• Valve Employee Handbook 'Uploaded'
    241 replies, posted
[QUOTE=dass;35663682]I can't help feeling like they are too good to be true... I mean, we got EA, Activison, Apple as some of the worst companies with the worst policies out there, who butcher other companies and even their own staff along with its customers, and then there is Valve, where everybody enjoys working there, doing awesome stuff to make customers happy (which most of them are, at the very least) that helps other companies by merging with them in certain projects and letting them help on Valve's own projects. At this day and age, thats something rare, to the point of being odd, how a company can still be so loved and even escalate that love further. What if their employees are only silent of the "real Valve"? What if there is some evil deep within the company that we don't know about? :v: It amazes me how Valve can be this good. Their products might even not be "SUPER EVOLVED GRAPHICS GAMEPLAY THINGAMAJIGS" like other companies that try to make the best graphics/multiplayer/singleplayer/sound/whatevergimickyfeature ahead of everything else, yet Valve creates something that is a mix of all those features with very good quality, and still makes a heart warming product that doesn't costs your ass + your ass bones later (if you get what I mean). How is it possible for something like Valve to exist nowadays?[/QUOTE] The problem as I see it is that most companies don't seem to be run or owned by people who are even really related to what's going on in the company. You have these big CEOs and moneymakers who don't actually have a connection to the work, all they're passionate about is $$$, not the final product. Their education will be in some business related field, while their company is a pharmaceutical company, or developing games, or doing science and shit. When you get people who are heavily invested personally and mentally into something, who run a company and are looking at the bigger picture and not just 'how can we make the MOST money' (like with Gabe and Valve, or Elon Musk and SpaceX, etc) you get truly amazing companies who do some truly amazing things. In order to get a good company nowadays you basically have to remove the fucking business men from the business and put somebody in who knows what the fuck they're doing, and cares about it.
I'd do anything for a job there.
[QUOTE=kevaughan;35669201]I'd do anything for a job there.[/QUOTE] What's stopping you?
[QUOTE=darkrei9n;35669046]I plan on going into game development and honestly, wouldn't apply to Valve. Not a place I can see myself working. They make great games sure, but its just not a place I can envision myself. Don't know why.[/QUOTE] I would see myself working there after having a few programming jobs, those jobs would give me experience to measure what I can and can't do. Then if I were accepted to valve, I would try to push myself one step further. In my spare time I would host a video series where I and other employees in some spare time have tutorials which can comprise of source engine code as well as mathmatics, artwork, and other disaplines people have in the company. Kinda like microsoft's channel 9, but with viewer feedback.
I sort of understand why everything takes a shitload of time to make, but always ends up being the best thing ever. Thanks, Valve!
I wish more people would roll their desks towards Episode 3 :v:
[QUOTE=jeimizu;35669692]I wish more people would roll their desks towards Episode 3 :v:[/QUOTE] But sadly, it'll never happen anytime soon.
This sounds just awesome. And the glossary is pretty hillarious too.
[QUOTE=jeimizu;35669692]I wish more people would roll their desks towards Episode 3 :v:[/QUOTE] I wonder how many people are there. If I worked at valve and had practical skills I'd be working on EP3. Programming or modeling or mapping or anything. They need more programmers to work on ep3 so they can add more new shit.
[QUOTE=W00tbeer1;35667368]EA's handbook[/QUOTE] • Ruin every formerly good series possible. • Money. • More money.
Makes me sad knowing I'll most likely end up with a horrible job for the rest of my life :(
[QUOTE=Carne;35674337]Makes me sad knowing I'll most likely end up with a horrible job for the rest of my life :([/QUOTE]That's the reality we live in.
[QUOTE=ac/14;35661757]if only other companies took example of valve's sucsess and how the operate.[/QUOTE] Mojang does something similar.
[QUOTE=Daniel Smith;35674511]Mojang does something similar.[/QUOTE] mojang also has like 7 employees
[QUOTE=Daniel Smith;35674511]Mojang does something similar.[/QUOTE] Mojang just sit around and do nothing for 99% of the time. And take vacations.
They're basically saying "Our company is amazing, but you will never work here... EVER."
[QUOTE=Polaco202;35661589]"Empty Shelf on Fifth Floor—Place we’re planning on putting all those awards for Ricochet once the gaming world finally catches up with it." Love it[/QUOTE] I like Ricochet :(
[QUOTE=Daniel Smith;35674511]Mojang does something similar.[/QUOTE] Except produce good games or offer quality service. Though Notch does take valve style vacations.
[QUOTE=Speedhax;35674821]They're basically saying "Our company is amazing, but you will never work here... EVER."[/QUOTE] Not really.
They seem so nice to their employees. I'd love to work there
Apparently you can say no to Gabe. I did not know this.
[QUOTE=-Chief-;35676231]Apparently you can say no to Gabe. I did not know this.[/QUOTE] Doubt that. Imagine saying no when Gabe wants to eat that mega cookie!
[QUOTE=AceOfDivine;35676409]Doubt that. Imagine saying no when Gabe wants to eat that mega cookie![/QUOTE] "My favorite is this pink cookie" shortly after that, everyone died
if you eat the last pink cookie gabe slits your throat, and the knife used in the killing is placed on his "special" wall with all the other similarly used knives
[QUOTE=meppers;35676891]if you eat the last pink cookie gabe slits your throat, and the knife used in the killing is placed on his "special" wall with all the other similarly used knives[/QUOTE] That's why people are rarely fired for making mistakes Because Gabe kills them before they can make one
[QUOTE=meppers;35676891]if you eat the last pink cookie gabe slits your throat, and the knife used in the killing is placed on his "special" wall with all the other similarly used knives[/QUOTE] no they put it in as a special skin for counterstrike.
Where's the page for giving Gabe food?
[QUOTE=Jackald;35661746]The thing that's so lovely about valve is that, despite their lovely, friendly, nigh-on-huggable approach to their employees and their fanbase, all of this stuff actually [i]works[/i] At the end of the day, their loose and friendly atmosphere frequently outperforms rigid and totalitarian companies like Activision and EA in terms of the quality of games they produce (and, I expect, financially too)[/QUOTE] Now imagine what the world would be like if Valve wasn't the only company with that freedom from their publishers and stockholders.
My dad and stepmom and that whole side of my family are hellbent on trying to get me to ask Valve for an internship. They have these big visions of my future, making tons of money from working at Valve, all because of the small stuff I made that managed to be added into Team Fortress 2. I'm not even out of high school yet, and I doubt being self-taught with photoshop since I was four years old will get me anywhere. Even if I do get the slightest chance at an internship, I doubt fetching coffee and delivering papers will be enough to move me into sustainable living in Bellevue...
[QUOTE=Void Skull;35680778]My dad and stepmom and that whole side of my family are hellbent on trying to get me to ask Valve for an internship. They have these big visions of my future, making tons of money from working at Valve, all because of the small stuff I made that managed to be added into Team Fortress 2. I'm not even out of high school yet, and I doubt being self-taught with photoshop since I was four years old will get me anywhere. Even if I do get the slightest chance at an internship, I doubt fetching coffee and delivering papers will be enough to move me into sustainable living in Bellevue...[/QUOTE] photoshop at 4 years old could get you somewhere depending on what door you knock on, which maynot be Valves. Just knock on all the doors and see where it can get you. As long as you keep being creative and teaching yourself new things you'll be better able to ride the wave of luck.
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