Though what has been done could not have been accomplished without such support as you have, it is you that we should be thanking. You took the first steps, and where they have brought us is quite remarkable. Where they are taking us now, can only be the greatest of places.

We are in your debt.

I think that the publicity was more a matter of right-time-right-place; in some respects what I've said has been said before, it just didn't take off because the environment wasn't quite primed for it. But thank you for your kind words. =)

I hope you understand that your husband, the bread winner, will soon find that because of your actions, he in no longer employable. Have him practice these lines: “Would you like fries with that?” Also, he might want to look into obtaining the user’s manual for a Fry-King or Fry-O-Lator.

How do you know that he's the bread winner incidentally? Or do women not get to work in your worldview? And how would anyone know who her spouse is anyway,

Luckily, not everyone out there is a total callous idiot like you. Some people think that treating staff like human beings pays off in the long term (and that it is anyway the morally correct way to behave).

Excellent - expect my application soon.

I hope that you're talking to the IGDA, because a partnership between GameWatch.org and the IGDA could help a lot in allowing the IGDA to create its QoI workplace certification program.

Also will be sending this link around so that the media covers this, too. :)

-Peter

Thank you again, Peter. =) Your regular contributions to the discussion and the information you provided throughout it are very much appreciated.

I am talking to the IGDA, and I'm hoping that we can combine efforts to some degree. I did feel it was important for a future watchdog organization to be independent -- the IGDA is a great organization, but its primary focus is "the industry" and sometimes that gets divorced from the notion of the actual people who work there. But a partnership as you mention would be mutually beneficial, I think.

I hate EA. They are the Walmart of gaming. Die.

yeah, they sort of are, but like Wal Mart, it's not the lower level employees who should be blamed.

Liberate EA! For a game company with such power, I'd hate to see it go down like that. They control too many licenses and franchises, it would affect the industry greatly if they fall.

Liberate the employees and bring decency back to our favorite hobby.

You're going to have to do something to make sure that people who post actually do work there, so you can have actual quality reliable information, not just people trying to bring down other companies that they never worked at.

That may pose a sticky problem - some sites require an email from your work address to join, something that certain potential posters would be adverse to. This organization will have to find some way to confirm a persons' employment credentials to keep things relevant and honest, I think.

You're welcome. Sooner or later, EA's going down for this and other shady things it's been doing, such as the NFL Exclusivity deal.

Oh yeah. I'll definately apply to that site in a few years' time, that is, once I get out of college and get into Game Design.

Come one, come all! Post your comments and anything else that will help ID you. While you are on-line, better check those "help wanted" ads for telemarketers, because when we are done with you, that's the only job you will be able to get!

What-marketers? Oh right, the querrilla/grizzly kind that feel threatened by others having a voice. If your job security depends on EA not getting anymore bad press, you need to take your own advice, chief.

I thought I should just post some nice words and compliments to help get you going, but I realized you probably already received tons of that, so I gave up.

But what the heck, I´ll just spill those out, maybe it´ll make me feeling better too.

Although I´m lucky to be in a better company right now, I do feel bad for the state of the gaming industry, and I probably won´t spend my life in this company, so I´ll face the rest of the industry sooner or later, or be forced to switch industries. So I´ve been watching the ea_spouse stories with interest.

Let me just say what a great, great step you are taking. One that will greatlly change your life and probably many of our lives too. Reading your words, whether agreeing with them or not, in just incredibly aspiring.

I hope we´ll soon be shown to your true identities, both your´s and your husband´s. For you deserve to be known and recognized, and thy names shall be remembered in the future of this industry.

We thank you.

Fabio 'Petrucio' Stange - Game Programmer
Hoplon Infotainment - Brazil

Ah. To break anonymity, or not to break anonymity, that is the question. To be honest I shudder at the notion of getting as much attention personally as the name ea_spouse has gotten in the game community. But I do want to say that I am incredibly impressed and touched at the number of people who have come forth with their names on this page; it does make me feel bad for not sharing my name with you. Unfortunately going public is something that could have permanent ramifications for both of us, and we would both rather be seen as ourselves by future contacts, rather than "ea_spouse" and "ea_spouse_spouse". =P

Dear ea_spouse and everyone else,

I do not live in the US and I do not work in the gaming industry but I am a computer programmer. I have a sop story of my own about what happened to me earlier in the year and I have been looking for a place to post the story in such a way that it could have an effect.

Maybe if I knew what the company was about I would never have joined. So seeing that you intend to start this website really makes me feel good about the state of things.

