
King’s Quest: The Tale of How an Nvidia Engineer’s Cube Became His Castle (2014) - bcaulfield
https://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2014/02/14/kings-quest/
======
vvanders
> Spouses called, first worried, then angry. Yet the work continued:

Somehow I feel like this part is something that shouldn't be celebrated.

Don't get me wrong it's a clever prank(and we had plenty of those at our game
studio) but the game industry has enough problems with work-life balance and
crunch that it feels tone deaf. I saw enough divorces at my last gig to know
this stuff can have a non-trivial impact.

~~~
Voloskaya
Do you think it was a decision that came from above to build this castle, and
it had to be delivered before the next Tuesday otherwise they would be fired?

If not then it is clearly their personal decision, do you presume knowing
better than them how they should spend their free time?

~~~
vvanders
I think it's easy to view this that way from the outside, having spent time in
this space(on multiple angles both gamedev and HW/OEM):

1\. This is still happening "at work", from the outside the optics aren't
awesome.

2\. This is on an official company blog and not Joe developer's blog/etc.
Saying "We pissed off their spouses, but hey wasn't it funny!" doesn't paint
your company well.

3\. There's a culture of "family-second" in the industry which this is just a
natural extension of. Yes, they technically had the "free will" to put their
foot down. However once you start exercising that option you get marked as
"not a team player" and slow-rolled out the door.

4\. A lot of younger engineers(myself included at the time) just don't know
better and can be naive when it comes to work-life balance. We should be
setting a better example so that the industry becomes less of a meat-grinder.
The number of _really good_ engineers I see hemorrhage from that industry is
incredible.

~~~
ng12
I think you're over-reacting. I used to work at a company which did lots of
shenanigans like this and -- beleive it or not -- the people with families and
outside commitments were never shamed, ostracized, or fired for not
contributing.

I look at it the opposite way: the world is chock full of the 9-5, "bring the
kids to soccer practice" culture -- so what if there are a handful of
companies are full of energetic young people with an excess of free time? If
it bothers you that much, don't work there.

~~~
vvanders
I'll freely admit that I have an axe to grind. However, that's because I've
seen this all first-hand across a bunch of different companies.

This doesn't sound like young people with free time, this sounds like people
with commitments that had a culture where it's okay(and even celebrated) to
blow off those commitments.

It's a cultural thing in this industry that does a ton of damage to the
engineers who want to sustain a family life and work a job that's deep and
interesting. I'm certain I'm not over-reacting though, I've seen it enough
times in this space(and even from NVidia reps who came to pitch/visit us) that
I know it's an issue that's worth addressing.

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ErikAugust
"A few weeks later, Jonathon got word. The castle used too much paper. It was
a fire hazard. It was impossible to get in and out of easily. “Totally
legitimate complaints,” Jonathon adds.

So, the edifice was dismantled."

Nice corporate ending right there.

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_emacsomancer_
I particularly liked the description at the end:

> So, [because of fire hazards and other complaints] the edifice was
> dismantled. Sections of it are still attached to Jonathon’s cube — like the
> remains of a Norman castle in an English pasture.

------
TechieKid
> But it was incredibly quiet and peaceful inside, it was like having an
> office

Hint, hint, nVidia.

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anonu
This stuff is better on Reddit. Lets keep it there

~~~
teilo
Yeah, well HN isn't your castle, and you ain't its king.

~~~
mywittyname
Now go away or I shall taunt you a second time!

~~~
bhasi
Ni!

