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I have deep fondness for one former IGN employee and one former 1UPer who worked in IGN’s SF office while I was coming up as a freelancer. I admire a few other people at the site as well. But when I think of IGN these days (not often), my main association is disappointment. (1/?)
8 years ago, I established a niche that would make my effort stand out and turn what was a bunch of unpaid “clout” work into freelance $. I’m not mad about the clout thing. That’s writing in this century, and the people who had my back the most guided me through all that. (2/?)
But as the years wore on and my name was known to more EEs, the pay didn’t increase—it got worse. I shrugged it off because in those years, this was always “extra” money on top of decent-paying day jobs. But in 2017, when I was unemployed and needed work, things turned sour (3/?)
I took a contract for probably my biggest guide ever—and the pay was abysmal. Like, $300 for 100 hours of work ($3/hr!)—including tons of hand-drawn maps. Still, I was happy for the work because jobs weren’t coming and my family needed me. (4/?)
But then something happened: the EE sent me a code for the game’s season pass. With no context and no offer for additional compensation, I thanked him for the code but didn’t add that content to the guide. After that, this person I’d worked fairly closely with for 5 years (5/?)
Stopped responding to any email I sent him over the next several months but one: the one where I asked him to confirm he’d received my change of address for tax purposes. I can only assume he was mad that I didn’t do another 80 hours of work for free, but he never told me (6/?)
Or talked to me again at all. So that was a bummer. Half a decade wasted on hard work and relationship building. But that’s only part of my disappointment. Several months before taking that gig, I interviewed at IGN and didn’t get the job, despite the years of groundwork. (7/?)
Okay, fine. Maybe the person they hired was a better fit. That’s okay. Maybe that person worked harder than me. In good faith, I assume that person deserved it. But the disappointment continued when I applied for a job at Nintendo and a former IGN employee at NOA refused to (8/?)
Vouch for me—pretending that we had never worked together at IGN, even telling me in private messages I didn’t save because it hurt so bad to read them that I was “probably confused” about the work I’d done at the site. That was a really hard time for me because... (9/?)
Not only was I depressed about not being able to provide for my family, but I realized how fair weather friendly and self-serving people can be. I’ve never been in a darker place, and I 100% would not have made it past the first half of 2017 were it not for friends/family (10/?)
Anyway. Look. I’m bringing this up because now seems to be the time. I’m not going to out people publicly because these were just people being assholes, not abusing or harassing me. But if anyone in this business is reading this, please consider (11/?)
The effects your actions have on the people you work with. Hard work should be rewarded, not exploited. And for the people who are still following me from my time with IGN, I’m not mad at any of you. Like I said, I care deeply for some of you and hope... (12/?)
... you know who you are. For everyone else who may be reading this: things always get better if you give them the chance. I am worker harder now than ever, but I have an amazing son and wife and their approval is the only approval I need. So... that’s it, I guess! (13/13)
