Evil Genius Games vs. Netflix: Fight!

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Bunch said:
I'm confused then. Are you saying the employees signed a gag order when they joined/left the company?
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I really doubt anyone knows. Nobody has anything resembling information about what’s going on. Maybe they were threatened. Maybe they signed confidentiality agreements as part of their employment. Maybe they signed gag orders. Maybe they just think it’s not a good idea to shit talk their former employer openly when they left on bad terms.

All of these threads are really bereft of useful information.
 
Jetstream said:
Maybe they just think it’s not a good idea to shit talk their former employer openly when they left on bad terms.
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This is the only one that would not be kosher if they insinuated what they did without any tangible proof to that effect. And for as many to come at this obliquely in their statements I truly doubt it's the case.
 
It’s not uncommon these days for both parties to sign a non-disparagement agreement when parting ways.

This isn’t the same as a gag order and doesn’t prevent either party from stating something that is truthful. After all of a thing is true (and you can prove it) it’s not libel or slander.

It’s literally a way to say “we’ll have to agree to disagree” and let’s not shit-talk each other publicly about it after the fact.

The more lack of information that keeps coming out the more I’m inclined to think this was the case:

1. Somewhat ethical issue involving consumer data and web traffic was an issue.
2. Company’s course correction was not drastic enough to satisfy an employees opinion.
3. Heated argument ensued, employee decided this was the hill they were going to die on, even if it meant falling on their own sword while company refused to budge any further.
4. Employee and group loyal decide to resign.
5. All parties probably signed non-disparagement agreements. Which scared ex-employees enough to not spill the whole tea.
6. Employees publicly announce their resignation under “ethical” pretenses to disparage as much as possible without risking lawsuit.
7. CEO is playing damage control to match the soft disparagement as much as possible while also not risking lawsuit.


This is all pure speculation on my part, I have no inside info. But companies make mistakes all the time and employees disagree with what measures satisfy recompense for those mistakes all the time. And yes people often quit their jobs over it.
 
Just FYI, if you are leaving a company, try not to sign anything that isn't an obvious benefit to you. Don't sign a final evaluation, don't sign a non-disparagement, a description of your job duties, a contract to finish certain tasks before you do, a survey. Don't sign anything unless it's a big payday for you to do so. Whatever they tell you otherwise is probably a threat or a lie, and if you can document that, that can be an even bigger payday for you.
 
I don’t know anyone involved, so take my comments with that in mind. I am also GenX so I tend to be suspicious of a company. However, I second the earlier comments that “cannot ethically stay here” is a hot button phrase that can have very wide frames. I could see how a company could feel the need to defend against that.

Cannot ethically stay here could be because the person is a vegan and the boss has a meat buffet for the crew every Friday. Or it could mean the boss is bringing in hookers and blow for the crew weekly.or it could be the boss is a Trump supporter and I am not.

But just making the ethical comment is so damaging, if the company doesn’t try to manage, current culture drops it to the new Epstein venture project.
 
Nakana said:
It’s not uncommon these days for both parties to sign a non-disparagement agreement when parting ways.

This isn’t the same as a gag order and doesn’t prevent either party from stating something that is truthful. After all of a thing is true (and you can prove it) it’s not libel or slander.

It’s literally a way to say “we’ll have to agree to disagree” and let’s not shit-talk each other publicly about it after the fact.

The more lack of information that keeps coming out the more I’m inclined to think this was the case:

1. Somewhat ethical issue involving consumer data and web traffic was an issue.
2. Company’s course correction was not drastic enough to satisfy an employees opinion.
3. Heated argument ensued, employee decided this was the hill they were going to die on, even if it meant falling on their own sword while company refused to budge any further.
4. Employee and group loyal decide to resign.
5. All parties probably signed non-disparagement agreements. Which scared ex-employees enough to not spill the whole tea.
6. Employees publicly announce their resignation under “ethical” pretenses to disparage as much as possible without risking lawsuit.
7. CEO is playing damage control to match the soft disparagement as much as possible while also not risking lawsuit.


This is all pure speculation on my part, I have no inside info. But companies make mistakes all the time and employees disagree with what measures satisfy recompense for those mistakes all the time. And yes people often quit their jobs over it.
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If they are trying to avoid disparaging statements, accusing the owner of unspecified unethical behavior is a poor way to go about it.
 
Baulderstone said:
If they are trying to avoid disparaging statements, accusing the owner of unspecified unethical behavior is a poor way to go about it.
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I totally agree with you. But I can also see people thinking because they didn’t say anything specific they’re “safe”.
 
Dr Jack said:
They're not selling anything that makes their customers a commodity - or, at least, nothing in that source says they are.

I'm not sure what the distinction you're trying to draw between customer information and customer data is?
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I may, indeed, be splitting hairs.

In general, when I think of 'data' I think of data sets, repleat with specific personal information. Information can be simply tracking what kind of chips a white male in his 30's buys midweek at Walmart at around 6 pm. Data includes name, home address, and other overly specific data to dox some poor soul.

How does this tie in to market analytics? There are two methods of accruing information for analysis: internal & external.

