Any word on the GSL?

[kenmarable]

"WotC offices being closed between December 25th and January 4th"

Am I the only one who has a problem with this? Is this in addition to regular PTO? Because if it is that is incredibly generous and if it isn't its ridiculously draconian to force employees into a fixed vacation schedule. Either way someone is being screwed (shareholders or employees). I find it a bit strange for a public company to shut down simply because "it's the holidays".

Regardless it's obvious the GSL is low priority for WotC. Then again they lost me months ago.

Man, I wish I was able to do that!

Actually, once I had 2 weeks paid time off during that time, but that's because I was laid off with severance pay. *sigh* Spent that whole time just playing in the snow with my kids and working through one of the X-Men Legends games with my wife. One of the funnest couple weeks ever (especially since I thankfully had another job lined up already)!

As annoyed as I admit I am with GSL delay after delay, hey, a job is a job, it's not a life. Some things are more important - like kindergarteners. My youngest is at that point and she's far more excited about reading than her older siblings right now. Just gotta build her up to being able to spell dexterity and constitution.

 

[drothgery]

"WotC offices being closed between December 25th and January 4th"

Am I the only one who has a problem with this? Is this in addition to regular PTO? Because if it is that is incredibly generous and if it isn't its ridiculously draconian to force employees into a fixed vacation schedule. Either way someone is being screwed (shareholders or employees). I find it a bit strange for a public company to shut down simply because "it's the holidays".

It's incredibly common; though WotC appears to be unusual in that they gave paid time off for the whole break, instead of requiring employees to take vacation or unpaid time off except for the actual holidays and a corporate/floating holiday or two. My employer's North American and European offices were all pretty much shut down both weeks this year (with four paid holidays); before we were acquired by a much larger company, it was pretty much standard policy to shut down between Christmas and New Year's.

 

[Turjan]

It's actually one of the coolest things about working at WotC. I wish all my employers had done that. It does not count as your regular vacation time. It's a nice thank you to the staff for working hard all year and a recognition that not a lot of work really gets done between Xmas in New Year's anyway.

My last workplace did the same. This was not a contractually fixed bonus, but our boss just officially announced that we got the time off as compensation for overtime. This happened every year.

I don't see any damages here. As everyone did more or less the same, there really wasn't much you could do during that time, anyway.

 

[dmccoy1693]

edit: oh ya, I also spent about an hour today tracking down and logging links for pirated copies of D&D books and magazines on a sharing site with about 9,000 apparent violations

Bad pirates. Go Scott.

 

[Jack99]

Bad pirates. Go Scott.

I agree with you. But seriously, Scott, couldn't you guys find someone with maybe say a little less on his plate than you to do these kind of things? I mean, googling or whatnot is hardly rocket science, isn't this what interns are for?

 

[Scott_Rouse]

I agree with you. But seriously, Scott, couldn't you guys find someone with maybe say a little less on his plate than you to do these kind of things? I mean, googling or whatnot is hardly rocket science, isn't this what interns are for?

Yes you are right, the work is pretty menial and since an hour was 1/50th of the work on one of hundreds of sites I will never tackle the problem in that way myself.

What I may do is get on a plane and fly to the sites office and spend a day with an attorney dealing with it in person.

 

[glass]

"WotC offices being closed between December 25th and January 4th"

Am I the only one who has a problem with this? Is this in addition to regular PTO? Because if it is that is incredibly generous and if it isn't its ridiculously draconian to force employees into a fixed vacation schedule.

Generous? It's the bare minimum I'd expect!

FWIW, our office closed on 19th December, although that was a little earlier then usual.


glass.

 

[Jack99]

Yes you are right, the work is pretty menial and since an hour was 1/50th of the work on one of hundreds of sites I will never tackle the problem in that way myself.

What I may do is get on a plane and fly to the sites office and spend a day with an attorney dealing with it in person.

Sounds like you guys are going all out against the pirates. I hope you have more luck (skill) than the music and movie industry.

Cheers

 

[The Little Raven]

Sounds like you guys are going all out against the pirates. I hope you have more luck (skill) than the music and movie industry.

They're doing one thing better than the RIAA and MPAA: they're not going after the downloaders themselves, they're going after the providers of the pirated material. Instead of suing college students, single mothers, and 15-year-old kids, they're just working on shutting down the sites instead of seeking outrageous damages.

 

[Drkfathr1]

Interesting note on the piracy issue.

A longstanding problem or just coming to a head recently?

I know there's alot of debate over how much of an impact piracy really has in terms of revenue. Some say that those that download weren't going to buy anyways, or do it to sample before they do buy.

But a lot of industries often come to the conclusion that lagging sales/revenue are a direct result of rampant downloading.

I suppose that piracy is going to be more of an issue in the current economic condition.