"Why I'm leaving CIG" - a letter from the former character artist on Star Citizen
polycounter lvl 10
Why Im Leaving CIG
Based on the quality bar that has been set for this project, a Star Citizen character takes me anywhere from 3-6 weeks to get in game. I have been working at CIG for 17 months. In that time I have completed exactly 5 characters. Thats 24 weeks at most.
So why is this?
I don't know if it's legit but definitely sounds plausible. You should read the whole thing, it's very interesting.
https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/comments/3lyfb1/david_jennison_former_lead_character_artist_in/
Replies
I'm not saying it should be this way, but i also understand why revisions are required as a project grows. At the end of the day, everyone has their limits so if that's what he feels he needs to do to be happy then so be it.
As lucky as we are to do this kind of work, it's not without some struggle from time to time as it's still a job. Just do your best every day and try to not take this kind of thing personally (easier said than done in a creative field).
It's not the revisions that kill your motivation. It's the feeling that people suck at their jobs. That's what really drives ya up a wall.
Edit*
This is of course hearsay, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was true.
The speculation about who wrote it, and the accompanying link to their linkedin page, is based off of trying to match up dates and could easily be, and probably is, wrong.
I feel super bad for that artist for having this put on him, if he didn't actually write it. Its also extremely wrong headed for people to speculate and throw someone under the bus based on that speculation.
Reddit has a real problem with doxing.
I know, it is easier said than done.
Okay, I'm confused now.
Is 5 characters in 17 months acceptable for a lead character artist at a studio?
I'm confused as to who the image is supposedly accusing, Jennison or Roberts?
why not, there are some of us who haven't managed to produce a single finished character in that timeframe. enough revisions and reboots can do that to you.
also, leads don't just sit there all day, creating assets. some actually never do that.
The fact that Derek Smart apparently was the source based on the edit at the end of the reddit post makes me suspicious. That guy REALLY has it in for SC. I don't think he wrote a fake letter himself, but rather that he's liable to go off unreliable or unverified information that backs his sentiment.
I can't even remember the last time I've modeled a complete character on my own.
Probably as far back as Assassin's Creed Revelations.
A lead's job is not to produce assets. It's to make sure that everyone on the team does that, and to provide everything else to make it happen - schedules, budgets, tools, techniques, guidance, feedback, evaluation, emotional support... the list is endless.
It's actually a difficult transition to make. You get into the industry to do cool stuff and then you end up doing almost nothing yourself; but you can be the one to enable a lot of others to do that.
So it's not like you've imagined when you were the young artist in the trenches. It's a lot harder and the rewards are of a very different kind, too.
With all that said... The things in this letter unfortunately sound pretty realistic and the conclusions sound quite true as well.
'B' Foreman - Has 3 journeymen max under him, still works with tools
'A' Foreman - Has more than 3 journeymen, doesn't work with tools
General Foreman - Foreman of the foremen, needed when multiple projects are ongoing
Also, don't quit like that.
Don't quit like what? When you're miserable?
I could see my self being very happy in that spot. As much as i love making things i often feel like i love guiding people more.
While I don't think whether or not this document is even real was ever proven, it still amazes me how many people do end up getting themselves into a lot of trouble over posting something on the internet versus just venting out in real-life or over the phone to their friends.
Oh yea, that for sure.
Such practices should be called out. People who are looking for a job should know what they're getting into.
anyway there's Glassdoor for this.
let's see...
Current rating for CIG is 2.1 out of 5. 31% would recommend the company to a friend. CEO approval is at 27%. If we read reviews they echo problems with management even those which were written before September when this PDF popped up.
The problem is that such practices are way too common and somehow acceptable in a lot of companies. You do high poly/low poly/texture, your art director accepts it, then someone from higher management comes in and says something like "let's make her bust bigger" because well, I like it more this way. Game art isn't concept art, you can't hop in Photoshop and do some warping. All these things should be fixed at concept or rough blockout stages. Higher management should be EDUCATED that costs them MONEY and all they need to do is just be involved in earlier stages.
Such letters and posts put the issue into light and (hopefully) educate people. And it's a shame that people fear to adress these issues publicaly. When you make some abstract report about "I had such issues someday" it doesn't hit as hard as when some people are called out and receives significantly less attention.
Unfortunately most people won't go public with their issues with management (me included) because they want to have jobs in the future. What's the use in venting issues to my friends when they can't change anything anyway?
