• Valve, a company without bosses
    41 replies, posted
[QUOTE]Imagine a company where everyone is equal and managers don't exist. A place where employees sit where they want, choose what to work on and decide each other's pay. Then, once a year, everyone goes on holiday together. You have just imagined Valve. The video games developer caused a stir when a handbook detailing its unusual structure leaked onto the web last year. Now, in a rare interview, it discusses its inner-workings. "We're a flat organisation, so I don't report to anybody and people don't report to me," explains DJ Powers, speaking to the BBC on the sidelines of Edinburgh's Turing Festival. "We're free to choose to work on whatever we think is interesting.[/QUOTE] [url]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24205497[/url] [IMG]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/70080000/png/_70080346_boss2.png[/IMG] Quite an interesting read.
Yes, but wasn't there that employee just recently that said that because of this there's "cliques" that exclude people who aren't in it?
Easy to do when the company is ridiculously rich. [editline]24th September 2013[/editline] [QUOTE=DudeGuyKT;42294849]Yes, but wasn't there that employee just recently that said that because of this there's "cliques" that exclude people who aren't in it?[/QUOTE] Kind of like real life! *gasp*
no bosses except gabe newell, the boss
[QUOTE=Explosions;42294856] Kind of like real life! *gasp*[/QUOTE] Exclusivity isn't very good for the cooperation of a company's employees! *gasp*
[QUOTE=DudeGuyKT;42294849]Yes, but wasn't there that employee just recently that said that because of this there's "cliques" that exclude people who aren't in it?[/QUOTE] Valve is a great company with great developers. But the problem with only having veterans and people with experience is that some of them just can have quite an ego. Their method of developing games and working without bosses does have its advantages, but just as the normal economy there are also disadvantages.
I hear so many different things about Valve. I'm sure its cool. I'm sure if people don't like you, they don't like you and make you aware of it, just like any other place of work.
[quote]"We're free to choose to work on whatever we think is interesting."[/quote] Valve employees must have quite dull interests then.
[QUOTE=DudeGuyKT;42294849]Yes, but wasn't there that employee just recently that said that because of this there's "cliques" that exclude people who aren't in it?[/QUOTE] Humans gravitate towards groups, and those groups have leaders. That's why that statement came out. They have leaders for their groups, or rather people who control and other people trust to do everything a leader does in a group, but they just don't have any labels such as "manager" or "boss"
[QUOTE=markg06;42294904]Valve employees must have quite dull interests then.[/QUOTE] I dunno man, hats are pretty swish.
[QUOTE=markg06;42294904]Valve employees must have quite dull interests then.[/QUOTE] Like what? I'd say a new, open, console and one of the best multiplayer games on PC and a fancy ass tournament are pretty exciting.
[QUOTE=markg06;42294904]Valve employees must have quite dull interests then.[/QUOTE] MOBA's a huge new genre in the making juggling new advances in eSport support and multiplayer toxicity reduction with porting/updating old concepts from the original game as well as feeding a huge creative fanbase. Steam's a platform growing in all directions, pioneering community economies overarching individual games as well as community content contributions to running titles in addition to getting Greenlight running and trying to come up with a competitor to Windows that isn't laughed out of the room (as well as potential hardware to also compete with MS/Sony/Nintendo/Apple in the console/living room space) How the hell's that dull, that's one creative opportunity after another.
The Left 4 Dead team could use some authoritative overlook imo.
[QUOTE=Marik Bentusi;42294976][B]MOBA's a huge new genre in the making juggling new advances in eSport support and multiplayer toxicity reduction with porting/updating old concepts from the original game as well as feeding a huge creative fanbase.[/B] Steam's a platform growing in all directions, pioneering community economies overarching individual games as well as community content contributions to running titles in addition to getting Greenlight running and trying to come up with a competitor to Windows that isn't laughed out of the room (as well as potential hardware to also compete with MS/Sony/Nintendo/Apple in the console/living room space) How the hell's that dull, that's one creative opportunity after another.[/QUOTE] Yes Dota 2 has so much insight left to it that there are at least 8 people working on it! Valves employees have probably bored themselves just because of every current game they have at the moment just relies on the community for most of the content.
I miss the days will valve was primarily a GAME developer.