Friendly regards
p!

Without any offense intended towards anyone....

You have become a Rosa Parks of sorts. One little person making a change. Or at least starting a change. Good luck to you all.

Uhm....more like a Norma Rae or a Karen Silkwood, but I see your point.

Hello all. Just a quick note that I did remove a couple of comments for spamming. You'll probably be able to figure out which one it was, I left the ones that had answers to them and just removed the ones that were at the end of threads. Future note: still not censoring, but if you post the same thing over and over again, I will delete the redundant ones. That is all.

Why don't you guys just form a Union. If things get too bad you can all stand together and tell the EA etc. to take a hike for their ship date. It is difficult to take action against a whole team.

This would be the worse case, normally a Union would be constructive and help the company find a way to keep employees happy whilst seeking profit etc.

I have no idea about Union law in US, but I do know that a teamster can kick crap out of my computers when setting up a GDC and not worry about his job ;-)

Unions they are independant from any one person, personalities are not involved to the same extent, and everyone knows what agreements are in place. It doesn't mean you a red russian from the 60's, it just means you stand for a decent pay in return for work done, who can argue against that ?

Anyway best of luck to you,

Gamewatch.org is registered to Santiago Valencia, and has been since Feb of 2004. Mr. Valencia hails from Bogotá, Columbia.

So, does EA have a shop down Bogotá way? No? Exactly what do they do in Bogotá? Cocaine is the main industry, with a little Black Tar tossed in for fun.

Maybe EA-Spouse is not so worried that her "partner" remains employed is because they are in this country for purposes other than employment as a code monkey?

Could it be that EA-Spouse is Mrs. Valencia? And Mr. Valencia does a little import business on the side? What is the nature of your citizenship, EA-Spouse?

And, EA-Spouse, what is your relationship to RedFutura.net? You claim to be the poor wife of some over worked and under paid code monkey at EA, but your bonafides don't add up.

I agree. I think it's time ea_spouse came clean with a few more facts. Something isn't quite "kosher" here, things just don't add up. I work at EA, and have no such issues, I know of no one else who does, except a few ex-employees who have other issues. And like the other guy a few posts up, if any of this where true, the press would have grabbed this and spun it up. What have we seen? NOTHING!!!

You know, ea_spouse, there are other game shops out there.

http://bsfromts.blogspot.com

Have you ever phoned EA techserv after 5.30pm or at the weekend? If you think they will be there then you live a different world to us, one where 'there is no spoon'.

Anyway, whoever it is seems to be largely talking to themself which makes this blog way more interesting.

For Gamewatch.org an excellent way to verify the identity of people is to create a ChaosEngine account and ask people who have verified industry email addresses to send you a private message. Although I'm not affiliated with TCE, you could ask them to forward all your PMs via email for automatic processing. TCE is fairly stringent with its access. You can also be vetted by other TCE users (in case your employer tries to block email to TCE). The web site is http://www.thechaosengine.com

And another thing, are these people who are 'trash talking' us for posting on this blog for real?

I work at EA and these shameful work practices are indeed prevalent.

These imbeciles must be either be:

a) very naive employees who think they are actually helping EA by posting such puerile drivel here
b) fanboys (game industry wannabee who laps up anything we discuss in the public forum)

If they're ancillary staff and not on a game team then it is very possible they may not work any significant amount of overtime. They may even have their 'head in the sand' enough to not realise how much occurs because they're always out of the office by 5pm.

EA_Spouse, I applaud your courage.

First They Came for the Jews

First they came for the Jews
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists
and I did not speak out
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me
and there was no one left
to speak out for me.

Pastor Martin Niemöller

And just to save you some time, Paster Niemöller doesn't work for EA or in the game industry.

Two rules of social mechanics are in play here, I think:

1) People are afraid of change. When bad things are the norm, and someone stands up for change, you'd be surprised how many oppressed individuals will try to silence the rebellion.

2) People do not see movement in systems they are not a part of. Basically what that means is "If I'm not changing from X to Y, it must be stupid for others to move from X to Y." Kind of like one can see in the comics industry. With webcomics, there are MANY skeptics from older systems of syndication and abuse who think webcomics are silly, even though there are webcomic artists that are paid far better than traditional cartoonists ever have been. People argue about how nobody will ever be able to make a living by doing a webcomic, yet that is what many have already done and continue to do.

This change is no different. Wether the change will succeed, or if it will just be rolled over by the steamroller that real change is, nobody can say. Time will tell, and it ought to be fun to see. =c)