Another thing was the use of CryEngine3. Literally was the worst thing they could of used, tons of stories internally about how the lack of documentation etc. made it hard. They pretty much ended up grabbing all the ex-employees from Crytek to develop their own version of the engine. I'm sure if they had used Unreal Engine the game would have twice the amount of content complete.
With the open development, I'm quite sure when the game comes out it will be good. They just take feedback and fix the crap parts of the game. The main concern is the budget and workforce. They might end up spending all of their money before release. Too much revision!
Agreed tho, all signals point toward epic trainwreck......the question is tho, will it become the Great Train Robbery of our time?
The persistent universe game that follows is where I can see the pessimism going. At least they can try to keep pumping out Squadron 42 like content/expansions in order to keep the revenue stream going.
Add: On that note, looks like its starting to snowball... I dont think CIG can ignore this, especially due to the crowd sourced nature of the project. Starting to second guess what I just typed above.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/features/14715-CIG-Employees-Talk-Star-Citizen-and-the-State-of-the-Company?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=all
Wow:
Massive response from Chris Roberts.
https://robertsspaceindustries.com/comm-link/transmission/14979-Chairmans-Response-To-The-Escapist
Apparently there was a Q and A between the two sides and Roberts responding to the allegations, but the responses were never seen and the article posted a day before it was supposed to without his response. The stupidity of it all is that this could have been easy to avoid if they just did proper vetting and made sure the communications were active before hitting "submit".
And jesus, its a global company with 261 people working on it. I'm pretty sure if I had over even 10 people working under me we all wouldn't agree on things all the time, get to 50 or a 100+ and yeah there's bound to be a few unhealthy/dislike relationships between people.
Next thing you know game reporters will be posting articles about how an employee had to waste half of their day sitting through meetings and rebooting 3DS Max once in awhile because of crashes, the Horror!!!!! /sarcasm.
Seriously though, someone can write anything on the internet and someone else might believe it and report it as 100% factual news.
If it isn't true, a company will not flinch at said remarks. (If it doesn't apply, let it fly) But to the degree Roberts has slammed Derek for speaking out and the amount of detail he went at him with. Even if he remained passive aggressive about it. Just says that there are two sides to this story, and one of those sides doesn't like that it got out. If Derek made the remarks and it was all bull. Roberts would have kept his mouth shut and moved on with continuing working towards another day to ship the game.
https://www.reddit.com/r/starcitizen/comments/3n6lum/escapist_anonymous_sources_uncovered/
Looks like the journalist was behind the "CIG ex-employee sources". Really though, some of those remarks are unbelievable. CIG would have been sued if the company environment were that toxic.
*crying*
*rolling on floor*
There'll be something behind it; multiple sources have come forwards and supplied information to both - the accuracy of that information is however difficult for us (the reader) to determine.
261 employees. If all the accusations were true there would be more than 10 people complaining that's for damn sure.
According to them they even had "corporate lawyers" verify their identities as well. They're anonymous to the readers not the author which is common right?
That reddit post was also updated concede to this.
To me it just seems like those people they interviewed were so eager to spread the word they posted to glassdoor before they could post the article. On top of that the only real "word for word" I saw were "quotes" to which it would seem more odd if those quotes didn't line up than if they did.
I don't think the escapist should have ignored the multiple people coming forward with this.
But I certainly agree people should question those peoples motive and truthfulness.
Why can't people channel this kind of energy and use it to focus and better their own projects and skills rather then trying to bring other peoples down?
Not even the reddit post called it a hoax....
There are still rumors I've heard about the Crytek Austin situation that aren't wide-spread public knowledge yet.
Then again, the supposed/unverified issues of sexism, racism, and ageism in the hiring practices would make it very bad indeed if it's actually true. Having people feel like cogs while working is one thing, violating those is another issue entirely.
And then even further on the flip side, I think I read somewhere employee's picking on and blaming Sandy Gardiner for supposedly not being qualified for her position as head of marketing even though she has numerous degrees and came up with the marketing plans before the kickstarter, and judging by how well they've been making sales without an actual game released I'd say she's been more than qualified.
One wonders if she's being picked out of everyone else because she's the "wife" of Chris Roberts, which is sexism in itself.
It's from October last year, maybe things have come to a head now?
EDIT: I would imagine since one person posted it on the small site I went to, it will likely be more public soon given the controversey.