Grumpy Gamer Writers' Strike

Writers' Strike

Nov 19, 2007 twenty five to five pm

You know what, I really don't care about the writer's strike. I could really care less, that is until my favorite TV shows go off the air, then I'll be like "Hey, the writers are on strike, everyone pay attention! Look what I discovered", then I'll go "Who cares if a bunch of whinny writers don't get royalties", but then I'll say "Yeah, but there is a lot of money being made, so why shouldn't the writers get some royalties", but then I'll go "Screw them, I've been making games for like 100 years and I've never got one dime in royalties", and then I'll go "Hey, maybe I should be making royalties off my games", and then I'll say "Damn, but that means we'd need unions and that would destroy the game business", but next I'd say "Maybe it wouldn't, maybe it might be best", and then I'd go "But those stupid Hollywood people would try and control our unions for their benefit", and then I'd probably go "Damn, why can't I make it though the Temple of the Ocean King in Phantom Hourglass, this is really starting to piss me off", because I really do have the attention span of ground beef.

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Actually, I've been talking for a while about creating unions for game developers. People, my peers developers laughed at me almost as powerfully as when I shit my pants in high school. (I didn't just say that).

I think it's the way to go. I Hollywood has it, then maybe we should.

If anyone has news about that writers' strike by the way, I'd like to know what's happening (I miss my Scrubs).

The thing I like about this strike is how lots of people are "Give the poor poor writers their money!" and "Yay! Showrunner X is paying his writers while they strike!" but no one seems to mind that the writers striking has put thousands of others out of work because the writers feel they are more important than the grips and camera men who only get paid once for doing their jobs instead of getting paid (much more) multiple times.

I believe authors should always get the bigger share, and the people who do (close to) nothing (cough*the executives*cough) always get too much.

Not the Daily Show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzRHlpEmr0w

The funny thing is that in USA the writers complaint.... while in the rest of the world the workers complaint.
Ok, the writers are workers too but I think that they must shut up... just compare what they earn to what other workers earn...

The funniest thing is that Americans do not understand that!
For them, money has the first place in their mind.

I've seen "sicko" recently... and I still can't understand how it is possible that nodoby does nothing to improve that dramatic situation.... no... they prefeer to strike because they do not get royalties from movies...
I really do not understand....

MMmmmm Ground beef....
wait, what were you talking about ?

I'm totally behind the writers.

"but no one seems to mind that the writers striking has put thousands of others out of work"

Alternatively, the studios have put the crews out of work by refusing to even put reasonable requests on the table. If the studios had it their way, they'd call every internet run "promotional" *even though they get paid for it*. They just wouldn't pay the people who made that content. Sweet deal for the studios, but I see no reason why the creative types should accept that.

Every strike has collateral damage. That is a shame. But we're all horrendously screwed if we never support a strike cause someone else will get screwed in the short term.

As for the Temple of the Ocean King, I highly recommend using the new items you get to take advantage of shortcuts.

The Temple of the Ocean King has some devious (and, frankly, tedious) bits that I would say is meh game design. However, there are also times in it, especially once you do start to find all the shortcuts, that you appreciate just how intricate a temple this is. And that's exactly what one has cmoe to expect from Zelda. Shame about the constant re-running (and the spiritdepriving towing of keys), but it's a downside to a pretty amazing temple experience you wouldn't have had otherwise. As long as it doesn't become impossible, I think the rewards will be worth it.

The frightening thing is that I had almost exactly that train of thought all the way up to the Phantom Hourglass reference (I just got a copy and haven't tried it yet) but my ambivalence about writers/unions/royalties/etc. is identical. I have a strong sense that unions were only possible to organize back when the studios were really victimizing the creative people - now that the game studios are only heavily oppressing us but not squeezing the last drop of blood out, it's still too easy to say "hey, I can make a living and work for someone else if I don't like my current company, and I get to have the fabulous, fun-filled life of a game developer, what do I need a union for?" The tiny number of writers who get immense amounts of money are a seductive pull, but big riches are a distant possibility, and union dues (and having to stop working during a strike!) are very real.

Yeah It's really a shame how things ended up the way they ummm.... they ummm...
the thing is... well... ummm..... what was the question again?

Well I've always been of the opinion that writers are the lifeblood of most forms of entertainment.

If a movie or TV show doesn't have a good script, it's not a good movie.

If a book doesn't have a good author, it's not a good book.

If a game doesn't have good writing, it's not a good game.

So therefore I support the strike. It's not just about added benefits for the writers, it's about the defense of the importance of writing. It's also a statement of the greed behind television industry, and it'll spark awareness that the execs are ripping the writers off.

The writers TRIED to make decent demands, but despite that they were refused by the greedy studio heads. They're weren't being heard, and so they needed to make themselves heard.

"If a game doesn't have good writing, it's not a good game. "

I don't agree with this statement, there are hundreds of games with poor or no writing in them that a fantastic.

I also support the writers.

The Monkey Island games are among my favorites to this day because of their good writing, as are the other Lucasarts games. Some others are Beneath a Steel Sky, the Broken Sword series, the Longest Journey, Psychonauts, Fahrenheit (aka Indigo Prophecy) and Telltale's Sam and Max series.

