Temporaries ... As well postpone start for consoles. No one needs them on the paycheck.

No matter what industry, welcome to reality in a workers world ...

Evergnar wrote: »

So let me get this straight:
Zos plans ahead and trains a bunch of temp people for initial release just in case they get swamped or are needed. They then aren't needed, for whatever reason, and are let go. A bunch of scrub, temp jobs mind you.

Yes and no. Your post (like many others here) is interpreting this news out of context – and many are using this news to spell doom and gloom for the game, or justify their renewed calls for the game to go free-to-play (or buy-to-play as TSW has shown that’s also a viable option) all of which is completely unjustified (for now). Let’s use what *other* information we know and look at this news development another reasonable way:

1) These were temporary contractors – not full-time employees. Temporary resources are just that – temporary – and there is no guarantee for continued work unless the contract was written duration-specific (which most contracts for contingent labor usually aren’t).

2) It’s likely these contractors were brought on board to provide customer support for the console versions of ESO due to launch in June 2014 (in addition to possibly bridging customer service needs for the PC platforms). Now that the console version has been postponed for several months, there’s no need for these types of contractors at this time (but that’s not to say these contract positions won’t open up again in future when the console version is ready to go live). Hence why those spots were cut now; but could still come back at a later date when absolutely needed.

3) Cutting temporary contract/customer support spots is not the same as cutting permanent staff positions on the development team. If/when we hear that dev team positions have been cut, then you’ll have reason to cry doom (or “go f2p now!”) however Zenimax is not like most other gaming companies. They aren’t likely to rush to judgment on certain issues due to player base pressure (whether the issue is staffing changes, future content development options, or soliciting feedback with regards to improving player retention). Player feedback is welcome – but it’s most definitely not the driving force behind the company’s business model for any game they make (whether single-player or multi-player).

4) The latest “Road Ahead” letter makes the mistake of saying “ESO is a living, evolving game, and it will continue to be one as long as you, our community, continue to support it.” That is a very interesting statement to make – and can be incorrectly interpreted as either a plea for players to stay subscribed and show their support and/or a warning to stay subscribed or else the development flow of new content may change dramatically. In fact, it’s a very humbling and appreciative statement – everyone at Zenimax knows what’s at risk if the game underperforms and they’re showing their heartfelt appreciation for the playerbase who’ve come this far with the new IP by offering up a “without you, ESO wouldn’t exist” show of support for the fans – which is absolutely the right thing to do.

5) Because the console version of ESO has been delayed by several months, this change in the development workflow will naturally impact both demand for customer support and the timeline for rollout of future development content across all platforms. It’s just the nature of the beast – as the experienced MMO player knows from Champions Online (which delayed its launch its initial launch date then ultimately dropped the console port version of the game) and DC Universe Online (which choked PC-based content development in order to stay current with PS3 console development – which is now the driving force for new content on the PS4).



With all these bullet points in mind, I believe that ESO is not going away anytime soon, nor is it hemorrhaging PC customers (although I’m sure some have left due to bugs/class imbalance issues – but whose to say they won’t come back when future patches/content arrive, or may port their subscriptions over to the console version once its available?). Rather, lower PC subscription numbers may prove to be a secondary “success” benchmark when compared to greatly-improved console subscription numbers within the next 6 to 9 months or whenever the console version of ESO launched.

Zenimax has invested a lot of time, money and resources in the ESO IP and I do not believe they have any intention of pulling the rug out from under the main development team or the game’s faithful subscribers – however contracted labor brought into to leverage customer support needs as another matter. Again, with no console port coming to market for the next 6 to 9 months, there’s absolutely no need to pay temporary contracts now to provide customer support for a console gaming component that isn’t ready/available yet. If these contract resources are still available down the road, I’m sure Zenimax will be glad to hire them back – especially as they now have customer support training under their belt (and in the meantime, I’m sure there are other game development companies out there who will be glad to hire on these candidates – especially now that another company has paid for their training).



So IMHO, I say don’t hold your breath waiting for ESO to go F2P anytime soon (because that's just misguided and wishful thinking). In a year or so’s time ESO *might* go buy to play (like TSW) but the F2P business model really goes against everything Zenimax has done for its other IP brands – like Dishonored, like Fallout and like previous Elder Scroll titles. ESO is a good game already with many future opportunities to achieve greatness in the years to come. Whether or not you choose to buy in now or buy back in later is entirely up to you; I’m definitely in it for the long haul and I can’t see wait to see what else the road ahead will bring.

Ker.Rakb16_ESO wrote: »

Do you really think that ZO didn't know about the console delay until May? If the team responsible for the console port is even remotely well managed, they would have known about missing their deadline (by 6+ months, no less) at least a couple of months in advance.

There would have been no reason to hire CS reps for the console release in April unless there was some serious mismanagement behind the scenes.