Internal data analysis usually consists of tracking sales of your products and analysing what is appealing about a given product and trying to refine it.

External data analysis tracks the fiscal activity of your customers, tracking not just what they buy from you but also similar products in a given field. The most ethical gathering of this data is volunteered via polls, questionnaires, internal website tracking (using cookies on your site). More questionable methods use cookies to track interests and purchases across the web, across devices, without real consent.

Yeah, it's probably splitting hairs.
Dr Jack said:
The whole article sets my teeth on edge.
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I agree.
 
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The very first section on TapAds website states:

WE PROVIDE THE WORLD'S LEADING DIGITAL CROSS-DEVICE GRAPH
By creating not only the first, but the most robust global cross-device digital identity graph on the market, Tapad has partnered with brands to maximize their digital marketing investment for years to come. The Tapad Graph enables marketers to identify a brand customer or related household across multiple devices, unlocking key use cases across programmatic targeting, media measurement, attribution, and personalization globally.
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Tapad is a division of experian. So you can just imagine the data they have on people. Tapad has their tracking software injected on thousands upon thousands of websites. They are partnered with damn near everybody.

Even this site appears to use google analytics which means there is a decent chance that user data from this site is shared with Tapad. And they sell their data to anyone who will buy it. Now I’m certain there is no “PII” (personally identifiable information) collected on this site, but guess what…. They really don’t need it.

They get enough data points to extrapolate exactly who people are with incredible accuracy. That’s exactly what they mean when they say “graph”.

And Tapad is just one of a few dozen big companies that operate this way.

Point is, there is a LOT you simply can’t get away from.
 
Also it confirms that the reason for previous vagueness was lawfare. (I don't think Morrus misrepresenting his primary documentation is likely enough to worry about).
 
I had to ask Terry to explain some of these technological concepts to me, which he kindly did. He told me how the idea was that if you bought a special item in-game, that item would be represented by an NFT (non-fungible token) and would be unique; the sword you used to kill the dragon would forever be the specific sword used to kill that dragon–and you would be able to sell that specific item.
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Now imagine if there was The Hand That Was Cut Off Of Vecna, and you could own it...::honkhonk:
 
A hilarious detail in the article was when the idea was floated to use AI to illustrate over 700 items in an equipment supplement.

I know some people love their gun porn but that sounds like some kinda early-90s throwback thinking in terms of rpgs.

PS. Who are these people still trying to peddle NFTs? They were an obvious scam to begin with but I get that some suits are so out-of-touch or FOMO that they could fall for it at the beginning, but now??
 
He drained the coffers thinking a d20 Modern game was gonna sell like hotcakes. He didn’t need standees and window clings. It sounds ridiculous because it is. Even a big fan like me knows that’s not the reality for a small studio.

The HR stuff is a nightmare; if they actually had a department. The “whoring out” the female staff member “joke” is cringe-inducing.
 
Voros said:
A hilarious detail in the article was when the idea was floated to use AI to illustrate over 700 items in an equipment supplement.

I know some people love their gun porn but that sounds like some kinda early-90s throwback thinking in terms of rpgs.

PS. Who are these people still trying to peddle NFTs? They were an obvious scam to begin with but I get that some suits are so out-of-touch or FOMO that they could fall for it at the beginning, but now??
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Dude, I stopped saying "nobody's stupid enough" a couple of years ago, after discovering a certain "movement of like-minded individuals"...:shade:
 
Voros said:
A hilarious detail in the article was when the idea was floated to use AI to illustrate over 700 items in an equipment supplement.

I know some people love their gun porn but that sounds like some kinda early-90s throwback thinking in terms of rpgs.

PS. Who are these people still trying to peddle NFTs? They were an obvious scam to begin with but I get that some suits are so out-of-touch or FOMO that they could fall for it at the beginning, but now??
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There's been a movement for the past couple of years of failed online games being taken offline, and re-releasing months to a year later, but now powered by the blockchain with NFTs! I just read an article today about another online game planning to do just that. They quickly fail and shut back down again quickly. "But maybe this time will be different."
 
SoManyRats said:
The idea that someone would pay for an NFT of a sword that someone else's character used to slay a dragon just seems sad.
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It seems, because it is:thumbsup:.

But you and I both know that there are bound to be such people out there:shade:.
 
NFTs: can anyone provide a GOOD example of a use case for one? Maybe I missed something but these seem utterly stupid. Like the equivalent of me selling you the VIN to my car. You have no rights or ownership to the car itself, but that unique alphanumeric string of characters is all yours. Except I can also use it anytime I need without your permission. But you are in fact the owner of the VIN.

Blockchain: blockchain is actually fantastic when used for what it was intended. Sadly, because it became a corporate buzzword, a lot of people try to used it as a database. And it sort of works as one, but it’s like using the end of a ruler as a screwdriver.
 
If the things the interviewees are saying in the article are correct, that sounds an awful lot like many of the tech startup companies I worked for and encountered back during the dotcom days. Like most experienced tech workers of the time, I always went into those jobs knowing that the companies probably wouldn't last, and never buying into any promises about future compensation, perks, etc. The paychecks were the only things you could trust, and if a company ever missed a pay period, it was time to leave. I doubt that most of the employees of rpg companies go in with highly developed BS meters, unfortunately.
 