They tell great stories, they have great dialog, and most are extremely funny. That's all credited to the writers.

I see where you're coming from - games can be a lot of fun due to gameplay without great writing, BUT no other games have hit me on an intellectual and emotional level, because that requires good writing.

This i highly agree with on the other hand :) Great writing and well developed characters does go a long way to create a great game experience, in some cases. Games such as Adventure, Action Adventure, Role Playing and action (not all sub-genres) games can benefit from great writing.
But, on the other hand, Shooters (top-down ol'school fx.), racers, flying, and loads of other game genres can get killed by shoving in a story (even if it's good) that takes you away from the action.

Btw. i have played all those games you mentioned and loved them! :) (ok, not Psychonauts which is a mistake i know, getting it when old Xbox games are downloadable on the 360 :))

I bought Psychonauts full price soon after it came out to support Tim Shafer, so I wouldn't regret buying it instead of downloading it for free.

It's not for free, it's 15$... but yeah, i don't know why i never bought it, but it's impossible to find in any store (In Denmark atleast). So i'm looking forward to getting it from the 360 Live store :)

@Bobbin Threadbare:

If everyone thinks this way, no one in the world is going to improve their condition, neither Hollywood writers nor peasants in Africa. And don't worry, I'm sure many regular american "workers" have a lot to complain about.

The funniest thing is that Americans do not understand that! For them, money has the first place in their mind.

This is a racist generalization I'm afraid.

I've seen "sicko" recently... and I still can't understand how it is possible that nodoby does nothing to improve that dramatic situation.... no... they prefeer to strike because they do not get royalties from movies... I really do not understand....

Yes, because the US is only one person, a fat guy in shorts who happens to write scripts for TV.

And yet this many people fail to accomplish anything very significant anyways. I browse through our television networks, and I feel sick. Ellen's dog makes headlines, as does the fact that, OMG, ANGELINA AND BRAD AWE ANGWY. Let's nor argue, though, as we're on a GAMING forum, and Mr. Gilbert deserves better than us having a war on his blog. Sorry, Mr. Gilbert.

Moving on. (cough)

Ok, since I support almost every strike, I'll support this one too. Fair enough.

As you ARE a writer, I don't feel like such a monster giving you this link:

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=%22I+could+care+less%22+WRONG&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a

The second one is my favourite (and I've draw similiar graphs for people in the past....yes, it grates against me that much!)

That's bizarre... I'd never visited that site you mention (incompetech) in my life. But I found it a couple of days ago for some unrelated reason, and then I find it here again... have I gotten to the end of the internet and am I going to visit all the same sites again now, in reverse?

What?? You did not get royalties for your games??
Gosh! And I allways thowght that Ron was swimming in golden pieces of eight!
Those scurvy bosses at lucasrats got all the booty!
I'am a author too and I am solidary with the writers and really with you.
Those scurvy maggots!!!

I'll say this-you maybe can't complete the Ocean King temple in Phantom hourglass because the whole temple sucks and is just pure laziness to add something new to a game that needs nothing new. It spoils the game.

Then also you should have got royalties from your games, 'tisa great shame you didn't.

"I'am a author too and I am solidary with the writers and really with you.
Those scurvy maggots!!!"

Wonder what deAbreu is an "author" of?

What strike?

This is the equivalent to most people to a strike by the United Ant Workers of Phobos… Who cares?

Hollywood is the bane of America. This industry has been shoveling crap down our throats for too long... Their movies are crap, and their TV shows are just plain boring. If people did not have the Internet, this would be a big deal... But it's not.

Next up is the MPAA. Anyone turn on the radio lately? WTF!

The writers are going to end up just like the auto unions. Screwed, just like they should be. The unions take and take and take and finally society just says go take a flying...

Let's just get back to writing and appreciate what you have. If you writers don't then your jobs are going overseas. Just like the auto manufactures. Then we'll have a bunch of Indians writing our sitcoms which is perfectly fine with me!!!

Paying the writers more is not going to cause financial troubles for the big production companies. The truth is that there's such a big variation amongst film costs (one can cost between a few thousand dollars and a few hundred millions to produce) that increasing the cost of writing and a few extra royalties is really just a small rebalancing.

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Writers' Strike

Other people's comments:

Posted by Ninomojo on Nov 19, 2007 ten to six pm

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Posted by Ninomojo on Nov 19, 2007 five to ten pm

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Posted by Oded Sharon - Corbomite Games on Nov 20, 2007 quarter to one am

Posted by ArC on Nov 20, 2007 quarter past two am

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Posted by Jacob Brodersen on Nov 20, 2007 five past two pm

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Posted by Jacob Brodersen on Nov 21, 2007 eight am

Posted by Call me Squinky on Nov 21, 2007 twenty five past two pm

Posted by Jacob Brodersen on Nov 21, 2007 twenty five to three pm

Posted by Ninomojo on Nov 20, 2007 quarter past two pm

Posted by Kroms on Nov 20, 2007 ten to five pm

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Posted by Someone on Nov 21, 2007 ten past one pm

Posted by leo on Nov 21, 2007 twenty five to seven pm

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