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ArenaNet Reviews
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Mike O'Brien
62 Ratings
Pros
"A company that really means it with work-life balance" (in 29 reviews)
"Work environment that encourages creativity" (in 12 reviews)
Cons
"mediocre pay, egotistical upper management, conflicting messages on work/life balance" (in 16 reviews)
"Like, artists not knowing what designers are doing, or server programmers not know what other client" (in 6 reviews)
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"Game Development without the Sacrifice"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI have been working at ArenaNet full-time
Pros
- This company is one of the most diverse, accepting places I have ever worked. Tons of women and minorities in prominent leadership positions.
- Extremely friendly team. Everyone is here to help if you just ask.
- A legitimately anti-crunch studio. Work life balance is a clear priority.
- Great product with passionate fan base.Cons
- Pay isn't great.
- Company at the whim of NCSoft (parent company) at times.ArenaNet 2018-11-05 08:17 PST![ArenaNet Logo]()
"Working environment is great"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsNo opinion of CEOI have been working at ArenaNet full-time (More than a year)
Pros
-Great place to work
- people who work here are very nice and helpfulCons
-communication could be better
-pay could be betterArenaNet 2018-12-21 11:36 PSTHelpful (4)
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"Not a Good place to grow as an artist."
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookNo opinion of CEOI have been working at ArenaNet full-time (More than 5 years)
Pros
Hardly any crunch hours, you can take breaks.
Cons
Overall the place is too laid back, because of this culture most of the studio is stagnant. If you're an artist this will eventually catch up with you and you have no option but to work on personal work because of the lack of motivation to work on an archaic game most studios do not care about artistically. Only a certain few who speak up get advancement but the ceiling is so low. Certain folks are promoted to lead positions that shouldn't be. This usually happens because the company likes to pick certain individuals that are docile and easy to control. Do not be surprised if you're being lead by someone who is much younger than you and barely been in the industry and for the most part being a mediocre artist. It's not a bad place to work but I would leave after a couple of years if you really care about your artistry and stock.
Last thing the pay is low, if you don't negotiate you will get low balled.Advice to Management
To many cooks in the kitchen. Promote the right people in key position. Wipe away most of the older leads, most are complacent and bring nothing new for the better of the company.
ArenaNet 2018-08-13 00:40 PDTHelpful (1)
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"Good Devs, Bad Leadership"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
Neutral OutlookDisapproves of CEOI worked at ArenaNet full-time (More than 3 years)
Pros
good benefits, great developers, strong positive team dynamics, passionate people, great career development opportunities, good middle management (team leads)
Cons
mediocre pay, egotistical upper management, conflicting messages on work/life balance
Advice to Management
stop driving away talent with bad pay and meaningless personal conflict. get better at making concrete decisions. take risks.
ArenaNet 2018-07-30 16:45 PDTHelpful (2)
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"Once Great"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
Doesn't RecommendNegative OutlookDisapproves of CEOI worked at ArenaNet full-time (More than 3 years)
Pros
A lot of the people working on the ground level are great, supportive people.
Cons
There are major problems currently in middle management, making it an exceptionally stressful and demoralizing place to work.
Advice to Management
Managers of all levels need to get more involved with the development process, and offer actual direction, as opposed to ignoring projects until the last minute then coming in and asking for huge, sweeping changes to things that have been locked down for months.
ArenaNet 2018-07-01 09:38 PDTHelpful (3)
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"A wonderful culture"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI have been working at ArenaNet full-time (More than 5 years)
Pros
Some amazing minds without "shoulder chips" to worry about, ArenaNet is a highly art-centric and creative work environment. There is a no-crunch focus and family friendly mentality that is hard to find elsewhere in the industry.
Cons
There are some communication problems within production and a general `go with the flow` attitude about planning that forces a lot of unnecessary re-scoping of even the smallest parts. Nothing unusual or extreme by industry standards but definitely something to consider. We can always be better.
Advice to Management
A little more focus on transparency and communication. There is a lot being done by the higher ups to improve, but there is work to be done in middle-management and overall studio culture.
ArenaNet 2018-05-06 19:16 PDT![ArenaNet Logo]()
"Good Entry Company"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsPositive OutlookDisapproves of CEOI worked at ArenaNet (More than 3 years)
Pros
People are exceedingly friendly and are willing to help you grow your skill set and careers.
Very focused on their disciplines
Good work life balance
Everyone works hard and is very hungry
Moves fastCons
Moves fast, breaks things, but does not necessarily go back to fix them. This leads to a lot of hard to decipher legacy products, code and design.
Lack of communication between teams
Their production style creates knowledge and specialty silos which does not promote cross discipline work. Like, artists not knowing what designers are doing, or server programmers not know what other client programmers are doing.
Leadership does not always adopt new technology, and there is a lot of proprietary technology that requires maintenance, which can distract from overall creative goals.
Usually low salary, even for games.ArenaNet 2018-05-17 09:04 PDT![ArenaNet Logo]()
"Adequate place to start a career. Mediocre place to grow a more senior career."
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
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- Senior Management
Doesn't RecommendPositive OutlookNo opinion of CEOI worked at ArenaNet full-time
Pros
Top-notch technologies/products.
Great work-life balance (little/no crunch time.)Cons
Little/no opportunities for career advancement for those with more than a few years experience. Retention problems because of that.
Things move at a snails pace with lots of overhead.
Support of diversity is uneven across the company. Very good in some areas. Utter failure in others.
Compensation is low-to-average.Advice to Management
Career growth of employees should be a review goal of managers. Trust in the experience of your more senior employees across roles, you're not using it.
ArenaNet 2018-05-31 13:26 PDT![ArenaNet Logo]()
"Overall a good employment experience"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI worked at ArenaNet full-time (More than 10 years)
Pros
A lot of good talent, some downright great talent. Management is getting significantly better lately.
Cons
Management used to be a mixed bag. Some smart, experienced folks, some textbook wannabes.
Advice to Management
Let management evolve down the current path, you have something good going on.
ArenaNet 2018-02-05 10:41 PST![ArenaNet Logo]()
"Exciting studio; kind and talented coworkers"
StarStarStarStarStar- Work/Life Balance
- Culture & Values
- Career Opportunities
- Comp & Benefits
- Senior Management
RecommendsPositive OutlookApproves of CEOI worked at ArenaNet full-time (Less than a year)
Pros
- A company that really means it with work-life balance
- Great teams, kind people, leadership that is engaged, compassionate, accessible, and fun
- Commitment to avoiding “crunch” and focusing on long term sustainability
- Impressive talent, high ambitions
- A great game under their belt
- Company on exciting growth trajectory
- Active efforts to improve what pain points do exist
- Strong benefitsCons
- Paying for parking
- Somewhat limited lunch options nearby; studio location somewhat awkward in relation to major cities
- Things in flux / mid-growth means some growing pains and uneven workloadsAdvice to Management
Keep doing what you’re doing by bringing in top talent and keeping an eye toward the future!
ArenaNet 2018-01-29 03:36 PST
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