[QUOTE=CountChocula651;42295014]I miss the days will valve was primarily a GAME developer.[/QUOTE] So making the best PC gaming distribution system and working to offer a free gaming OS is apparently not satisfying?
[QUOTE=Tudd;42295045]So making the best PC gaming distribution system and working to offer a free gaming OS is apparently not satisfying.[/QUOTE] Cant say I give a crap about a steam OS I already have a decent OS. I just want valve to focus more on developing their titles again, instead of making inane community updates for steam and stuff like that.
[QUOTE=CountChocula651;42295087]Cant say I give a crap about a steam OS I already have a decent OS. I just want valve to focus more on developing their titles again, instead of making inane community updates for steam and stuff like that.[/QUOTE] Its not meant to replace windows, you silly willy. Its meant to go on a tiny box thing in your living room and be a console-type thing except it gets steam sales.
[QUOTE=DudeGuyKT;42294849]Yes, but wasn't there that employee just recently that said that because of this there's "cliques" that exclude people who aren't in it?[/QUOTE]She was also an incredibly vindictive person who herself made it quite clear she had an attitude and was hostile to the others around her. So there is also that.
[QUOTE=S31-Syntax;42295143]Its not meant to replace windows, you silly willy. Its meant to go on a tiny box thing in your living room and be a console-type thing except it gets steam sales.[/QUOTE] Alright, I didn't know that. But I still gotta admit that sounds like something I'd never need or have any interest in. That's just my opinion.
[QUOTE=CountChocula651;42295167]Alright, I didn't know that. But I still gotta admit that sounds like something I'd never need or have any interest in. That's just my opinion.[/QUOTE] If it means that Linux might become more streamlined and eventually fully supported, to the point it could replace Windows for Gamers you should be interested abit.
There's is a lot of cliques in design firms / ad agencies / game studios. It's actually very hypocritical, the ideas around the workplace is that everyone is equal and a part of a great creative team when in reality it's very limited by a few ego cases. (know from multiple jobs in the field)
[QUOTE=Mellowbloom;42294865]no bosses except gabe newell, the boss[/QUOTE] It's funny like that. Gabe is the boss, he just doesn't act like it. Well he does but he doesn't... ...you get the idea...
[QUOTE=Viper202;42295013]Yes Dota 2 has so much insight left to it that there are at least 8 people working on it![/QUOTE] you're confusing dota with tf2.
[QUOTE=CountChocula651;42295087] I already have a decent OS. [/QUOTE] [IMG]http://facepunch.com/fp/browser/windows8.png[/IMG]
[QUOTE=Tudd;42294977]The Left 4 Dead team could use some authoritative overlook imo.[/QUOTE] The whole company could at this rate they'll be making vacuum cleaners by the end of the decade
[QUOTE=DudeGuyKT;42294849]Yes, but wasn't there that employee just recently that said that because of this there's "cliques" that exclude people who aren't in it?[/QUOTE] Yeah probably because people working on top secret epic shit don't want Wade Graduate Day-1 employee walking in and shitting all over it. Prove yourself worthy first working with a different group or on your own projects. Then again... Valve don't really seem to employ too many, or make too many games these days.
[IMG]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/70080000/png/_70080220_hiring.png[/IMG] "Valve pays you to play DOTA 2 because it feels like a real job" :v:
[QUOTE=Daniel Smith;42296596][IMG]http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/70080000/png/_70080220_hiring.png[/IMG] "Valve pays you to play DOTA 2 because it feels like a real job" :v:[/QUOTE] That's because not even them can play it.
I think a lot of this cynicism fails to take into account that Valve, despite it's monstrous success, remains a very small company. Most AAA developers have teams of hundreds working on individual titles, and that doesn't take into account outsourcing. I'm looking at you CoD Ghosts. Meanwhile, Valve in it's entirety is, what? 100 strong? And yet they're making games that still have to match higher profile titles visually. That means development takes longer, that's just the way it goes. Really, all they're trying to do is avoid that cycle that game companies seem to go through where they start out with a small core of talent, grow, then end up losing sight of those quirks and strengths that made them strong to begin with. See Bullfrog, Bethesda(somewhat), Bioware. [I]Especially[/I] Bioware.
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