Lilyr - what did it say about the Cork employees?

sandhan wrote:

Tirama,  I wondered,  too,  about their adding  "streaming"  games when it's supposed to be discontinued.  Also,  they must be lying about casino being #1;  I just don't believe it could be that popular,  with all the negative comments.
Wendy,  I thought I'd  try the cloud thing when it was first offered.  Was also told my system didn't have enough whatever.
 

I doubt BFG has manipulated the programming to make the Casino game #1.  Remember, the Gamezebo article reported that the BF Casino game was #4 on the mobile games list and BF wouldn't be able to control that list since iPod, iPad, and iPhone sales all have to go through Apple.

All the complaining about the game was from HOPA and TM download fans.  I imagine people really into Casino games, especially those who play with real money, don't frequent forums such as this, or the other places that people have set up after CCC was closed.  Heck, most of the other fourms are filled with people who want to see BFG gutted and deep fried and regard anybody who has a positive word to say about them  as trolls.

Annecdotal evidence does not a valid statistic make.  I'm happy for BF to make money wherever it can, because it's not making any money from me, with my average cost per game (and half of those games CE's) a little over $2.
 

@ Wendy, thank you for the indo on how that works!

Wow, that article is something, talk about an unflattering picture painted witha nice paintbrush.

lilyr wrote:

oscar (and anyone else who is interested) Google  bigfishcork.wordpress.com  You'll find the letter the employees sent to the new CEO and to Paul Thelen there.  There is an article from an Irish newspaper/blog (?) but I can't remember how to find it.  

The article has been amended twice and may be amended again as various employees come forward and ask NOT to be included in this tactic.  This could very well backfire on the ringleaders if their names are known to other prospective employers.  As long as a company isn't doing anythng illegal, disputes between employees and owners should remain between private, IMO.

The Irish Examiner ran an article a week ago, the day after the announcement.   IT@Cork has it's eye on the Big Fsh employees.  Quotes from the article:

Mr Dennehy (member of IT@Cork) said the skills the employees possess are in huge demand in Cork and that keeping the human capital in the area was vital to attracting future tech companies to locate here.

Mr Dennehy said that one Big Fish employee had already had 432 people viewing his online employment profile on Link’din since the announcement that Big Fish was to close.

“There are 300 companies employing thousands people in Cork. Most of the Cork IT companies are looking to hire staff. Absorbing 90 jobs into existing companies shouldn’t be too hard,” he said.

(snip)

Mr Dennehy said the ideal outcome for Cork would be for the new staff who had been let go to start their own businesses.

“There is no point sitting around crying into your drink. There is work to be done,” he said.

Mr Dennehy said he would happily supply free workspace to any of the Big Fish employees considering opening a start-up, which he said would be the best possible outcome.

The chairman of the IT@Cork cluster Denis Collins said the power of the whole tech cluster would be brought to bear to help the staff of Big Fish.

“We are integrating the whole power of the cluster and we are going to do what we can to help.

“We have a lot of smart people who care about these staff,” Mr Collins said.


link to entire article

http://www.irishexaminer.com/business/cork-needs-to-keep-big-fish-it-professionals-240766.html


 

lilyr - A lot of jobs in the IT world are short term and companies tend to hire outsiders for them.  Setting up your own company (basically just choosing a company name and getting a tax id number) is necessary to take advantage of those jobs.  Maybe that's what Mr Dennehy was getting at?

I posted info about that aticle to show that perhaps things weren't as bleak as the Cork employees want us to believe.  And however among them that decided to go public with their grievences and took it upon themselves to speak for ALL employees without first getting their okay had one hell of a nerve.

I have no idea what the EU minimums for severence pay are, but in other personnel benefits areas, such as vacation days, they are very generous compared to what is standard in the US.  So, as an American, I can't understand the complaining about getting just slightly more than the minimum.  Are the US and Vancouver employees getting anything?  They probably didn't get the 30 days notice that the Cork employees did.

I wonder if it was the increasing encroachment of the European Union on decisions that used to be left to indivual countries that led to BF pulling out of Ireland?

I see the Casino game is still #1 on the download list.  Are we looking at yet another controversial Game of the Year choice by BFG at the end of the year?