#Writer layoffs

[prettychillbrainfreeze]

Omg the tweet may actually be real. . .

If this is incorrect though pls tell me, I do not wanna be spreading around false information

Sources:

Sorry to everyone who’s enjoyed the last 130 years of science and culture journalism, but Disney needs the money to fund Toy Story 9

[cawsket]

Really feeling the same pain as when httyd3 came out right now. They should invent a finale to my favourite things that are good

[sirotras]

ok now that ive actually finished veilguard

i rly did love it!! and also hate parts of it unfortunately :/

the environments are gorgeous, they did an excellent job balancing story and exploration. the gameplay is so fun, i was worried about the combat changes but its great! (i still wish the player character had access to more abilities at once but w/e), the music was great

the downside comes from the writing. it just feels so... shallow? there's so much material in the areas and topics of the game, but they didnt engage with that, and it makes the world feel watered down, or glossed over. its like the game is avoiding dealing with any subject thats too complicated or messy.

it makes me feel like none of what we saw was fully covered! what do you mean the game is over, we havent really dug into this! which sucks bc i doubt they'll be retreading any of this territory in future games :c

the antagonists, aside from solas, were also by and large, really flat. again this feels like its another symptom of not really engaging with the material in a meaningful way

but actually what really gets me is ending that post credits stinger (which... no comment.) with "the veilguard remains vigilant" as IF we're gonna see these character in a major part again!! dragon age doesnt do returning protagonists even when it might actually make more narrative sense

[imonthemoonitsmadeofcheese]

Seeking works by former and current D2 writers...

The thing I have always loved most about Destiny 2 is the writing.

Multiple writers have lost their jobs today as a result of the most recent layoffs from Bungie.

The thing about collaborative creative work is that, so often, people contribute to things but no one knows their names.

I know little of the individual people who have caused so much beauty to exist within the writing of D2. Of the names I know, I do not know if they publish under pseudonyms or write outside of games at all.

They made something I love. And now the thing they worked on so hard and for so long has been ripped away from them.

If anyone knows of works published by D2 writers, current and past, I would greatly appreciate being linked to them, given the titles of their creations, what names the writers publish under, etc. I am interested in what other games they've worked on but I am far more interested in standalone works they may have created themselves, outside of an industry that has chewed them up and spit them out as though they were nothing.

They are not nothing. They are humans who have made beautiful things which have spoken to me and inspired me. And I love them for it.

I would like to buy their books, purchase anthologies they are in, bookmark their websites and follow their work elsewhere. They helped to make a thing I love. It is likely I will love other things they do.

Please help me make a list, so that those who made and continue to make this thing we love can be supported and appreciated even after they are no longer working on it.

There is not enough love in the world. Those who tell stories we love are to be cherished, not tossed away like garbage.

Help me find them. I want to read their words.

[proffbon]

At the end of the day, I think my feelings towards Illario are similar to what I feel regarding Viconia and Sarevok in BG3.

These are incredibly complex characters who had such a potential behind them only to get turned into 2-dimensional mustache-twirling villains for you to hate and ridicule.

But unlike for Viconia and Sarevok, what adds insult to injury in Illario's case is that while I can squint really hard and pretend that Viconia and Sarevok are just completely new character who are just villain fodder for you to fight, I can't do the same to Illario because you can't even kill that fucker in the end because, I don't know, you're supposed to share Lucanis' sympathies regarding his fucked family? But nothing in the game is set up to make you feel that way, so the only way to get those feelings is by knowing Illario from The Wigmaker Job, but if you read it you can't pretend he's AAAAGH

Anyway, my king Illario got robbed.

[seireiteihellbutterfly]

Update

Kind of finding my groove again...working on a teen! Suguru fic and the fluffiness of it is kind of bringing me out of my slump.

So things have finally been settled regarding the layoff and they have an actual date now about when it's happening.

I think I might take it easy and enjoy the summer for a bit before job hunting again. I spoke to some of my more senior colleagues who said taking a month or two in between after a layoff isn't uncommon and that it might be a good way to really filter through my options instead of rushing into something without full consideration. And I'll admit, some of the companies that are hiring right now are cutting perks down to the bone. My husband's job and health benefits should tide us over until then.

