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I feel like he honestly tries to be humble about everything, but with everything he's done it's awfully difficult. One thing about the book, it's very much "a

I feel like he honestly tries to be humble about everything, but with everything he's done it's awfully difficult. One thing about the book, it's very much "a life in computer games" as the title says, and not a full autobiography. Events outside of the games don't come up much. I think he meets his wife and gets married within the space of a paragraph.

itsoktocry 3y ago
>Events outside of the games don't come up much This is the way like my biogrpahies because, let's face it, there's no reason to think there's anything interesting about his personal life.
- acheron 3y ago
  Ha, and I'm sure that's how he thought of it too.
- fragmede 3y ago
  Given that billions of people have not put out anything remotely close to Sid Meier's oeuvre, what makes him different is of great interest to me. Was he just born that way? Did he go to elementary school and get hit in the head with board games until computer games came out? After the success of the first few games, why not just rest on his laurels and pump out Civilization 16 with barely any changes since Civ II? Was his wife the one to support them financially so he could work on video games before he was so immensely successful? The history of the games themselves are less interesting to me because I played them. What made them happen, where his personal life plays a component, might be of interest to fans of his, at least more than a paragraph saying oh yeah he got married at some point.
  - jvanderbot 3y ago
    Think of it this way, someone had to be best. It's like saying a book is obviously best because it's been handed down for generations, or a song is great because everyone knows it. There will always be a best selling version of something, and you may not need anything special about it other than a coincidence of luck, skill, and inspiration, of which only luck accelerates the first success so that the subsequent ones have the opportunity to succeed. In this respect, the ancillary factors are always quite boring because they don't influence the making of great games - they don't slow anything down. Others may have had a sick day at the wrong time or a hopeless addiction to reading the paper in the morning, or mild depression, or a vibrant social life that distracted them, or something equally mundane. If the book avoids personal details, it's probably because they weren't differential factors, and we'll never know about the second or third best version of him because games (and life) are not a double blind process. Success breeds opportunities.
    - fragmede 3y ago
      > the ancillary factors are always quite boring to you. I gave reasons I find them interesting. You don't have to find them interesting.
      - jvanderbot 3y ago
        Yes, of course. IMHO only.
MavisBacon 3y ago
Definitely a very humble and nice guy. I was friends with his son when we were kids back in the 90s. He drove some cheap sedan and lived in modest digs in the suburbs of a Baltimore. Went out of his way and meet and autograph something for my older cousin who idolized him.

itsoktocry 3y ago

>Events outside of the games don't come up much This is the way like my biogrpahies because, let's face it, there's no reason to think there's anything interesting about his personal life.

acheron 3y ago
Ha, and I'm sure that's how he thought of it too.
fragmede 3y ago
Given that billions of people have not put out anything remotely close to Sid Meier's oeuvre, what makes him different is of great interest to me. Was he just born that way? Did he go to elementary school and get hit in the head with board games until computer games came out? After the success of the first few games, why not just rest on his laurels and pump out Civilization 16 with barely any changes since Civ II? Was his wife the one to support them financially so he could work on video games before he was so immensely successful? The history of the games themselves are less interesting to me because I played them. What made them happen, where his personal life plays a component, might be of interest to fans of his, at least more than a paragraph saying oh yeah he got married at some point.
- jvanderbot 3y ago
  Think of it this way, someone had to be best. It's like saying a book is obviously best because it's been handed down for generations, or a song is great because everyone knows it. There will always be a best selling version of something, and you may not need anything special about it other than a coincidence of luck, skill, and inspiration, of which only luck accelerates the first success so that the subsequent ones have the opportunity to succeed. In this respect, the ancillary factors are always quite boring because they don't influence the making of great games - they don't slow anything down. Others may have had a sick day at the wrong time or a hopeless addiction to reading the paper in the morning, or mild depression, or a vibrant social life that distracted them, or something equally mundane. If the book avoids personal details, it's probably because they weren't differential factors, and we'll never know about the second or third best version of him because games (and life) are not a double blind process. Success breeds opportunities.
  - fragmede 3y ago
    > the ancillary factors are always quite boring to you. I gave reasons I find them interesting. You don't have to find them interesting.
    - jvanderbot 3y ago
      Yes, of course. IMHO only.

MavisBacon 3y ago

Definitely a very humble and nice guy. I was friends with his son when we were kids back in the 90s. He drove some cheap sedan and lived in modest digs in the suburbs of a Baltimore. Went out of his way and meet and autograph something for my older cousin who idolized him.