Blizzard Q&A With Leadership about Return to Office, WoW Hotfixes - February 17, 2023

[Nzx]

It's telling that if you go over to the Game Developer link and read the whole thing you'll see a small bit that talks about Blizzard management (not Activision in this case) being rather hard-nosed about stuff like this. Kotick deserves some responsibility for how things are there but far too many people are willing to dump the whole thing on Kotick and give Blizzard's management a pass. That's always been a mistake.

Blizzard management does and has always done what's good for the business. Players always come in, at the very best, in second place. I'm not surprised that Ybarra considers customer service and QA as dead-end departments essentially for entry level employees that should be moved out of as soon as possible, the implication being that if you're happy in one of those positions you're not what Blizzard is looking for.

It shows too on the customer side in the constantly degraded customer service experienced over the last dozen years and their approach to launch quality as beta level customer-driven QA. I'm not saying the game should be perfect but it's pretty clear that they now plan for lots of bugs and construct their teams significantly around triage. That's a corporate culture failure to respect and prioritize customer quality. QA after all is Quality Assurance. If you don't give a shit about your QA department then that says something about your product and how you view your customers.

You're massively overestimating the value of "QA" as something a company needs. Ultimately, QA exists to catch fuckups by people who should've done better in the first place. The difference between QA on a vehicle manufacturing line and QA on a video game is that no one dies when there's a bug in your entertainment product. therefore it makes more sense to reduce the size of your internal QA team as much as possible, pay them what their skills are worth (not a lot, because they're entry-level skills), and use the savings to hire more people who can fix the fuckups before they happen.

There are so many people in this thread pretending that everyone in an entry-level job is a perfect little hardworking human being who logs on at 8am and works til 5pm and spends the entire team doing exactly what they're supposed to do, and that's ostrich head-in-sand level absurd. It's not at all unreasonable to expect to see your team in the office three days a week. Banning WFH entirely is dumb, sure, but two days a week from home is fine and pearl clutching to the extent this thread and others are doing is hilarious.

Employee meetings such as this and extensive articles about the internal goings-on at Blizzard have always been and will always be news here.

Cool. Maybe present it as news then, instead of this heavy editorial slant that's been put on every post about this where one mad employee posts a LiveJournal online with 500 whole likes in which they presume to speak for an entire team of people and declare that 40% WFH is "banning" WFH and will result in people quitting.

[Zmagoslav]

CS and QA are entry-level jobs, more news at 11.

[Biomega]

CS and QA are entry-level jobs, more news at 11.

That's not the same statement as "they're not long-term disciplines", though. In fact, it's counterproductive to suggest that no one wants to stay in CS or QA longer than they have to because having experienced people is how things improve - not just on the level of the specific position, but on a systemic level as well. It's the people who've been doing shit for 10 years that come up with better ways of doing shit; rarely is it the person who just got into it 4 months ago and will be gone in 4 months more.

Both CS and QA are immensely important to the making of a good product, and it's just plain stupid to implicitly belittle them as something that just needs to be done until you can find something better to do. Not everyone wants to be a manager or executive. Not everyone SHOULD be a manager or executive. But it's the typically US "we're all millionaires waiting to happen" mindset that they seem to think is essential to motivating people, as if you couldn't do good work in a position unless you visualize yourself as using that position purely as a stepping stone to a better one. That breeds disloyalty, short-term-goal-oriented thinking, and perverse incentives.

[kranur]

You never would have survived when I grew up. There was no such thing as WFH. ANd a lot of people who do WFH aren't doing there job. How dare companies makes sure people sre doing what they are paid to do. Ho dare they want to trying to revive their offices.

You can still make sure people do their job or fire them. Just because there wasn't WFH in antiquity it doesn't mean that it should stay like that. Why don't you throw away your mobile phone, and give up paying online for things? You sure as hell didn't have those while growing up.
Like I said, my company has always had WFH, currently not even 10% work from the office and yet everything is as smooth and get done on time and well.
Your mentality is exactly why it's hard for some to be efficient ... refusal to change and improve.

