Former Valve dev rants on working at Valve

[patrickjp93]

Well for a big company like valve this is not right IMO. I remember they have this hand book on how great it is to work for valve but it look like crap tbh. From the amount of cash they get, they do be cheap. Valve gets it quite easy, if this was EA everyone would be going crazy right now lol

I know there a lot of gaben fans here but they make so much from CS:GO but there are ton of hackers still on (on the Europe side servers (don't know about other areas)) that they haven't bothered to seriously fix.

 

Its nice to see some decent comments from you guys. At least some people have senses and know valve is in the wrong.

I mean, it's one thing to have interns and junior developers in a bull pen for a year or two, but to have veterans and passionate people being subjected to this for so long is begging for Valve to go under. 

[Nit3Rid3R]

Looking at the office, no wonder they aren't making Half Life 3

[Toddwjp]

so its pretty much like any office. some of his reasons are a little stupid though

[patrickjp93]

so its pretty much like any office. some of his reasons are a little stupid though

Most offices are built in cubicles. Cubicles are superior to totally open chaos like this.

[twovaliant2]

Hmmm...pity this guy doesn't like his job, sounds like his previous jobs must have been better.

 

But lets be honest here.... not liking the "atmosphere" is his own short sightedness. Every company that you apply for shows you around the area that you will be working, all the way from blue collar jobs to "engineering"high end" jobs do this. I'm sorry, but there would be no way that he didn't get to see at least the general area where he would work.

 

Just my opinion....

[Xorbot]

 

 

As an engineer I can force myself to function in them, but only with large headphones on and a couple huge monitors to block visual noise. I do my best to mentally block out the constant audio/visual (and sometimes olfactory!) interruptions, but it's tough. It's not rocket science people: engineers cannot function at peak efficiency in Romper Room-like environments.

 

(I only read the OP and not the link in detail, so let me know if the following is the case.)

 

I can one-up you.  I had that entire experience just quoted, plus one more nasty thing.  There was an office dog.  Not a quiet dog, but rather a loud, snarly, and most annoyingly "barky" dog.  You think your "Romper Room" is loud?  Throw on a barking dog where the only way to stop the loudness is the direct owner yelling "<NAME>!" (redacted), in which the dog stops barking for approximately 10 seconds, then continues to bark again.

 

Oh, one more topper: fruit flies in your face in the summer, simply because the fridge was loaded with absolute crap with some items having an expiry date exceeding 2 years.  Needless to say, I quit this job after 6 months.

[monstercameron]

Still beats working at EA or Ubisoft.

I've read that ea has excellent work conditions.

[Yoinkerman]

Lol what a baby

[rafbanaan]

Lol what a baby

This comment tells more about you than him.

[Silent_Xaxal]

And yet their games tend to still suffer quality issues when they release.

 

Dev teams, directors, producers, and members of the publishing arm (Most guilty) are at fault here. Corporate culture, not so much (Though could still be an issue.).

 

Seeing as the thread only shows about 4-5 other devs in agreement, this doesn't sound like a majority opinion. And to be fair, I've seen Internet Cafes where conditions are far more cramped up. That said, improvement can and probably should be done, though, seeing as there isn't a traditional corporate structure in place, it'll be more challenging for the standard "File a complaint route" to work, seeing as Gaben is the only person known to have a leadership position, and even then, we hardly hear anything from him and whoever his "inner council" might be (The inner council thing being put in quotes because it's a personal theory of mine as to how "management" works in that company).

[Silent_Xaxal]

I've read that ea has excellent work conditions.

So they've improved since the scandal of the early 2000s?

[fringie]

, I thought Valve would be a lil like Google or something. I've only had one job as a Jr Software Dev and my work conditions were so much better (my first job so I'm sure my time was less valuable than the ex employee from the OP).. I think I should appreciate where I live more.

 

 

 

Holy shit, working at Valve is like working in any other office!?!?!?!?!?! what a surprise... 