*** happens - and you'd be surprised how long it takes one internal management system (like HR, like contingent laborsourcing) to catch up with strategic changes in game development decided at the executive level (including a console port delay) which may go against daily operational decisions that have already been made by lower project management. It's just the nature of the interdepartmental beast when doing business.

Fuzzylumpkins wrote: »

wrlifeboil wrote: »

Saerydoth wrote: »

Ragnar_Lodbrok wrote: »

Wifeaggro13 wrote: »

Swtor did the same thing . Ironicaly in ireland as well. Belfast i believe. Roghly 6weeks post launch. Not a good sign.if we see them retract promised content it will be a sure sign s F2p hybrid model in the cash shop is coming and the milk factory has begun just like the hutt expan being taken away from subs and offered as dlc

Same with TSW, customer service were first canned.

As a counter-example though, Blizzard let a TON of customer service people go a few years ago, and WOW didn't go F2P.

Blizzard let go the CS reps after WoW subs peaked. The biggest difference I noticed before that RIF was the dropoff in players complaining about being hacked. The catalyst probably was the authenticator which Blizzard started using in 2008. The culture in WoW shifted from 'Blizzard let your account get hacked! Blizzard fix your security!' to 'why didn't you have an authenticator on your account?'

Anyway, just anecdotally, EU players in eso didn't post that much to the CS forums as I pointed out a while ago. Some thought that EU players mainly posted to the English forums. If that news article is true, it turns out that people in the EU aren't that into eso or at least not into eso as ZOS/Bethesda anticipated. Score one for anecdotal evidence.

As an EU player myself that selected NA population over EU (because either way we were going to be jacked with latency issues) it isn't that we are not "as into" ESO, we simply were not happy about being mislead (lied to blatantly) about getting EU stationed/supported servers to answer the latency issues. EU players , for most part, are simply not as vocal as North American players nor do a lot of us feel entitled to every little thing and just move on.

So please, do not presume to know what we think or want or are interested in.

If EU had 1 million subscribers today, I'd bet that there would be a megaserver in EU today.

Lalai wrote: »

Ker.Rakb16_ESO wrote: »

Do you really think that ZO didn't know about the console delay until May? If the team responsible for the console port is even remotely well managed, they would have known about missing their deadline (by 6+ months, no less) at least a couple of months in advance.
Not to mention that they immediately came out with that "switch from PC to console for 20 bucks" scheme that would realistically have taken at least a couple of weeks to get pitched, analysed for feasability, and approved by management.

I don't think that no one knew. I think that HR was not made aware until very, very near the public announcement date. That kind of stuff happens quite often to prevent leaks of NDA info. Stuff is kept secret, including layoffs, until the last possible moment.

Lets hope you are right.

tawok wrote: »

Talemire wrote: »

Temporary or not, there's still a respect to be had for these workers. Three weeks then let go is ludicrous and grossly unprofessional. Was it wrong to let them go? No - It was wrong to hire them in the first place. There's not a trace of regard here for these people's lives, families, etc. People are not like Peons where you can just group select them and execute them by pressing "delete" when they have no more use. I don't know a single person who would have taken this job knowing they would only be there for a few weeks. This whole situation is ethically messed up.

Temps, interns, and contractors get no respect, and typically no benefits. You know what to expect going in as a temporary worker. For every instance where a temp is let go early, there is one that stays twice the duration of their contract, and some even get hired in. Win some, you lose some. Don't like it? Find a permanent job.

edit: a word

How's the weather over there in Galway?

gougefub17_ESO wrote: »

No EU Server??

connachttribune.ie/galway-jobs-blow-300-gone-software-firm/

However, no confirmation for other sources.


EDIT: This may have just been temps to handle the rollout.

The game has been made.

You don't need 300 jobs to keep the servers online and create new content.

Now I understand why their support are so bad. All of their advices are not helpful, but seems like just trolling on customers...

Valn wrote: »

gougefub17_ESO wrote: »

No EU Server??

connachttribune.ie/galway-jobs-blow-300-gone-software-firm/

However, no confirmation for other sources.


EDIT: This may have just been temps to handle the rollout.

The game has been made.

You don't need 300 jobs to keep the servers online and create new content.

The article didn't say any devs were let go. The positions mentioned were CS workers in Ireland.

It's a bunch of temporary employees filling call center positions. What is the big deal? Zenimax did the smart thing and staffed up in case they needed it.

This is no different than the tens of thousands of people hired for temporary holiday positions in retail stores and laid off early so they only qualify for partial unemployment.

This is the kind of 'news' the negative Gloomers adore, it confirms their suspicions and nonsense predictions. Some just love to live in a negative world. Meantime I got a new zone to explore which I been 'saving' for tonight. Bye.

All of the other signs are more telling than this. There are a million reasons why you'd let temp employees go. I think telling someone to their face that they're not needed anymore and why they're not needed anymore is more humane than calling on the phone but I'm not in the HR biz.

It's a newspaper in Galway. They have the article posted on their Facebook too.
https://www.facebook.com/ConnachtTribune