Eric Barone's success with Stardew Valley won this debate. Hell, Eric won this debate by virtue. He didn't have to do everything himself, but the very fact he's

Eric Barone's success with Stardew Valley won this debate. Hell, Eric won this debate by virtue. He didn't have to do everything himself, but the very fact he's limited anyone else working on the game has played a huge role in every port of it continuing to sit in the top 10 for sales nearly four years on from its release. I love Eric. Like, love him. He did something unimportant, but it meant something to him. And over time, it began to mean something to other people. Harvest Moon is not a massive selling franchise, so Stardew Valley was more likely to flop on that basis alone. Then you add in that indie devs get little exposure, no advertising, none of the connections that AAA companies have access to. And then there's the fact the game wasn't broadly tested before release. Eric had weeks of major bugs to patch right after release, and the pressure of hundreds of thousands of people who'd just spent $15 on his game. But maybe, just maybe, the patience and gratitude he received for his unimportant game was all the product of what he did and how he did it. Any of the people could've said, "Just sell this to Valve. They'll fix it. You're in over your head, dude." But instead, he got a lot of, "Saves still corrupt. But make sure you get some sleep!" and a whole lot of "Can't get X to work, so I'm going to do Y." People could've abandoned the game. They didn't. I like this idea of unimportant things. I can't be the only person thinking it's both absurd to spend time inventing a new way to keep shoes on our feet, but also thinking it's absurd we're using a piece of string still but sending billion-dollar machines to collect soil from nearby planets.