[kamuimac]

That's not the same statement as "they're not long-term disciplines", though. In fact, it's counterproductive to suggest that no one wants to stay in CS or QA longer than they have to because having experienced people is how things improve - not just on the level of the specific position, but on a systemic level as well. It's the people who've been doing shit for 10 years that come up with better ways of doing shit; rarely is it the person who just got into it 4 months ago and will be gone in 4 months more.

Both CS and QA are immensely important to the making of a good product, and it's just plain stupid to implicitly belittle them as something that just needs to be done until you can find something better to do. Not everyone wants to be a manager or executive. Not everyone SHOULD be a manager or executive. But it's the typically US "we're all millionaires waiting to happen" mindset that they seem to think is essential to motivating people, as if you couldn't do good work in a position unless you visualize yourself as using that position purely as a stepping stone to a better one. That breeds disloyalty, short-term-goal-oriented thinking, and perverse incentives.

nah . those are garbage entry level jobs that nobody wants to do for longer. unless you get promoted to like team leade/ manager in that department.

if you claim otherwise its because you have no clue how those jobs look like ony imagine how they can look like.

all entry level jobs in corporations are absolutely thankless menial jobs that nobody wants to do - but someone has to - thats why treat them as "sieve" - good employees change departemtns / get promoted rest leaves/ get fired.

ccorporations are also very ruthelss with this - if you didnt make it to team leader in like first 5 years and manager/head in 10 you will never make a carrier in corporate world - you will forever be this "corporate drone " maybe with senior specialist position but you will be worked squeezed and fired by the time you hit like 40-45 because you will be marked as "burned out and old "

they just try to be smart here and dont get the same backlash other corporations get now for firing thousands of eomployees who soon would be replaced by AI anyway .

[Al Gorefiend]

Man you guys (and a lot others here) really love the idea of slaving away for 8 hours a day, 5 days out of 7 a week, for 40 years straight in your life huh? And when you're finally done and you have no strength left you're just waiting to die. What a dream huh? The perfect life.

And no, I don't give a shit that "this is the norm". The only way to change the norm is to fight against it. It's been 150 years too long. The rise of the industrial era made humans brainwashed and now we're at a point where people love the fact that they can't even live their lives, and that they only get a few hours a day to actually live, even if it's a few hours of them being tired as fuck.

Can't wait for AI to finally start taking jobs so people can be free. UBI can't come too soon.

Nobody likes to work the same way nobody likes to pay taxes, mow their lawn, attend funerals, get vaccinated, wait in line.

Being a citizen means doing your duty, you're free to live off the land and grow food and whatever it is you think you'll do to survive without working, but don't expect your house to be built for you, electricity ran to you or potable water nearby, all those things require the labor of people who do a job instead of bitching their soul hurts.

[Zulggun]

ACtually, I do. Nobody complained about it on forums or anywhere on the internet. It's only now that people are whinning and calling have to commute to work anti-worker. You can tell all those who complain are under 30 because they never would have survived when I grew up. This generation has become soft, lazy, coddled, and entitled.

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Apparently not. It's hilarious how they think they can accept a job then do whatever the hell they want and that th empployer cannot tell them how things are going to go. Ridiculous.

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You never would have survived when I grew up. There was no such thing as WFH. ANd a lot of people who do WFH aren't doing there job. How dare companies makes sure people sre doing what they are paid to do. Ho dare they want to trying to revive their offices.

Lol, what a boomer take. It's like there is something new discovered and ppl find it better than previous thing. Simply unbelievable, why dont we still ride horses? No one complained about them before!!

[Utrrabbit]

Ybarra is a sellout shill, we saw that when there were 2 co-leaders and he got paid more because he was a male compared to his counterpart who got paid less because she was a female for the EXACT SAME ROLE. He can say "I wanted equal pay" but he certainly didn't fight for equal pay.

Ybarra LITERALLY told them to pay her the same as him. He wrote them demanding she was paid the same as her. If you actually looked into it you would know that her contract was changing for her to be paid 100% the same as him. She even posted about this and said Ybarra was behind her the entire time. Try not to speak when you know so little.

