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I found out about this from reading Blood, Sweat and Pixels [1]. What really struck me about this whole story is the fact that his partner was able to support h
by stuxnet79 8y ago
I found out about this from reading Blood, Sweat and Pixels [1]. What really struck me about this whole story is the fact that his partner was able to support him for the entire duration he was working on the game (close to half a decade). That's a tough sell for any relationship, and if you ask me the real hero of this story is his partner who believed in him enough to support him all the way to the end. I would love to be in that kind of relationship.
[1] https://kotaku.com/i-wrote-a-book-about-the-making-of-uncharted-4-star-wa-1792635169 https://kotaku.com/i-wrote-a-book-about-the-making-of-unchar...
- NikolaNovak 8y ago1. Agreed - supporting your partner through weeks and months is one thing; but half a decade is a whole relationship in itself. It is a tremendous commitment on both sides. 2. Great book and I can wholeheartedly recommend it; on one hand it's stories on video game industry and its characters - on the other hand it's a primer on complex project management as well.
- kermittd 8y agoThat’s an incredible book. A bit off chapter but it’s a shame Obsidian can’t seem to catch a break.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- golemiprague 8y agoNo, she is not the "real hero", supporting is nice but it is just supporting. To be honest many men support their wives, I know countless families where the men is the provider and the women go to study for years or just shopping and sitting in cafes. There is nothing special about it and I don't understand why when a woman does it suddenly she is the "real hero".
- vtange 8y agoAgreed. The notion that "Wow, any woman would've left this man for a guy who makes more, so this is an extraordinary relationship" sorta reinforces the assumption that men must be the breadwinner in any normal relationship.
- maxander 8y agoIn the context of a society with gender norms like ours, it is special and probably quite unusual. And typically in male-supported households the woman is responsible for housework and child care, which clearly wasn’t this developer’s primary occupation. We can certainly hope for a world where this sort of thing is commonplace, but it’s not the one we’re in right now.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- buboard 8y ago> with gender norms like ours, it is special forgive me, but gender norms have changed even in eastern europe. Is america that left behind?
- adventured 8y ago> forgive me, but gender norms have changed even in eastern europe. Is america that left behind? Labor force participation rate for women, by country: US 56%, Lithuania 56%, Estonia 56%, Germany 55%, Finland 55%, Latvia 55%, Austria 55%, Portugal 53%, Ireland 53%, Spain 52%, Luxembourg 52%, Slovenia 52%, Czech 52%, Slovakia 52%, Armenia 51%, France 51%, Hungary 48%, Bulgaria 48%, Belgium 48%, Albania 47%, Ukraine 47%, Serbia 46%, Greece 46%, Croatia 45%, Romania 44%, Macedonia 42%, Italy 40%, Moldova 39%, Bosnia 35%, Turkey 32% Iceland 73%, Norway 61%, Sweden 61%, Denmark 59%, Netherlands 58%, Belarus 58%, Russia 57%, United Kingdom 57%
- kuerbel 8y agoWhat you are (intentionally?) not saying is that the rate of women participating in the workforce is steadily on the rise since decades while otoh the rate of men steadily drops. http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/labour-force-participation-rate-female-male-ratio http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/labour-force-participation-ra... In most developed countries the rate is slowly but surely reaching equal levels.
- buboard 8y ago
- l33tbro 8y agoAgreed. Would have been nice to hear a little more from her in this piece. While I deeply admire Eric for his incredible talent and follow-through, his partner must have gone through hell to facilitate his ambitions.
- jamesrcole 8y ago> his partner must have gone through hell to facilitate his ambitions. Concerning the financial side of this, I think "must have" is a bit of an overstatement. A family with one or more children is often supported by a single income (and, from my recollection of reading "Blood, Sweat and Pixels", I don't think it mentions them having children, though I could be wrong). Not at all trying to diminish what she did, however!
- kupiakos 8y agoDepending on where they live, a single income family is perfectly reasonable.
- kevin_thibedeau 8y agoDo the spouses of stay at home wives go through hell too? If there was enough income to have only one wage earner then it wasn't hell.
