boating_accidents

Hi

I work in games and I've worked as a contractor and as a full time employee. I don't take issue with the request for stunt coordinators to be on site during difficult mo-cap sessions and I don't take issue with wanting to know more about your character before signing up. The issue that I have with the performance matters movement is about the bonuses that are requested.

By hours worked, voice actors will very rarely come close to other members of a project - the lowest level QA tester will log more hours working on a game than a voice actor, especially on bigger titles that break the targets that performancematters talks about. For example, while working on a well known open world crime game that came out a few years ago, I worked upwards of 60 hours a week as a contractor. This 60 hours a week phase lasted over 6 months.

I get that there's an open letter on the website listed above but, to be honest, it didn't really blow me away. THe line that 'these things are being shouted by production companies' rubs me the wrong way because I don't work with a production company at the moment and I've kind of come to these conclusions on my own. Also, I'd like to know more about how performancematters plans on drawing attention to the issues that developers, artists, producers and testers go through. How do you go from 'we want bonuses, stunt coordinators and character sheets' turn into 'I don't want to work sixty hour weeks for months at a time and then get fired at the end of development'? Can you please draw a line from one of these things to the other because the letter listed http://www.gameperformancematters.com/single-post/2016/11/07/Games-We-Are-One-Community-A-Letter-to-Game-Developers-from-concerned-SAG-AFTRA-Performers reads more like propaganda than anything I've seen elsewhere.

The line 'If actors don’t matter, or there isn’t enough room in the budget to pay developers more for successful games, someone needs to explain to us - and you - why there are six-figure budgets for celebrities in the same game. ' rather runs in the face of the 'we are all one community' message stated elsewhere on the site. Honestly, the performance matter website comes across as rather two faced and leaves a bad taste in my mouth as a developer every time I read it.

Also, 'Think of this as your boss telling you that she wants you to type code all day, but they’ll be super-heating the keyboard so that you burn yourself every time you touch a key. Oh, and if you had more work tomorrow, you’re going to lose that money while you’re soaking your fingertips in ice water.' It's perhaps more like 'we know you've worked eight hours today but we will miss this milestone delivery if you don't come in for this tomorrow, which puts the company and other peoples livelihoods at risk.' There's no need for childish hyperbole. You're serious about this and there's no need to bring a lack of serious thought into the discussion. Talk to whoever wrote that, and please tell them to treat this as seriously as developers and those on strike are as it devalues you and the discussion at hand.

QA testers can expect to work several thousand hours on a project, with many of them being contractors. If they spend more hours working on a game, should they be entitled to a bigger bonus than a voice actor?

When a 3D modeller makes a single model on contract (they're brought in and asked to polish up something, and they're an outsourcer) should they be given a bonus?

I recorded some death screams for a game I worked on - at what point does the four or five 'help me im on fires' that I shouted result in me getting a bonus if performancematters gets what it wants?

Additionally, this strike hurts developers working outside the US. I have friends working in the UK that won't be able to get dialogue recorded by the artists they want to work with because of something happening that is entirely out of their control. This Americentric approach to the problem seems counterintuitive. Are there plans in place to counteract this international problem?

I want to support the strike (I'm a big fan of unions!) but having been on the other side of the discussion, I find it hard to have sympathy for voice actors and voice over artists wanting additional money for their work.

edited - changed the word residuals to bonuses to remove confusion.

edit - is it too late to say I thing we should say 'maleshep' and have femshep be just Shep? She's clearly canonical

edit 3 - Phil LaMarr replied to this on his facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/phillamarr1/posts/10153835228706148

I'm reminded of an episode of The Thick of It.

'I fucking hate the internet. It's like- it's like opening a door into a room full of people who can't wait to tell you how shit you are.'

I'd argue that QA testers, developers, producers and artists work longer hours and (often times) in more stressful conditions than voice artists, yes. The problem I have is that it's never been explained in a way that's adequate why on worth of work is worth more than another.

Also, yes, I understand how collective striking works. ;P

According to the website this isn't about residuals but about bonuses first of all.

And while I don't mind someone saying that they are the 'face' of the game in a way that the QA tester isn't, I'd agree (although a tester is responsible for making sure that it works so from a functional perspective it's probably a bigger part of the game?) I'd also say that Hale's performance as Shepherd was very important to the game BUT that doesn't answer any of the questions I asked. I'm not trying to devalue the work that's done here, I'm just trying to find out why it's valued so highly and valued so much over other pieces of work.

Let's take a hypothetical here using on of Hale's works. Mass EFfect is a good one to use. What if the model for the Normandy was made by a contract artist. Is that iconic ship more or less important to the inseparable nature of it? Or maybe the design of the Omni-blade was done by a contract concept artist and contract 3D artist; that was an item used heavily in the multiplayer and in the marketting for the game.

The third leg that you mentioned; when a tester is given the opportunity to do additional work (ie they get to work on design elements or audio elements - something that happens frequently and is one of those 'foot in the door' moments that are much vaunted), how does that figure into copyrightable material? Again, this doesn't seem to directly address the questions I'm asking.

Your fourth paragraph is in line with a question I'm trying to get an answer to. How do you draw a line from 'bounses for voice actors' to 'less shit working conditions for everyone else.'

This isn't the first time I've tried to get answers from VAs on this and I have a feeling that this attempt will be as fruitless as the other attempts.

Probably the most insulting thing is the propaganda that they use to say that if you think this, you're a schill for some huge publisher that wants to keep creative people down. That really narks me.