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"Executives aren't making as much as you think" has to be one of the funniest random things I think I've heard someone say.

I mean it is true if you look at hourly wages and how much they work.

I technically make nearly 8/h more than my boss, but his paychecks are higher; why?

He is salery and has a set paycheck. He also works 45-55hrs a week which is almost 20hrs a week more than me.

Most people in higher positions do not make more per hour, they just work more.

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Man you guys (and a lot others here) really love the idea of slaving away for 8 hours a day, 5 days out of 7 a week, for 40 years straight in your life huh? And when you're finally done and you have no strength left you're just waiting to die. What a dream huh? The perfect life.

And no, I don't give a shit that "this is the norm". The only way to change the norm is to fight against it. It's been 150 years too long. The rise of the industrial era made humans brainwashed and now we're at a point where people love the fact that they can't even live their lives, and that they only get a few hours a day to actually live, even if it's a few hours of them being tired as fuck.

Can't wait for AI to finally start taking jobs so people can be free. UBI can't come too soon.

LMAO I can not believe someone actually wrote this drivel.

[rrayy]

Lol, what a boomer take. It's like there is something new discovered and ppl find it better than previous thing. Simply unbelievable, why dont we still ride horses? No one complained about them before!!

What an irrelevant strawman.

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You can still make sure people do their job or fire them. Just because there wasn't WFH in antiquity it doesn't mean that it should stay like that. Why don't you throw away your mobile phone, and give up paying online for things? You sure as hell didn't have those while growing up.
Like I said, my company has always had WFH, currently not even 10% work from the office and yet everything is as smooth and get done on time and well.
Your mentality is exactly why it's hard for some to be efficient ... refusal to change and improve.

You missed the point entirely. NOBODY had a problem with commuting to work before the pandemic, not it is all of a suden "anti worker"? That ia a textbook definition of being lazy and entitled. You give an inch and this generation takes a mile.

[Laqweeta]

We are finally in the endgame. I give the WoW studio 5 more years tops. Especially if the Microsoft acquisition flops. Finding a reason to subscribe is already hard enough as is with all the lack of polish and questionable game designs.
Adding maltreated employees to the mix just makes it that much harder. Back to consoles for me.

Oh yeah I totally agree. For those not on board with thinking how shitty of a company Blizzard is, I think this has now done it - It's now shown them how atrocious Blizzard really is. And yeah, I mean, 2 expansions in a row of lies, questionable design choices etc - people are fed up, it's why DF didn't get an announcement for highest sold copies, people are over it.

[Osmeric]

Oh yeah I totally agree. For those not on board with thinking how shitty of a company Blizzard is, I think this has now done it - It's now shown them how atrocious Blizzard really is. And yeah, I mean, 2 expansions in a row of lies, questionable design choices etc - people are fed up, it's why DF didn't get an announcement for highest sold copies, people are over it.

I found myself in the position of having made decisions about leaving based solely on game design issues. It makes me feel detached when this sort of thing happens (or when the Cosby Suite/etc. stuff came out.) At least I wasn't put into a position of having to boycott anything.

[LionSinMaikeru]

What an irrelevant strawman.

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You missed the point entirely. NOBODY had a problem with commuting to work before the pandemic, not it is all of a suden "anti worker"? That ia a textbook definition of being lazy and entitled. You give an inch and this generation takes a mile.

1. Bullcrap. Plenty of people I know had a problem with commuting, especially in fields where actually going to a specific place is redundant / unnecessary. Like if you're someone who is in marketing or a in a field where you're simply writing up documents and answering emails, you don't need to be at a designated location. My sister's boss actually realized he was saving money by having people work from home and sold the physical location. It's entirely online now.

2. Also let's say you *were* correct and nobody had an issue before the pandemic. Which you're not - but let's pretend you are. It would still make sense that people would change their mind based on new experiences. If they're getting work done from home and not having to deal with extra bullcrap, then why not?

Work doesn't have to be miserable.

[Xilurm]

Nobody likes to work the same way nobody likes to pay taxes, mow their lawn, attend funerals, get vaccinated, wait in line.

