The news has been grim in the gaming world for months now–if not years. The RAM shortage driving up prices is one thing. The constant layoffs is another. It’s been really depressing, especially the latter. As to the former, I had been considering getting a new PC about a year ago. Right before the prices went bonkers (and, yes, tehre’s a specific reason why), and now I rue the decision to wait. Everything is so expensive now. I mean, that’s not just limited to the gaming world, of course.
The layoffs, though, are what really bugs the fuck out of me (in the gaming world). It’s never the muckety-mucks who are laid off–oh no! They have nowt to do with it, do they? All the talk about tightening belts and what not make me furious. My first job out of college, I was working for a nonprofit. I was making eighteen-thou, which was not much money, even over thirty years ago. The director called us all (but the admin assistant–now, one of my two best friends) in and told us we all had to tighten our belts. Meaning no raises. Oh, and this was a United Way-funded nonprofit, which meant we were forced heavily encouraged to donate to United Way. You know, to show our gratitude that they funded us. But, uh, that has nothing to do with the line staff. The same line staff that is barely making a living wage.
Anyway. I twill forever remember and be grateful to the counselor in the other program for asking the director sharply, “What about you? Are you going to tighten your belt? Give up that Miata you drive?”
The director did NOT care for that at all. He shouted how he paid his dues and had put his time into the trenches. Which I have heard isn’t true. It’s more that he’s the son of a prominent person in the field. Even if it were true, though, it didn’t change the fact that the only thing he did as director was sit in his office and play solitaire on his computer. A computer that we could have used for our kids.
When I went to work for the county and mentioned that I used to work for that nonprofit, the head of the accounting department (for the nonprofits the county oversaw) snorted and said the name of the director before calling him something very disaparaging. In other words, everyone knew that this guy wasn’t doing his job.
I feel it’s the same with the bigwigs of publishing companies, except they aren’t even pretending they paid their dues. I mean, they don’t have to, right?
Waring, rant: We can be pissed all we want about prices, layoffs, and whatever else, but let’s face it. People are still going to do the things that lead to the situation we’re in. I’m not saying this is our fault because it most assuredyl isn’t; I’m saying that as long as there is no big consequence for what the companies are doing, they’ll keep doing it.