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Discord lays off 170 workers in latest round of cuts
Discord have decided to cut its staff by 17 percent, according to an internal memo.
Apple employees likely won't return to the office until 2022
Apple is delaying its return to the office until at least January of next year as it grapples with complications caused by a surge in COVID-19 cases in the US.
Google says state-backed hackers are targeting Trump and Biden campaigns
Google’s security researchers say state-backed hackers from Iran and China have targeted the Trump and Biden presidential campaigns, respectively.
Facebook plans to clarify when pro-Bloomberg posts come from staffers
Thanks to Mike Bloomberg, Facebook wants to make it more obvious when paid campaign staffers share posts promoting candidates, CNBC reports. This is a direct response to Bloomberg paying organizers to post on social media, but it could apply to any campaign staffers sharing political views on Facebook.
Chlorine leak injures five at Apple data center
It hasn't been the best week for Apple. After a small fire broke out at its Arizona facility, it's now dealing with a chlorine leak at its data center in North Carolina. Catawba County Emergency Services swept in with a HazMat team yesterday and five employees were taken to a local hospital for treatment. Apple admits the workers could have been exposed to fumes after the chemical, used to clean its cooling systems, was spilled inside the building. All of the employees have since been discharged from the hospital and Apple says they should be able to return to work today. "The spill was quickly contained and poses no threat to anyone else at the facility," an Apple spokesperson told WSOC-TV.
Joystiq Presents: That's a wrap
Our final Joystiq Presents podcast gives members of the staff a moment to thank the Joystiq community and say a final farewell. Listen to the MP3 Listen to other Joystiq Presents episodes.
Valiance Online is coming soon to Steam early access
Great news for Valiance Online, as the fledgling superhero title announced recently that it has been voted onto the Steam Greenlight program by the community. This means that Valiance Online will "soon" be available to play through the digital platform via early access. The team said that it still discussing its release and pricing plan, although fans can currently access it in the open pre-alpha test going on right now. Valiance Online is making good progress as a City of Heroes spiritual successor and even picked up a former artist from the sunsetted superhero game in December.
Al Rivera discusses his role in Star Trek Online on Reddit
Who is Captain Geko? It was a fairly innocent question posed on Reddit earlier in the week by a user who happened to group with someone using that name in Star Trek Online. The answer is that it's the usual screen name of lead designer Al Rivera, who took the opportunity to respond to the question with a larger discussion of what makes the game what it is and how the game's microtransaction model is set up. Rivera discusses his experience with the franchise and being a longtime fan from the age of 10, as well as the fact that the game's microtransactions are decided upon chiefly based on what will keep the lights on and keep the game fundamentally free-to-play. While he states clearly that not every decision comes down to him, at the end of the day he's proud of what the team has accomplished and the state of the game. If you want a look behind the curtain at one of the people in charge of Star Trek Online, take the time to read Rivera's full answer. [Thanks to Lootcritter for the tip!]
Valiance Online moves to Greenlight and picks up a City of Heroes artist
So you want to back Valiance Online as a longtime fan of City of Heroes, but your Kickstarter budget right now is at a solid $0. Good news, then; you can support the game just by voting for it on Steam Greenlight. It's still early in the testing cycling, but the game has added a rather significant feather to its cap with the addition of its newest staff member, former City of Heroes animator Ron Friedman. Friedman's stated duties will be training the team on animation methods for the superheroic game, reviewing and modifying existing animations, and creating new animations as necessary. It's a good sign that the game will inherit a fair chunk of City of Heroes visually, so if you've been on the fence, now might be the time to consider voting for the game after all.
Layoffs are probably in store for Transformers Universe
A staff reduction will be hitting Jagex's Transformers Universe team, and not for the first time. The studio has confirmed that it is in the process of examining duties and roles within the development team, with some team members facing reassignment to elsewhere in the company and others seen as redundant. No actual layoffs have taken place at this time, although "soon" is the watchword. The announcement does mention that there are opportunities in an as-yet-unannounced project currently in development behind the scenes at Jagex. Transformers Universe went into open beta in July and has a variety of founder's packs currently available to purchase; an official launch date has not been announced. Our condolences to all those affected by the upcoming layoffs.
Art director Matt Mocarski leaves WildStar
We'd heard about recent departures, but this one is new. Former art director Matt Mocarski has apparently left Carbine Studios to work at Amazon Game Studios; no specific date for the departure has been given beyond the fact that he has already started his new job. WildStar has already seen two high-profile names leave the game post-launch, president Jeremy Gaffney and design producer Stephan Frost. We wish Mocarski the best of luck in his new workspace. [Thanks to JesLyck for the tip!]
Jonathan Sharp bids farewell to Guild Wars 2
Jonathan Sharp has been involved with Guild Wars 2 for eight years as an important part of the public-facing development team. But all good things must come to an end, and Sharp's time with ArenaNet has done just that. Associate Game Director John Corpening announced on the forums last night that Sharp is moving on to pursue an undisclosed opportunity elsewhere. Sharp included a personal farewell: Hey all. I'm sad to say that I'll be leaving ArenaNet after 8 years with the company, and it's been an amazing ride! I've chatted with many of you on vent, we've debated on State of the game, we've tossed ideas back and forth on the forums, and I've met many of you in person at various cons! It has been my privilege, pleasure and honor to work with such a passionate and intelligent group of fans. You guys have always kept me honest, you've pushed me to better myself, and your ideas have helped to create GW2's success – we couldn't have done it without you. Thank you for your love, passion and communication. I will always look back on my time here with love and gratitude, and much of that is owed to you, our wonderful fans. -Chap Sharp's role on the GW2 PvP team will be filled by PvP designer Hugh Norfolk, already well known to players who follow the game's developer activity with zeal. [Thanks to Dystopiq for the tip!]
