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              <p><font color="#0000FF"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000CC">volume 
                1, issue 20</font></b></font></p>
              <p><font color="#0000FF"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0000CC"> 
                </font></b></font></p>
              <p>  <p><font face="Courier New, Courier, mono"><b><font color="#339900" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Today 
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        <p align="LEFT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color="#0022A8"><b><a target="" href="../../corner/index.html"><font size="-1">Behind 
          the Curtain</font></a><font size="-1">:</font></b></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="+3" color="#0022A8"><br>
          The Whirlwind</font></p>
        <p align="RIGHT"><font color="#804000"><b><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By 
          Matt &quot;<a href="mailto:thraka@xenocide.org">Thraka</a>&quot; Gilbert</font></b></font></p>
        <p align="left">&nbsp;</p>
        <p align="left"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">In the end, 
          (and in December, of course), Glenn called us all together and told 
          us the grim news: he had to let us go; he couldn’t make good on his 
          promises if he kept us on any longer. Only a few people, those who were 
          working on a project that was still bringing in at least some cashflow, 
          would stay. We would, he promised, get the money we were owed, just 
          as soon as he had it in hand, and he meant it. We did eventually get 
          caught up, but, of course, the damage was done by then. He offered those 
          of us who wanted to try to weather the storm the opportunity to use 
          the company equipment for contract work until the company could get 
          back on its feet, but he knew that most of us would have no choice but 
          to move on. It must have been very bitter for him; I would never want 
          to have to sit in that spot, of having given it your best shot and failing 
          not because you sucked, but just through bad luck. We had a damned good 
          team, and it was like a family splitting up. It’s a crying shame, but 
          all too common. My old bosses at Illusions were in similar straits; 
          they pulled through, albeit with massive damage, but a lot of developers 
          weren’t so lucky. It sucks, but that’s how this life goes sometimes. 
          Turn the page.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I found myself at SegaSoft 

          next, courtesy of a good headhunter. It was different here, more corporate, 
          but it was a good corporate. Sega felt like an extended family, a company 
          willing to take care of its people. But there was a strange, Dilbert 
          sort of flavor to it. sometimes, it seemed as if no one knew who you 
          were or why you were there. You could have played Quake all day, maybe 
          not even have shown up at all, and no one would have even noticed. It 
          worked, I suppose, because we were all dedicated, and we just didn’t 
          abuse the system. Still, it was a big change from the constant buzz 
          and hum of a small development house.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I came in as a Saturn whiz, 
          who could hopefully help stomp out some fires that the project was dealing 
          with. Again, I was with a good and smart bunch of people. And, again, 
          things were less than ideal, financially. Only this time, it wasn’t 
          that the company was broke: rather, it had to do with the venture capitalists 
          funding the whole deal.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Venture capitalists are people 
          with lots of cash who throw money into something in the hopes of getting 
          more back than they put in. Not surprisingly, they are very careful 
          about this, since they stand to lose a great deal if things go wrong. 
          My impression, and note, I am no financial whiz, is that they do these 
          things by numbers, and when the numbers tell them to do certain things, 
          like reduce the amount of money being paid out in salaries, they act. 
          It’s merciless, but that’s how it is.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The layoffs came slowly, 
          in stages. The management threw a party and promised it was over, that 
          things were good from here on out. The president gave his word that 
          this was the team, no more layoffs. HEAT was a big success, they told 
          us, and so were the other projects. Everything was going to be okay. 
          Six months into my stint there, when I was home sick one day, my headhunter 
          called and told me to send him an updated copy of my resume, because 
          the axe was about to fall at SegaSoft. Naturally, the first thing I 
          did was call my supervisor and ask him what was going on. He confirmed 
          the worst: SegaSoft was changing direction, and had decided to concentrate 
          solely on HEAT: they were laying off the entire product development 
          staff.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The next day, our team had 
          a meeting with the VP of technology and the company president. We were 
          the third team these guys had talked to, and the president was just 
          ashen; he looked as if he could hardly carry on. It must have been hell 
          for him to give the news to each team, knowing he had promised it wouldn’t 
          happen. The VP just looked plain pissed off, and who could blame him? 