Being a citizen means doing your duty, you're free to live off the land and grow food and whatever it is you think you'll do to survive without working, but don't expect your house to be built for you, electricity ran to you or potable water nearby, all those things require the labor of people who do a job instead of bitching their soul hurts.

Wait in line for what? We aren't allowed to point how shit the system is now? Did I offend your capitalist gods or something? Sorry if I did, I guess.

LMAO I can not believe someone actually wrote this drivel.

Congrats on your stockholm syndrome.

[Lurker1]

Man you guys (and a lot others here) really love the idea of slaving away for 8 hours a day, 5 days out of 7 a week, for 40 years straight in your life huh? And when you're finally done and you have no strength left you're just waiting to die. What a dream huh? The perfect life.

And no, I don't give a shit that "this is the norm". The only way to change the norm is to fight against it. It's been 150 years too long. The rise of the industrial era made humans brainwashed and now we're at a point where people love the fact that they can't even live their lives, and that they only get a few hours a day to actually live, even if it's a few hours of them being tired as fuck.

Can't wait for AI to finally start taking jobs so people can be free. UBI can't come too soon.

100% well said im enjoying my life now not later lol.

[LionSinMaikeru]

Your opinion , not fact. Also, very insulting. The fact that you assume those opf us back in the day commuted to work sat there with strangers is purely being naive. I know everyone I work with and we have great rapport. And you aren't more productive at home because you are far more erasily distracted by the outside world.

Actually not an opinion - fact.

Several studies have been done that show across the board workers who can work from home are more productive, less stressed, and more enthusiastic about their jobs. A study done by Standford showcased that working from home increased productivity by 13% because there were less call outs and forced breaks. ConnectSolutions showed that 77% of workers who worked remote had increased productivity and 30% did more work in less time.

Forbes also reported in 2022 that if an employee was productive at work, they'll be productive at home - the ability to be remote not harm their productivity, though there was at least a 5% increase in productivity regardless. Owl Labs study indicated a 22% increase in happiness when workers were allowed to work from home. Happiness / morale is huge for productivity.

Just because *you* are more easily distracted at home or prefer a physical location doesn't mean everyone does or that it's good for everyone.

[Chapel]

Man you guys (and a lot others here) really love the idea of slaving away for 8 hours a day, 5 days out of 7 a week, for 40 years straight in your life huh? And when you're finally done and you have no strength left you're just waiting to die. What a dream huh? The perfect life.

And no, I don't give a shit that "this is the norm". The only way to change the norm is to fight against it. It's been 150 years too long. The rise of the industrial era made humans brainwashed and now we're at a point where people love the fact that they can't even live their lives, and that they only get a few hours a day to actually live, even if it's a few hours of them being tired as fuck.

Can't wait for AI to finally start taking jobs so people can be free. UBI can't come too soon.

Man, some children compare going to work, to do your job, for exceptional pay, in the massively popular gaming environment, with still massive bonuses (above and beyond your average $40/hr pay) even at a reduction this year, as slavery. The current youth (and immature adults) are pathetically sad.

Heaven forbid your boss is making you come back into the office half of the week so you can actually interact with your co-workers.

I know that means you have to put pants on and not watch HornPub on your other monitor while you work those days...

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Actually not an opinion - fact.

Several studies have been done that show across the board workers who can work from home are more productive, less stressed, and more enthusiastic about their jobs. A study done by Standford showcased that working from home increased productivity by 13% because there were less call outs and forced breaks. ConnectSolutions showed that 77% of workers who worked remote had increased productivity and 30% did more work in less time.

Forbes also reported in 2022 that if an employee was productive at work, they'll be productive at home - the ability to be remote not harm their productivity, though there was at least a 5% increase in productivity regardless. Owl Labs study indicated a 22% increase in happiness when workers were allowed to work from home. Happiness / morale is huge for productivity.

Just because *you* are more easily distracted at home or prefer a physical location doesn't mean everyone does or that it's good for everyone.

Those studies aren't comparable across all businesses. Game developing is natively a group dynamic. Yes, you can do a portion solo, but the majority, a la '3 days a week' you need to interact directly with your fellow devs.