Endless Flight said:
They went months without getting paid, in some cases. He should have been giving them a paper with “IOU” written on it in crayon.
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I would have been out the door the first time. Once a company starts missing paychecks, it is almost always going to miss more, and eventually fail.

During my IT years, I used to always tell new-ish tech folks to ignore promises of stock options from startups. The percentage of companies that survived long enough for options to vest was really low, and the stocks were rarely worth much even if the company managed to stay in business that long. My mantra was always that if any form of compensation wasn't money that could go in the bank next month, it wasn't real. Some co-workers scoffed at that, but I never had to eat those words.

Ultimately, though, investor money in that quantity going into an rpg company should have been a red flag for everyone involved.
 
Voros said:
I can't imagine sticking around for a moment if they missed a pay period. I've ran a small non-profit and we never failed to make payroll. Not even close.
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Some of those "tech bro" types are pretty good at convincing inexperienced employees - and even investors who should know better - that things like that are little blips in the money flow, and big profits are coming soon. The whole dotcom bubble was built on startup "entrepreneurs" managing to talk people into irrational decisions. Some of them work(ed) really hard to play on the emotions of the employees. I worked for one company that had a CEO who could cry on command, and did so during meetings any time he had to talk about a new way the company was going to screw over the employees. I didn't stay there long, but he fooled a lot of people for a couple of years.
 
I'm going to be at GAMA Trade Show next month. Curious to see what kind of presence EGG has there, if they still show up.
 
Nakana said:
NFTs: can anyone provide a GOOD example of a use case for one?
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They're great for grifting fools into pumping the price of the Bitcoin you're washing your ill-gotten gains through. Since the real value of Bitcoin (and other crypto "currencies") is actually negative, you need a continuous supply of people putting money in or the value collapses.

Blockchain: blockchain is actually fantastic when used for what it was intended. Sadly, because it became a corporate buzzword, a lot of people try to used it as a database. And it sort of works as one, but it’s like using the end of a ruler as a screwdriver.
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I have yet to be convinced that there is anything that a blockchain is the best solution for. They can be usefully deployed for some things, sure, but there always seem to be better options available. What did you have in mind as a fantastic use?
 
Voros said:
I can't imagine sticking around for a moment if they missed a pay period. I've ran a small non-profit and we never failed to make payroll. Not even close.
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I did once but had good reason and knew I'd get paid. It was for a huge company and was a snafu when I switched from going through a consulting company to billing directly myself. There was a problem getting me listed as a vendor which took 2 months to get resolved. But even that was stressful
 
carpocratian said:
During my IT years, I used to always tell new-ish tech folks to ignore promises of stock options from startups. The percentage of companies that survived long enough for options to vest was really low, and the stocks were rarely worth much even if the company managed to stay in business that long. My mantra was always that if any form of compensation wasn't money that could go in the bank next month, it wasn't real. Some co-workers scoffed at that, but I never had to eat those words.
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I had one where I wish I'd stuck around. I was optioned at $2, $3, and $5.50 and they IPOd at $23. But even with that I started contracting at double my salary for a year before that windfall so I only missed out on $70k or so, so not huge... just hurt a bit.
 
Endless Flight said:
He drained the coffers thinking a d20 Modern game was gonna sell like hotcakes. He didn’t need standees and window clings. It sounds ridiculous because it is. Even a big fan like me knows that’s not the reality for a small studio.
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While in game stores, including my FLGS, Purple Fox, Everyday Heroes is only a Gold Seller on DriveThruRPG. Which is not a good sign given the amount of investment being cited in the article.

DriveThruRPG

www.drivethrurpg.com www.drivethrurpg.com

Going through their catalog, it appears to be a mix of electrum and silver sellers.
 
Nakana said:
NFTs: can anyone provide a GOOD example of a use case for one? Maybe I missed something but these seem utterly stupid. Like the equivalent of me selling you the VIN to my car. You have no rights or ownership to the car itself, but that unique alphanumeric string of characters is all yours. Except I can also use it anytime I need without your permission. But you are in fact the owner of the VIN.
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If you store a cryptographic hash of a digital image, it could be used in theory to provide digital proof of ownership of that image or any other digital file. But the problem we are like in the middle of the 15th and 16th century in regards to paper contracts. Something that is recognized as useful, but the lack of legal standards means its use is riddled with scams and fraud.

For example, you buy a PDF. Right now the only thing certain is the right to download that file at least once. And make backups for your personal use. In theory, you could give or sell that PDF to another person provided you erase all copies in your possession. Something like an NFT that is recognized legally could make second-hand sales of PDFs and other digital files easier by making it easier to show that, yes, you legitimately bought it and then later transferred or sold it to a second party.
 
All the web3 stuff aside, this business was bound to fail from the beginning. Hiring too many staff too soon, unrealistic sales goals, etc. But hey, why do things in a slow and sustainable manner when you can be fast and disruptive?

Honestly, he doesn't sound like the kind of guy who functions well in business outside of the startup world. I've seen it in my own industry too.
 
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