          I hear he resigned just after the end of the meetings. After all, he 
          had no team: what was the point of staying?</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">As bad as it sounds, I think 
          fondly of SegaSoft. They didn’t dump us on the streets; they made sure 
          we had enough to tide us over until we could find something else. They 
          bent over backwards to help their people through a tough time, and let 
          me assure you, not everyone does. For example, my next employer.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I won’t give the name, just 
          say that it was a hardware firm developing a multifunction card, another 
          startup backed by more venture capitalists. It wasn’t games, but it 
          sounded good, and I needed the work, so I went for it. My wife and I 
          pulled up stakes, rented out our house, and moved to Seattle.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The lousy part of it is that 
          for eight months, they promised that we would all be rich. It was a 
          rainy Monday in February (it always rains in Seattle), and we came in 
          like any other morning. The network was down, and we couldn’t get mail, 
          etc, but we had no way of knowing that it was intentional. The first 
          sign of trouble was when my coworker was called into our supervisor’s 
          office. He comes back with grim news: our supervisor had been laid off!</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">It didn’t take us long before 
          they got around to us, upper management zombies asking to have a ‘word’ 
          with various people. As it turns out, the ‘word’ was ‘terminated’. Here’s 
          you’re pay to date, pack your shit and jam. Sorry, pal, but those are 
          the breaks.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Time to call the old headhunter 
          again, only this time, there was no cushion; we had been taking a loss 
          on the amount we were charging the couple who were renting our house 
          back in the Bay Area, and our savings were low. I was out on my ass, 
          with a lease in Seattle and the likeliest place for work back in San 
          Francisco. Our renters would be leaving in a month, which meant I was 
          going to be really screwed. I was looking at my house and two cars being 
          repo’d, and my credit being destroyed: basically, I stood a good chance 
          of losing everything I owned and had worked for because I trusted the 
          wrong people. For the first time in this crazy biz, I was really scared. 
          I told my wife it would be okay, that things always work out. But I 
          wasn’t so sure it would this time. I just thanked God that we didn’t 
          have kids. We could take the hit, if we had to.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">The first interview the headhunter 
          set up was, as it turned out, the only one. I went to a place called 
          StormFront Studios in San Rafael. It was totally cold; I really didn’t 
          know much about them. The interview process lasted the whole day, and 
          by the end of it, I knew they were doing things right. The owner, a 
          real star named Don Daglow, just blew me away: he had been there, done 
          that, got the T-shirt, and he had not only survived, but prospered. 
          But more than that, he was humble. He pointed to some awards on the 
          wall and told me, &quot;Those are the most dangerous things you can 
          get in this business. They can make you forget how you came by them. 
          They can lead you to believe that you’ve arrived, that you can sit back 
          and relax, that you’re someone special. That’s how a company dies.&quot;</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">StormFront is a hive of activity. 
          No cubicles, no politics, just a great sense of pride and teamwork. 
          There’s paperwork, to be sure. There’s even an employee handbook. But 
          there’s also the feel that, if you stumble, your teammates will give 
          you a hand up. People <u>care</u>, here, and management goes the extra 
          mile to keep it that way. All in all, it’s a hell of a balancing act, 
          one that I admire.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I’ve been with Stormfront 
          for just a few months shy of a year now, and, of course, we’re behind 
          schedule. I’m working on the PlayStation as the graphics guy, and it’s 
          not easy: anytime you start a project late in the life cycle of a console, 
          the bar is much higher that it was at the introduction of the machine. 
          But what can be done once, can be done again, and we will be certain 
          to do it at least as well as anyone else. We have no doubts.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">My friend and teammate Mario 
          just started in the biz a few months ago, and he’s the type of guy who 
          makes it in this biz: he’s sharp, and he busts his ass like a real pro. 
          He’s lucky to have started here, in a stable company that has a good 
          reputation with publishers. I like to tell him so when the going gets 
          really tough, just to see if I can piss him off, but he just grins and 
          shakes his head.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">I’m still here, fighting 
          the uphill battles, because only the hard won victories are worth savoring. 
          You know I wouldn’t want it any other way.</font></p>
        <p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Thraka</font></p>
        <p>&nbsp; 
        <p align="RIGHT"><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-1"><i>- 
          Matt 'Thraka' Gilbert is a console programmer, currently working at 
          StormFront Studios. These are his own ravings, and have nothing whatsoever 
          to do with his employer.</i></font></p>
        <p align="RIGHT">&nbsp;</p>
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    <td><i><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="-2"><b>Credits:</b> 
      Beaker's Bent logo illustrated by and is &copy; 1998 Dan Zalkus. Behind 
      the Curatain is &copy; 1998 Matt Gilbert. All other content is &copy; 1998 
      <a target="_self" href="http://www.loonyboi.com">loonyboi productions</a>. 
      Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited, so don't do it. We have 
      ways of making you talk.</font></i></td>
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