That is all the reason a company needs to have policies to get their employees back to work in an office environment.

This is just a continuation of the youth work ethic that was destroyed by the left and exacerbated by the coof policies that elevated working separately.

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100% well said im enjoying my life now not later lol.

How are you 'enjoying your life now not later'?

Are you not putting in a focused 8/hrs a day?

Are you half-assing 16 hour days and taking half of each week off?

That doesn't actually sound productive at all.

It does sound like you are 'enjoying life' at the expense of your company without earning it.

[rrayy]

Man you guys (and a lot others here) really love the idea of slaving away for 8 hours a day, 5 days out of 7 a week, for 40 years straight in your life huh? And when you're finally done and you have no strength left you're just waiting to die. What a dream huh? The perfect life.

And no, I don't give a shit that "this is the norm". The only way to change the norm is to fight against it. It's been 150 years too long. The rise of the industrial era made humans brainwashed and now we're at a point where people love the fact that they can't even live their lives, and that they only get a few hours a day to actually live, even if it's a few hours of them being tired as fuck.

Can't wait for AI to finally start taking jobs so people can be free. UBI can't come too soon.

Boy you really love to push this false narratibve of "we love to slave away". Tha is pure nosensen. hard work does not = slaving away. ALl of yoru ignorant assumptions here mnake me wonder what point you are trying to make? It has to be trolling at this point. I can live my life just fine. I have plenty of free time to relax and "live my life". The fact that you think one can't live his life because one works 40 hours a week is beyond absurd..

ANd then you literally want it so you never have to work. And you then try to claim you are not lazy? Says it all really.

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100% well said im enjoying my life now not later lol.

HTat was not well said at all. I enjoy my life now despite working 40 hours a week. You are agreeing with ignorant assumptions.

[TheRevenantHero]

Boy you really love to push this false narratibve of "we love to slave away". Tha is pure nosensen. hard work does not = slaving away. ALl of yoru ignorant assumptions here mnake me wonder what point you are trying to make? It has to be trolling at this point. I can live my life just fine. I have plenty of free time to relax and "live my life". The fact that you think one can't live his life because one works 40 hours a week is beyond absurd..

ANd then you literally want it so you never have to work. And you then try to claim you are not lazy? Says it all really.

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HTat was not well said at all. I enjoy my life now despite working 40 hours a week. You are agreeing with ignorant assumptions.

Every single statement you've made have been the most ignorant comments in this thread so calling other people ignorant is laughable. The fact that you think working from home isn't actually working just further proves how ignorant you are on this topic.

[Utrrabbit]

Wait in line for what? We aren't allowed to point how shit the system is now? Did I offend your capitalist gods or something? Sorry if I did, I guess.



Congrats on your stockholm syndrome.

What are you talking about. Literally everything you wrote read like it was coming from someone who has never done any actual work and has beem handed everything to them. You sound spoiled and entitled.

Your post reads of someone who has no clue of the real world and will get a dose of reality when they do.

[Xilurm]

What are you talking about. Literally everything you wrote read like it was coming from someone who has never done any actual work and has beem handed everything to them. You sound spoiled and entitled.

Your post reads of someone who has no clue of the real world and will get a dose of reality when they do.

I'm a nurse, and I've worked in Emergency. One doesn't need to be working construction to experience the "hard reality" of working jobs. Give me a break.

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Boy you really love to push this false narratibve of "we love to slave away". Tha is pure nosensen. hard work does not = slaving away. ALl of yoru ignorant assumptions here mnake me wonder what point you are trying to make? It has to be trolling at this point. I can live my life just fine. I have plenty of free time to relax and "live my life". The fact that you think one can't live his life because one works 40 hours a week is beyond absurd..

ANd then you literally want it so you never have to work. And you then try to claim you are not lazy? Says it all really.

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HTat was not well said at all. I enjoy my life now despite working 40 hours a week. You are agreeing with ignorant assumptions.

Is it false narrative when people are forced to work in order to survive? It's not a choice for the majority of people. Good for you that you can live your life. You sound like one of those people who think those protesting against 12 hour work days are just lazy bums.