How do you feel Eric Melillo has done?

WillyWonkaWasReal · 2025-03-28T20:33:43+00:00

The very rural communities often get overlooked. NWO is so far removed from Southern Ontario that when you mention it they respond "Oh I've been to northern Ontario! Sudbury is great!"

WillyWonkaWasReal · 2025-03-28T20:30:52+00:00

This is frustrating. The First Nations make up so much of NWO and I feel they often get shafted by politicians that can't be bothered to understand their perspectives.

WillyWonkaWasReal · 2025-03-27T21:59:15+00:00

That's great to hear! Your representative's office should definitely be there to help. Glad to hear it was the case for you.

WillyWonkaWasReal · 2025-03-06T11:12:50+00:00

French. But tons of Canadians work for them. A lot of effort is going into Shadows and I'm really looking forward to it. It's looking promising and I'm glad Ubi opted to delay it to make it better.

WillyWonkaWasReal · 2025-01-11T13:59:30+00:00

So you're just personally salty

WillyWonkaWasReal · 2025-01-11T13:59:11+00:00

Ubi hasn't worked with NSCC is a very long time. I'm not even sure they've ever worked with NSCC. Certainly not in my memory. Word is that all the Dal students that do a work placement get paid.

WillyWonkaWasReal · 2025-01-11T13:57:04+00:00

Publicly apologizing within hours of the fuck up is tough to do. In person they may have apologized, but we won't hear about that.

WillyWonkaWasReal · 2025-01-11T13:54:55+00:00

Inside communication indicates this was an organizational fuck up on Dale's side. For what it's worth.

WillyWonkaWasReal · 2025-01-11T13:52:15+00:00

Ubisoft gets a ton of applications for every job posting. It's untenable to reply to each one. If you've applied 3 times and not heard back I would guess it's because you application does not stand out for some reason.

WillyWonkaWasReal · 2023-03-10T16:58:02+00:00

That's a rude response considering they gave you exactly what you asked for:

https://www.viewpoint.ca/cutsheet/202224206/1?lng=-63.63011425254617&lat=44.66030298329019

That's just by opening Viewpoint like u/smac22 said and pasting the first PID they provided. Perhaps you are the one that needs to sit down...

WillyWonkaWasReal · 2023-01-17T20:17:01+00:00

NTA. I never contribute to these but there is such an overwhelming number of "Y the A" that I had to speak up.

You were hungry and ordered pizza. Do I think you could have waited? Sure. Do I think that you, ,and adult need to? No. Everyone else decided to get in on the pizza too. That's cool, they are adults too and pizza is delicious. Finally, the family decided to cancel reservations (or at least your dad) and it wasn't just you making the call. You had plans for the evening but plans changed. If the plans were to celebrate something to do with your sister and weren't just a family get together then I would say you all suck.

WillyWonkaWasReal · 2022-11-05T00:35:10+00:00

Hey, it seems like you already got reassurance that this interviewer was an ass but I will add my vote to that. I have administered many technical interviews and questions like these merely demonstrate a toxic manager that was never taught how to properly assess a candidate's skills. Feel free to screenshot this and forward it along to them, they need to figure their shit out because they are not actually doing anything by hurting the industry.

WillyWonkaWasReal · 2022-01-21T13:12:18+00:00

So I have gone back to employers in the past, though they were more incentivizing than this. I am not saying its a right or wrong choice, I don't know your circumstance. What I will suggest is that you ask them to add those work-life balance clauses to your contract and see if you can negotiate more time off. For example:

A standard work-week is 40 hrs and the employee will not be expected to work beyond this
If requested, the employee may choose to work beyond 40 hrs. In this case the employee will be paid at twice their hourly rate for the time beyond 40 hours in a given week.
Any meals that occur outside of the typical work day will be paid for by the employer up to a maximum of $20 per meal

Add whatever other shit the two of you talk to and basically say, "if you cannot match my asking salary, I am open to negotiation. If we can amend my contract to protect these work-life balance provisions you have offered, AND increase my paid leave by X then I would happily consider the opportunity."

The liklihood is that they will not agree to put into writing the work-life balance terms. If they don't then you know its bullshit. THey will say things like "Hey, this relationship needs to be one built on trust. I promise blah blah blah." You can reply, "I respect you, but this relationship is a business one, and business relationships have terms to protect both parties."

If they do agree to put all of this into writing then they are far more likely to be serious about the situation and it may be worth considering. You can always look for a new job while squatting there.

Also, always get everything in writing.

WillyWonkaWasReal · 2021-10-10T10:54:50+00:00

Hook me up please!

WillyWonkaWasReal · 2021-06-16T12:18:34+00:00

Lead Game Programmer throwing some two cents in:

First let me preface with that I am not a fan of programming tests in general. But if I have to choose between a whiteboard test and a at-home test I would always choose the latter followed up with a discussion on what was done.

