[TRENCHES] Thursday, August 21, 2014 - Heart Failure

Geth

Heart Failure
http://trenchescomic.com/comic/post/heart-failure

Re: The Wall

Anonymous

I also started in QA at this company, working on a game that takes place on a red planet… and a fighting game whose franchise (sadly) was acquired a few years back by the UFC.

We called it death row because that room was a long rectangular testing area which had a path running right down the middle of it, dividing the room into two halves of cubicles. We’ll call this room “Sector 2.”

On one side, this path lead into the front room, off of which was the kitchen, main entrance, another testing area, and the QA management offices.  We’ll call this “Sector 1”.

On the opposite side, this path connected to another room which housed the supervisor cubes, some lead cubes, and offices for others.. We’ll call this “Sector 3.”  Sector 3 in turn connected to another testing area.. and then another, like a chain of rooms.

Well, what would happen is management would always walk from Sector 1, through Sector 2, and into Sector 3 to visit leads, supes, etc (and vice-versa).  Rarely would they venture off into the wastelands of Sectors 4 and 5.  Now sectors 4 and 5….those are the areas you really wanted to test in.  Those were the testlands.  Nothing but testers.. far away from management. We had our own laws… our own way of life… we lived.. we laughed… we played…

Anyway….. so, what I didn’t tell you about Sector 2 was… that path down the middle.. the one that divided the room in half?  The one that management would stroll down as they crossed from Sector 1 to their final destination in Sector 3?  Yeah, that path had shallow tester cubes lining it up and down, both sides, with their backs open to the pathway.  Actually, if you moved your chair out the slightest, you would *block* the pathway.

THAT… was “Death Row.”  You did not want to sit on Death Row.  The guards constantly strolled past.  There was no escape.  You were always being watched.  You never knew if, or when, you would get a pardon and move to a better sector.

Everyone did time on death row.

I did my time on Death Row.

I did my time in the Bridge.

And I did my time in the Gulag
(OH The Gulag…. there is a great story here in the horrors of testing BTW… and how management treats testers like cattle…it even involves the fire marshall.  That may be my next submission to you guys.)

Despite the names of these places, and the way we were treated, I do have fond memories of working there…
the people I worked with… *some* of the titles I worked on… team dinner happy hours at the local eateries when working hellish overtime…

But I left, vowing never to return.

The building that housed death row went away.

The company moved to a new location down the road.

They were recently liquidated, and people will speak their name no more.

I shed no tears.

tdahnert

I really loved the trenches comic when it was launched. I still love the stories. It used to have excellent character development, interesting and long story arch's, and a great style. It seems like it's really jumped the shark though. I dare you to find a strip since changing artists that there isn't a character who gets "crazy eyes". In every strip it seems like the punchline is someone doing something "wacky" without regard to whether it develops their character or the story. PA should either get it back on the right path or put it out to pasture.

Nijhazer

Give it a little more time, sir. Let's say, three monthes.

TheNewGuy

tdahnert wrote: »

I really loved the trenches comic when it was launched. I still love the stories. It used to have excellent character development, interesting and long story arch's, and a great style. It seems like it's really jumped the shark though. I dare you to find a strip since changing artists that there isn't a character who gets "crazy eyes". In every strip it seems like the punchline is someone doing something "wacky" without regard to whether it develops their character or the story. PA should either get it back on the right path or put it out to pasture.

Wasn't the selling point of the series originally that it was to realistically portray the jobs of game testers? I felt we really got that with the LawStar stories, but once Q "made it big" and started his own thing, he took everyone out of the trenches. It hasn't been about the crappy life of testers for a while.

Blarghy

Yeah, whomever is writing the comic nowadays seems to have absolutely no idea what to do with these particular characters in their particular situation. Hopefully, this bankruptcy thing is to allow a move to something that the author is more comfortable with. Because, the last few months seem to be largely pointless meandering with aimless story-lines and stop-start plotting.

melalton

tdahnert wrote: »

[...] PA should either get it back on the right path or put it out to pasture.

I think this strip is a big red reset button - the story hasn't moved this fast (three months in one strip) ever, afaik. Putting whatever company it was (I don't even remember what game they were working on) into bankruptcy sure seems like a big reset.

Neuroskeptic

The problem is that people have been crying wolf about the Trenches jumping the shark ("crying shark") ever since it started. So how will the writers know if they really have gone wrong?

AntonNUL

When Q, the sensible asshole, stops thinking and ruins his somewhat-finished dream?

BahamutEos

Is this the last strip? It kind of makes sense that this could be the last strip. It would be pretty funny if this is how Trenches ended.

zepherin

I really think that this is a good way to transition back into what makes the trenches amusing. Short anecdotal comics, and funny stories. There doesn't need to be a grand plotline FFS. Make a funny joke about getting fired, tie with a sad story about getting fired. Laughs. Same thing 80 hour crunches, bring back the punch. They are trying to do too much. Scale it back, make a dick joke. It's not rocket surgery.

michaelkdaw

I hope it's not the end. I still like it.

This one is weird, but satisfying. No way her "idea" could have resulted in anything other than this.

Gaslight

In the early days of Trenches when it was more focused on testing and they were working on Lawstar, people constantly complained that it was boring, the characters were all jerks (well, actually it was more that they complained that Isaac was a jerk and I would point out all the other characters were jerks too), and that they couldn't follow the plot.

michaelkdaw

Time was spent focusing on testers and testing. I don't think it's unreasonable to focus a little on the tribulations of the development aspect. Certainly since it seems to be comprised of people who are equally inept, if this story line is to be believed. I believe it.

michaelkdaw

Time was spent focusing on testers and testing. I don't think it's unreasonable to focus a little on the tribulations of the development aspect. Certainly since it seems to be comprised of people who are equally inept, if this story line is to be believed. I believe it.

Edit: Sweet... a double post.

Aegeri

I wonder if this is a "Smash the reboot button" giving whoever took over a chance to start afresh with their own ideas from the beginning or if this is the mercy strike it's needed to put it out of its misery. I'd like it to be more the "Smash the reboot button", but I won't be sad if it is the other option at this point because it's just not going anywhere and hasn't for a while.

Jortalus

The constant change of writers has made the strip suffer; Q's character in particular has bounced around all over the place. Also, I dread the thought of Cora's dad making another appearance and losing his charm. It's almost inevitable that he shows up, though, given that his creation is the one having its reputation ruined by Gwen's bad idea.