- zrobotics 8y agoIt's not just income though- people like to spend at least some time with their partners, and from the article: "Eric’s duties as partner had slipped drastically behind his personal ambition to perfect the game. He guiltily recognizes Amber felt lonelier and lonelier as he pushed on, but he did little to address it—he still worked 12 hours a day on the game, often going straight from his desk to the theater for an evening shift." This is an entirely different level than a stay at home spouse. The article mentions he worked part time during this period, and that his girlfriend is currently attending college. So this is not a situation of a sole income earner, but rather a man so obsessively dedicated to a project that it consumed nearly all aspects of his life.
- 8y ago
- tvanantwerp 8y agoI read the same book. Came away from the chapter on SDV thinking, "Wow, I'd be divorced if I'd tried that." That's some unbelievable love and commitment, and I'd say he's quite a lucky man.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- Pica_soO 8y agoThe problem often starts, when the power dynamic in such a relationship suddenly swings around. It takes somebody well grounded to reality, to survive this with love.
- mattigames 8y agoWell, let's be honest here; it really depends on the job she has, for example if she is an anesthesiologist is exponentially easier to support her partner than if she has a low-paying job like barista or something alike.
- kayoone 8y agoit's not only about the money young fella. A long and uncertain project without any income like that is a tough sell for any relationship.
- dEnigma 8y agoYou say it's not about the money, but then you mention income again. What is it about then?
- fossuser 8y agoLots of things - ambition, status, judgement from others, resentment that you’re not able to do the same. Money is probably a prerequisite to being able to do that at all, but it’s not the entire deal.
- romwell 8y ago>it's not only about the money
- dEnigma 8y agoYes, I saw that. But saying something like that and then mentioning nothing but money (income) is a little confusing.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- X6S1x6Okd1st 8y agoEven anesthesiologists need quality time with this partner
- joaomacp 8y agoI agree with earlier comments about this coming off sexist: if genders were turned, would you say a husband was the 'real hero' behind his wife's business success? By the way, he had more support - started the game in 2011, published it to greenlight on Sep 2012, got a publisher in 2013... (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stardew_Valley#Development https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stardew_Valley#Development)
- infiniteseeker 8y ago> and if you ask me the real hero of this story is his partner who believed in him enough to support him all the way to the end Yeah. Just like the real victims of war are women and children. /s
- sfifs 8y ago> That's a tough sell for any relationship, and if you ask me the real hero of this story is his partner who believed in him enough to support him all the way to the end. I'm very surprised you feel that way. It's actually the other way around in my experience. I personally am and know many 30 something couples where one partner has a steady mid to high income job and the other partner is going for a moonshot starting up. It you can afford to support your partner taking a shot like that, why wouldn't you?
- michael_storm 8y agoBecause you’re sinking a huge amount of money into someone’s passion project, for which you may or may not have received equity before being broken up with. Being able to afford something is not a binary situation in which “yes” means you should do it unconditionally.
- zwkrt 8y agoIt is possible to support a partner without treating them as an investment
- sfifs 8y agoHmm context matters I guess... folks I'm referring to have generally been together for a decade... So they may have a somewhat different take on relationship.
- crazygringo 8y agoWow... no. You're committed to a life with someone and want them to be happy because their happiness is your happiness. Money is way less important than being happy in life with someone. But this is about marriages or similar commitment, not "before being broken up with", and also not "unconditional", you need to think it's good for your partner too.
- michael_storm 8y agoReplying to self: I meant “unconditionally” as in without consideration of other factors — not meaning to imply that conditions should be attached to the money.
- hyperpallium 8y agomore context from link: > four-and-a-half-year journey from a college graduate being supported by his girlfriend to a sudden multi-millionaire
- kgwxd 8y agoDid you have to reuse the "close to half a decade" phrase? It triggered one of my pet peeves :) When talking about grueling effort and sacrifices, "almost half a decade". When talking about the amazing feat, "four and a half years". Which is is? Oh it's the same? Why does one seem so much bigger than the other? Cheap trick.
- manigandham 8y agoMany families only have a single income. It's not rare or extraordinary.