[TRENCHES] Thursday, October 8, 2015 - Truth In Advertising

Geth

Truth In Advertising
http://trenchescomic.com/comic/post/truth-in-advertising

They can’t give an award out to everyone.

Anonymous

Working as a web designer and developer for the games division of a Very Large Software Company, I had the opportunity to work on some impressive and fun projects. Back in the day before Millennials were a thing, web sites were more information-focused and less complex than they are today, and “web masters” (as they were once called) often found themselves doing every aspect for a particular project by themselves.

So one day, my boss forwards me an email from product marketing; it was the specifications for a sub-site, complete with verbiage, some assets, and a list of functional requirements. I dutifully prepared the web site, going back and forth with marketing over the site on our development server. Once completed, the often time-consuming process of Final Approval™ was the only obstacle to delivery.

I went on vacation with my girlfriend and prepared an email to my boss and delegate as to the status of the project, as well as the 30 seconds’ worth of work required to make the web site go live. It went live while I was on vacation without a hitch.

Fast forward six months later, and I was assigned a small section to add to our Intranet site announcing the recognition of certain employees for their efforts on specific projects and that these employees would be awarded a plaque and a payment of $800 at a company awards banquet. One of the projects being “recognized” was my very own sub-site.

Shockingly, the people they mentioned were: the marketing folks (no problem), my boss, and the fill-in who had literally pressed a button to launch it. My name was notable in its absence.

I complained to the lady in whatever-division-handles-award-giving-out and explained my situation. I complained that I had worked on the entire project alone from an IT and design perspective, that I had completed 99.9999% of the project. I pointed out that it had been assigned to me, and not the other recipients. I pointed out that the delegate had only pushed the site live, and my boss had only forwarded the original email to me and that given those credentials, I was certainly due recognition, the plaque, and the little bonus cheque (given tax deducations, the plaque was the more valuable item).

You know what her response to me was? “We can’t give awards out to everyone who was involved in the project.”

Jesus.

When my boss and my coworker went up on stage in their tuxes to receive their accolades, I did not clap.

Ginormous

So, we're done with stories then? How much longer before this site is just done? The comics rarely update and it has been almost a month since a new story. At the very least, the stories were being updated regularly creating a reason to check in over here.

milski

The latest panel reminds me of the little quip on every Onion editorial comic.

Still better than usual for the Trenches, in that it's just like a really old CAD strip instead of just being "wouldn't it be funny if we showed off how we aren't going to get any character development?"

BahamutEos

I'm starting to become amused by how little info there is about what the trenches is up to. At this point I think it's just not worth the cost to redesign the site to remove it.

Art work change again, it's 'sok.

Morgan Blackpowder

It's now my mission for 2016 PAX events to get the question about the trenches before Gabe and see what he says.

Djiem

I need to re-watch that trailer.

TeamPineapple

As an avid fan of everything PA and a huge supporter of the Strip Search kids.....this is just a dead horse being flogged far beyond decency. Please put this to bed. No one even knows what is happening anymore. There is no official communication. The story line is dead. The art is (recently) interesting but too caged and not enough to carry the rest of the mess. Can Jerry or Scott please chime in on this and give us some relief?? This is weirdly silent for a PA project gone bad.

DJSquiggy

Regarding the stories drying up: i think that tells us that the strips not updating frequently has caused less traffic to the site. this also means less people to contribute stories for the front page. they must have finally run through the backlog of submissions and we are at the bottom.

Ironically, the new PA site is even worse for this comic. soon people will delete the bookmark and only visit PA. they will see the same preview for the Trenches comic and see it hasnt changed. then it will be forgotten for good.

we either need updates, or just take this horse out back and finish the job. even communication about potential updates would help, just anything to keep us coming back. even the forum threads are barren. nothing to even talk about except the lack of updates.

streever

"Let me fire up the ol' computer & check if The Trenches has a new episode; I gotta rush to the forum to write 'stop making this comic' and 'how dare you experiment with the art style'."

Seriously, is it that hard to not read it if you don't like it? What compels the lot of you to rush in here and hate post?

I think The Trenches isn't exactly the epitome of professional, but guess what, it's a free internet comic that no one forces me to read. Maybe you weirdos live your lives strapped into a chair with restraints and metal claws that force your eyes to stare into darkness until a new Trenches comic is posted, but trust me, you're the one holding the key. You can get out of that chair whenever you want.