hourly employee, go build automobiles, and what will happen is they’ll close down your plant some day and you’ll be out of work.
Click to expand...

What an asshole. I really wish people would see Pachter for the con artist he is,
 
There's a difference between a "crunch" and what some dev houses are doing. Currently, I'd describe myself in a "crunch" at work but that doesn't mean I'm working 12 hour days and weekends and it doesn't mean it's sustained over more than a couple weeks.
 
It gets even better when he says that the alternative is
If you want to be an hourly employee, go build automobiles, and what will happen is they’ll close down your plant some day and you’ll be out of work.
Click to expand...
Yeah!
 
Nicktals said:
I was going to copy/paste/bold, but basically his argument is "you knew what you were getting into when you chose this as a profession so don't bitch."
Click to expand...

Yeah, basically he says that the industry won't change for the better to benefit the workers, the workers have to adapt to the industry.
 
Nicktals said:
I was going to copy/paste/bold, but basically his argument is "you knew what you were getting into when you chose this as a profession so don't bitch."
Click to expand...

And I'd have to agree with that summary. Developing video games comes with lots of overtime. Deal with it or find another line of work.
 
I agree, unpaid overtime is unfair wherever you are employed. And for the gaming industry especially, when there is just an unbelievable amount of pressure on each and every employee to get the final product out on a certain date.

I'm sure it's easy for him to say, but I doubt he would agree if he had to work 90 hour weeks to finish Halo or something and lost his social and family life because of it.

I'm going to read the article in full, but I'm curious if he had anything to say about the L.A Noir issue of late.
 
disappeared said:
And I'd have to agree with that summary. Developing video games comes with lots of overtime. Deal with it or find another line of work.
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A lot of overtime that you're not getting paid for.
 
I once had a Sociology professor try to tell our class that no "real job" pays hourly, and that hourly workers with degrees are basically miserable failures. As an hourly field service technician surrounded by salaried, miserable managers putting in 60+ hour weeks on a routine basis, all I can say is: Hahahahahahah!

Really though, crunch is the #1 reason why I would probably slit my wrists before I'd program for a living. I have friends in the field, I've seen what it does to them, and I don't know how they deal with it.
 
disappeared said:
And I'd have to agree with that summary. Developing video games comes with lots of overtime. Deal with it or find another line of work.
Click to expand...

Like anything though, if you have proper management crunch wouldn't be so god awful.
 
There are a lot of salaried employees in technical fields working 60+ hour work weeks, though. It's not like gaming has a monopoly on it. It's something you should make yourself aware of before accepting a salaried position. If you feel like the money is not worth the long hours, don't take the job.
 
BigJiantRobut said:
A lot of overtime that you're not getting paid for.
Click to expand...

Anyone with a salaried position has this problem. I'm a web programmer and I average more than 40 hours a week and I don't see a cent of that extra. But I do get good health benefits, etc.
 
This is advocacy of neo-slavery, pure and simple. Developers need to unionize- and quick- to combat corporate slave drivers like this asshole.
 
I haven't read the article yet and I have no doubt that it will turn out he actually said the opposite of what it looks like, but:

“If you want to be an hourly employee, go build automobiles, and what will happen is they’ll close down your plant some day and you’ll be out of work.
Click to expand...

?!?

Isn't it just as likely, if not more, that a game will get canceled and the studio closes?
 
Being worked into the ground and not getting paid for it.. hm.. SOUNDS REASONABLE.

It's a good way to lose your best talent and hurts your company in the long run.
 
Corky said:
huh, how is it even possible to have unpaid overtime ? " Hey man I know you're done for the day but you wanna stay out of good will and keep working? "
Click to expand...
Uh, I guess then its not really OT? If you're not paid hourly, you work the hours it takes to get the job done. You don't get paid more (directly) for the "extra" time you put in.

Edit: People getting bent out of shape about 70 hour weeks kind of surprises me. If I were working in a project-oriented industry, where many (most?) of us were there because of our passion for what we were creating, 70 hours a week wouldn't be a big deal.
 
I tell you what, when you have a family at home and you are working 60 hours a week and only being paid for 37.5 it sucks! No overtime, no time in lieu, it's just expected.

My wife came down ill with Chronic Fatigue a couple of years ago and I was not able to get home at a decent hour it made my life hell. I was so tired from work as well as being a father, husband and carer.

I'm glad I got out of the industry, it's a young person's game these days.

Edit: Pachter can go fuck himself!
 
If you are in a salary job, you can expect to work many hours beyond your 40 a week. Being an attorney or a consulting engineer can land you about 100k-150k a year in salary, but you're going to work probably 80 hours a week for at least half of that year.

Hmmm, I wonder how much these guys were told that it would all be worth it in the end? Furthermore, if it was actually worth it? It's a tough industry for sure.
 
What a dick. It's easy to say shit like that when your job is to take uneducated guesses about stuff, and not really be held accountable when all of your guesses are wrong.

Hell, he has so much leisure time he is constantly on podcasts and stuff, while the people he's talking about barely get to see their families for a few months.

Fucking dick.
 
I had a graphic design job where I went from hourly to salary. I had no choice in the matter either. I actually made less money per hour, initially, because they expected me to work later and not get paid. It sucked but it's not exactly uncommon. I'm not saying I had it nearly as bad as the Team Bondi guys though.
 
My biggest concern is that nobody seems to be concerned much in asking themselves WHY crunch time still happens.

Is everyone that bad at planning out a development cycle and just making it seem like mad rush all the time?
 
“If your complaint is you worked overtime and didn’t get paid for it, find another profession," he said.
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He is kind of right about this one.

And I actually wish that people would revolt and leave the games industry in droves.

But as long as naive young pussified nerds will put up with this shit it will continue.
 
Holy crap you people are going over the top. Developers aren't any more special than other technical fields that don't get paid overtime. Calling him a dick won't change this at all.
 
TheBranca18 said:
Anyone with a salaried position has this problem. I'm a web programmer and I average more than 40 hours a week and I don't see a cent of that extra. But I do get good health benefits, etc.
Click to expand...

Sure, I understand that. I work a salaried job too. I just don't have to be ok with it, especially not when Pachter is telling people to "deal with it," as it were.
 
disappeared said:
And I'd have to agree with that summary. Developing video games comes with lots of overtime. Deal with it or find another line of work.
Click to expand...
The practice of unreasonable and prolonged crunch time is not healthy for the individual contributors, the employers or the industry. Some people are passionate about the products they're making and they end up being exploited and burned out. It isn't ethical, it doesn't increase overall productivity and "deal with it" isn't the solution.
 
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