It was amazing. Half of devops was stoned during work hours. I actually think it helped, because they usually had their hands full and probably needed stress relief. In spite of being stoned, they were far more competent and responsive than any devops personnel I've had to deal with since then. They really knew their shit, because porn sites are a big target for scammers, hackers, etc. They always knew about the latest exploits, backdoors and whatnot.
A couple decades ago, I worked support for a smaller national ISP (since swallowed and re-swallowed up), where at the time the "unofficial" drug test policy was, "you bring 'em, we'll test 'em."
I do think the porn industry by nature tends to push some limits in terms of tech... It's to the likes of the riaa, mpaa and LinkedIn to be the ones who push the bounds of unscrupulous tech.
I've been saying for years, eventually it will have to come full circle, that ad delivery controls will have to be first party, and that if they continue to push the overbearing, over the top ads, people will just not read the content and leave. That's what will start to come next. FTR, it didn't have to be via websocket, it could still be services, rpc, and other channels... though websocket to a canvas would allow for a different level of control, and less chance for adblock bypass.
All the same, it's interesting and somewhat cool...
Devops working for a porn company getting stoned because they are stressed... interesting you say they had their hands full. Maybe that's why they didn't get any work done? :P
