Hump wrote on Nov 4, 2012, 20:24:
By far one of the most riveting post-mortems I've ever read. A very sad tale and a scathing look at a business model that can't possibly sustain itself much longer.
The amazing thing is that while I have never been involved in game development in any way whatsoever, I can relate to almost every facet of gross mismanagement, incompetent leadership, egotistical crusades, unrealistic expectations, brutally unfair treatment, horribly long work weeks, and soul-crushing despair detailed in this most excellent and informative post mortem. These are not problems exclusive to game development; rather they are indicative of many of the everyday goings-on all throughout corporate America. I could write a very similar piece about the last two places I have worked - all I would have to do is change the names.
On the one hand this article is somewhat encouraging - it reads like a detailed list of how NOT to manage a project and a team that every person in a position of authority can read and learn from. On the other, it can be downright depressing because this is not the first time we've heard a horror story such as this, and most definitely won't be the last. Of all it's failings, the most egregious and destructive fault of corporate America is how it will never learn from these mistakes and will invariably continue to make them, ruining businesses and the lives of the employees in the process.
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”
- Mahatma Gandhi