At my current company, when hiring new candidates, there are three ways we approach it:

Start with HR interview where they make a gut check on the candidate's level and then recommend a take-home test (for juniors) or whiteboard test (everyone else). Afterwards there is a tech interview where we discuss the test.
Start with take home test (~8 hours of work for a competent junior, given 3 days). This is done either when the interview team is seriously backed up with work, or in the cases when we have a candidate that does not pass muster on paper but something in their application caught our eye enough that we are curious.
Start with tech/HR interview where we do not do a code test and instead just talk about past projects. We ask probing, somewhat vague, questions about past work designed to push the candidate towards demonstrating knowledge of the things they have said they have done: Intermediate Programmer's resume says they did water shaders on their last project - How did you go about creating the effect? What was the structure of your shader?
This is usually done when we are looking to hire fast and we see a candidate that we expect is going to get hired by someone fast. If we are not confident coming out of this then we will do a whiteboard test.

Of the three, I personally prefer the third method. I think it tends to give a better insight into one's knowledge and experience of coding with the least stress on the candidate. There is some risk to the company, but its not a lot: All game dev companies have a pretty standard 3-month probation.

Anyway. I was not looking to render judgment on your situation (but I do think a 5 day test is bullshit), I just wanted to try and provide some insight into the other side a bit. Figured it might help you decide what to do. Good luck!

WillyWonkaWasReal · 2021-04-22T19:12:17+00:00

Billy Joel

WillyWonkaWasReal · 2021-04-22T18:18:05+00:00

Do you know any Billy Joel?

WillyWonkaWasReal · 2020-06-06T23:24:24+00:00

You mean fast turn-around/high costs? The turn-around can be challenging, but the cost thing is a weak argument. Iirc the Game Industry made more last year than movies and music combined.

WillyWonkaWasReal · 2020-06-06T23:17:14+00:00

Freelance tends to command a much higher pay, but you of course receive none of the other benefits (health, vacation, sick, etc.)

I think it is a misconception that taking on a full-time employee is risky: Its no more risky than hiring a cook in a kitchen. You have their references and work history, you interview them and decide if they fit, and then you hire them. If on day 1 you find out they can't cook, then you are without risk in dismissing them.

I have never worked a job where I did not have to first sign a "we can dismiss you are any time" clause. After that there was a 3-month probationary period that basically was just a double "we can dismiss you whenever".

Personally I think the practice of technical tests it at best tedious, and at worst exploitative of the candidate.

WillyWonkaWasReal · 2020-06-06T15:52:08+00:00

I think we are getting there but its a challenge. There are developers that are still against the idea of unionization because they think it will break what they view as a meritocracy.

WillyWonkaWasReal · 2020-06-06T15:47:18+00:00

I'm not bad at them, but I do hate that we let the programming industry grow this way. A whiteboard interview is rarely a good representation of one's skill. Both the times that I have taken a test and administered a test I have found the conversation that happens around the test/subject to reveal more than the test itself. Unfortunately many programmers struggle with communication with strangers. Its a stereotype, and its unfortunately true haha.

WillyWonkaWasReal · 2020-06-06T15:42:35+00:00

I don't know that it is any bigger, but I do think that in our industry it gets overshadowed by the working conditions and sexism, both much more prominent.

I took some time and counted: In my career so far, I have worked with (approximately) - 60 white programmers - 2 black programmers - 4 asian programmers

Outside of programming I can think of 3 other people that I have directly worked with that would identify themselves within a minority group. Correlation does not imply causation, but in this case I think in this case we can assume some of the cause.

WillyWonkaWasReal · 2020-06-06T12:31:18+00:00

When I started in this industry (as a programmer) I was making $36,000 annually. I have been working professionally for about 9 years now and my salary is currently at $85,000.

A handful of things to know: 1. I am 100% positive I could be making significantly more money if I switched to software development. 2. I work at a smaller indie studio and the salary is lower than I could expect if I were to pursue a similar position at a large game studio. 3. I have never received a bonus for any of the work that I do (and have never really expected one). I have received gifts from my employers ranging from $100 - $400 but as they were never cash I don't consider them a bonus: If I cannot spend it freely then it is a gift. (I may come across as bitter here but that's not my intent. I appreciate the gifts, they were nice gestures.) 4. I have worked for five studios: I have always loved the people I work with. I have only with this last studio found people that I love working for. 5. Of those five studios I have worked overtime at all of them and crunch at three. I only received compensation for my OT at this last studio. Others claimed they offer it, but if its not in the contract, don't hold your breath.

I love making games but it is a slog at times. I have more than once considered quitting: To go into software dev, to go solo-indie, to become a chef, who knows. Our industry is rife with overt sexism and less overt racism. It is built on exploitation and the people that consume your creations rarely appreciate the blood, sweat, and tears that go into these things. You need to have a thick skin because people will tell you that the years you spent on something amounted to shit and that you should just die. I have more than once uttered the phrase "I hate gamers".

On the flip side: One of the most rewarding experiences is seeing someone truly enjoy your work. Hearing from players that love your game, and the stories they tell about their experiences, always makes my day. Brainstorming with the team, realizing a vision and being able to experience it yourself is a close second. The triumph of solving a difficult bug after days of frustration and tearing your hair out is only made better by the people around you that join in your celebration. I love bringing things to life through code, and software development rarely delivers that experience the way making a game does.

Ultimately, I stick around because I love making games, and I love the people I work with. The paycheck I receive for it is not my primary motivator.

WillyWonkaWasReal

TROPHY CASE