Two senior staff members depart from ArenaNet
ArenaNet is going to be down two staff members in the very near future. Community Team Leader Martin Kerstein and UI Lead Kate Welch are both leaving the company; Welch's final day with the developer is September 4th, while Kerstein has apparently already departed. Both of their farewell letters speak highly of the team and give no cause for the departures, and neither yet has any announcements of future plans. Both Welch and Kerstein have been working on Guild Wars 2 since before its launch. These departures come directly on the heels of the conclusion of the game's second season of living story updates. [Thanks to Sharvis for the tip!]
Warlords of Draenor Alpha: Transmog changes
On live servers you can't transmog polearms over swords, axes or maces (and vice versa), but on the Alpha it's a totally different story, as you can see in the header image above. No idea if this is an intended change or not (I hope it is) but it's certainly a welcome one for those of us who happen to carry a Hellreaver in our bags.
WRUP: It's the final countdown!
Editor's Note: Mr. Gray doesn't know how to read a calendar. There's another week left before the patch! The new patch is here. You might say that this weekend is the final countdown. (Da da dahhh dahhh.) So when we talked to your intrepid WoW Insider staff, we asked what they most enjoyed about patch 5.1... and what they least enjoyed about patch 5.1. It's a mixed bag, after all. Anne Stickney (@Shadesogrey) I'm not sure what I'm doing this weekend -- likely writing along with working on alts to level the new guild. Best part of 5.1? Easily the lore in the Dominance Offensive/Operation Shieldwall stuff. I loved doing those quests, and they did a fantastic job of keeping the story moving along. Worst part? Well there was that time my guild went splat. We're back together and doing great now, however -- so I guess you could tack that onto the "best" answer as well.
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Farewell for now, Champions Online
So I've spent a month in Champions Online, and I've taken enough time to understand most of how the game fits together on a conceptual level. This is from equal parts playing and reading about the game in various places because I just do that for fun. Those of you who were here for my first outing will remember that I was pleased with the game as a whole. Upon further play, though, my impression has... well, remained pretty darn positive. This is not one of those twist endings. Of course, I can also see why the game never quite hit the level of widespread popularity that City of Heroes managed, and some of the problems that plague it are a direct result of what I like about it. So with my first outing in the game out of the way, I'm going to offer a more complete look at the game, starting with the bad and ending with the good.
The Think Tank: Is Kickstarter a fad or the new standard?
The funny thing about opinions is that everyone has one. While we celebrate that fact on an individual basis with our wildly popular column The Soapbox, often times the rest of the Massively team wants to weigh in on a particularly hot topic as well. Think Tank is a new column that will act as a roundtable of opinions from the Massively staff on today's hottest MMO topics. We're all MMO gamers, and we all love to talk about the genre, so this is our place to do it. And as always, you're welcome to share your own opinion and let us know what you think about the topic each week in the comments. For this inaugural installment, we're going to tackle the question of crowdfunding. Is Kickstarter just a fad, or will it redefine game publishing as we've known it?
WRUP: Because you're wearing a costume this weekend
Halloween is right around the corner. Let's be honest, though: this weekend is the Halloween party weekend. This weekend is when we will dress up as ghouls, ghosts, and goblins and terrorize one another with pumpkin shots and pumpkin muffins and pumpkin pies and pumpkin all the things. We might go a second round on Halloween itself, but this weekend is the party weekend. So let's see what the intrepidly ghoulish WoW Insider staff is doing this weekend...
Foxconn admits child labor laws breached by use of underage interns
Foxconn has admitted that it employed underage interns in breach of China's child labor laws. An internal investigation at its Yantai factory found some of the young trainees were aged 14- and 15-years old (16 being the legal minimum). In a statement received by CNET, the company advised that "this is not only a violation of China's labor law, it is also a violation of Foxconn policy and immediate steps have been taken to return the interns in question to their educational institutions." This comes as a further blow to the firm's employment record, after recent riots breaking out and strikes over iPhone 5 quality standards. These interns were sent to the facility from schools, with Foxconn carrying out full investigations with the relevant educational bodies to try to work out how this was allowed to happen. The tech manufacturer has been keen to accept responsibility for its part in the situation, advising strong action will be taken against any full-time members of staff found to have played a part in the breach.
WRUP: Well, if it WRUP to me...
Welcome to WRUP, where we try to convince you that we're not spending all weekend shuffling every day Pandaren. No, really, we do other things, too. Like shower (occasionally), get some exercise so we don't become Pandaren-shaped, and even play with the offspring. (They're quite adorable.) This week we asked your intrepid WoW Insider team what they like to do that isn't play video games. We're all multi-facted like that. Allison Robert (@AllisonRobert) More work in heroics, possibly an LFR or Vaults run with the guildies depending on laziness (I'm betting we'll be lazy), and finally taking an organizational approach to my farm. At the moment, my favorite thing to do outside of WoW is drawing and painting, but otherwise you'll find me reading or jogging.