 

This dude needs to get his head out of his ass and realize that even multi billionaire companies will do just about anything to cut costs. 

In the UK that work environment is illegal no jk. 

[IdortMasterRace]

It's work, you get paid to work not have a good time.

 

What an awful mentality.

[IdortMasterRace]

I still think Valve is just a wolf in sheep's clothing,   They've been around for so long and "GabeN" is so praised that any PC gamer will for give them for anything.

 

This. Even DARE criticise Valve or Gabe Newell, and all the PCMR plebs will jump on you.

 

I find it pretty disgusting how people praise and worship a business man as much as people do.

[The_Strict_Nein]

Valve has terrible offices but produces high quality stuff.

Ubisoft have excellent offices and produce utter shite.

Know which one I, the consumer, would rather

[Yoinkerman]

This comment tells more about you than him.

 

Oh you got me!   :rolleyes:

 

All I see is a laundry list of boo-hooing by someone who thinks he's awfully important because he's an "Engineer"

[XTankSlayerX]

This. Even DARE criticise Valve or Gabe Newell, and all the PCMR plebs will jump on you.

 

I find it pretty disgusting how people praise and worship a business man as much as people do.

Exactly. I hate Steam, it never works, and now its just a front for unfinished terrible games (Project Nimbus is cool though).people are all "hurdur so many broken games, Valve will never do"

Last time Valve released was 4 years ago, which was CS:GO that (apparently) should have been a update.

People have always judged EA and others for micro transactions, Valve being the worst offender by far imo.

[IdortMasterRace]

Valve but produces high quality stuff.

 

When? I remember when Valve used to actually make video games, instead of this shitty gimmicky stuff they do alongside sales (which have also gone down hill over the last couple of years).

 

Probably their last actually decent game was like, 2007/08? That's 6-7 years ago.

 

Know which one I, the consumer, would rather

 

Neither. I don't care how good/bad the content is, if the staff are mistreated then I won't give them the light of day.

[The_Strict_Nein]

I hate Steam, it never works

Lolk

[IdortMasterRace]

Exactly. I hate Steam, it never works, and now its just a front for unfinished terrible games (Project Nimbus is cool though).people are all "hurdur so many broken games, Valve will never do"

Last time Valve released was 4 years ago, which was CS:GO that (apparently) should have been a update.

People have always judged EA and others for micro transactions, Valve being the worst offender by far imo.

 

Yeah, I agree. I still am shocked that people defend Steam when it's just as intrusive DRM as Origin or Uplay. At least Origin or Uplay doesn't delete content from your games and remove the options for 1920x1080.

 

And yes, Valve are an incredibly bad offender for micro-transactions. That's why Counter Strike GO and Team Fortress are just awful nowadays.

[IdortMasterRace]

Lolk

 

Great argument!

[Kyuubixchidori]

the only office thats really great to work at is quicken loans IMO. my sister works there, coolest ever office to walk though. its not a game studio, but still relevent. 

 

lets put it this way, some guy came flying down the path on what appeared to be a z-board, just to be ambushed by other grown men that whipped out nerf guns from under their desk. was bad ass. 

 

I mean, any workplace that has a scratch and sniff sticker wall, a basketball court, and frequent nerf gun wars is a win in my book. 

[XTankSlayerX]

Yeah, I agree. I still am shocked that people defend Steam when it's just as intrusive DRM as Origin or Uplay. At least Origin or Uplay doesn't delete content from your games and remove the options for 1920x1080.

 

And yes, Valve are an incredibly bad offender for micro-transactions. That's why Counter Strike GO and Team Fortress are just awful nowadays.

True, also if Valve understood what a "add to cart" button and made it a standard for could saves on all games i could probably finish more games... Loosing stuff is something I have never had happen on Origin.

[IdortMasterRace]

[frostin1990]

Really???This rant sounds like it was written by some pampered teenage girl.