When I was just starting a few years ago, I might've been eager to jump onto the first thing that was offered but now that I've worked in the industry, I can honestly say, about 80% of the places hiring shouldn't be. They barely meet the minimal labor laws set in my state and I refuse to work somewhere that doesn't honor work-life balance.

I've been fortunate that my current place was actually a really good work experience. They never made you feel like a victim for needing time off or being sick. They didn't care what time you came in as long you filled your 8 hours of work. It was a very hands-off environment for the most part. I'm hoping something similar will pop up in the near future.

I'm trying to look for silver linings. I can spend more time with my family, I'm definitely spoiling our dog a lot more with attention and being able to go on long walks with him without worrying about work had been kind of nice. Been cooking more healthy meals at home, working out...it's kind of like life decided I needed a break. At least that's how I'm trying to see it. My chinchilla who's been with me for 8 years is certainly relieved to see me around (she's a bit of a mama's girl and I love her dearly even though she's getting grumpy with age.)

So yeah. Here's to a summer break I didn't know I needed. And to better things.

Pet tax! Smoky the chinchilla and Alfie the goldendoodle.

[odessastone]

I started this blog not even a year and a half ago, and it's wild how I used to regularly have a queue 100+ posts long just by browsing the main Overwatch tag and queueing up all the art and funnies I liked. Nowadays my queue typically has <5 posts if it has any. The amount of art and other quality content in the OW tag has dwindled so much in a relatively short period of time.

I liked the size the fandom was around OW2's launch, small but active, with just enough new people joining to keep it alive without swarming it. Now the fanbase truly feels like it's on life support. What corporate greed did to this game hurts me in a personal way, mainly because it didn't have to be like this. It was such an unnecessary slaughter of a good series.

[soapdispensersalesman]

[sedlex]

Rooster Teeth Shut Down by Warner Bros. Discovery

Alright, time for Crunchyroll to snatch those RWBY rights and make a good V10.

[baejax-the-great]

BioWare layoffs occurred after all writing was done so I don’t think it’s that… I think this game is their Hail Mary so they tried to make it palatable for a wide audience which kind of backfires for its old audience.

I mean do you really think it's going to appeal to a wide audience?

Flat characters, boring dialogue and a nonsensical premise work for marvel movies, I guess

[carriedreamerxx]

There is but one good thing about a corporate layoff.

There was no guilt involved on my end and I now have time to focus on - ha, fixing my mental health from the last eighteen months that has been in different states of tatters and frantically stitched patches and its a whole quilt at this point honestly.

Is it normal to be genuinely "relieved" about this? Probably not but I digress that is my mood.

Sometimes you just want to write an AU and release it to the wilds to get that frustrated gnawing at the bars plot bunny to leave you the heck alone but I digress that's author life.

How many pieces and chapters will emerge from this interlude? Haaaa.. ha to be determined I guess 😅

[cantstayawaycani]

*personal

[rahabs]

I feel like I’m going to be fifty by the time I get TES6 or DA4, honestly.

[thighlerseguin]

As if coverage of the Stars wasn't already lagging behind bigger markets, Defending Big D will no longer be funded by its parent company Vox Media.

The Stars are already out of a beat writer now that Matt DeFranks left the Dallas Morning News (they are currently hiring, though). Saad Yousuf appears to be the only full-time Dallas Stars beat writer we've got.

[panahedvn]

It's because of bad writing. It's all because of bad writing.

A good story in a continuing franchise will be crafted in a way that expands the existing lore and adds to it. Because they didn't have... I don't wanna say the skill, but definitely the organization and time to actually do that, they needed to retcon, chop up and glue together the preexisting lore to make the stories they cobbled together even remotely make sense.

I can see why it happened but it was an objectively horrible lot of decisions on EA/Bioware's part that led to this. They really shot themselves in the foot.

i think my main issue with veilguard is that there’s absolutely nothing redeemable about what they did with the lore. i can’t find a thing that i like about it because it was absolutely destroyed in every direction. they went scorched earth on the entire series. i do not understand why.

[cursedbanalities]

There’s nothing more soul crushing than knowing that there’s nothing you can do (legally) to fix things.