• BigFig@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    Mummy, why can’t we have dinner today?

    I’m sorry honey but you have to understand that daddy took a risk otherwise he would feel hollow! Sure we’re broke now because he quit his job to do a thing and it didn’t take off, and your little brother Timmy had to go live with Gramma or else he’d starve, but think of how daddy feels now! Not hollow!

      • FooBarrington@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        GPs comment was hyperbole, but it holds true for most countries.

        I live in Germany and make a pretty good salary as a developer. If I could, I’d take ½-1 year off work to develop one of a few games I’ve been designing over the last couple of years. In-between jobs I always start working on them, and those 1-2 months are a blast, much more fun than regular work.

        But even though I have enough savings to do so, I really can’t, because it would mean:

        1. My career progression will pause, less future income
        2. I need my savings for unforeseen emergencies
        3. Losing out on a year of income will worsen my chances of ever affording my own apartment/house, and will worsen my private retirement savings

        When the result is most likely making 0€, it’s hard to justify the risk.

      • JustEnoughDucks@feddit.nl
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        3 days ago

        We have decent worker protections in Belgium, but if you quit your job here to work on games I don’t know if you have the right to unemployment (since you weren’t fired). Even then, it only lasts for a year or so if you have worked at the place for 5 years, with the monthly payment decreasing significantly until the last few months you only get like 500€ per month.

      • Stamets@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        Yeah… The constant assumption that everyone who speaks English has to be a Yankee Doodle Dandy or that their way always applies is tiring

      • boonhet@sopuli.xyz
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        3 days ago

        Where do you live that nobody needs to work? I would sure like to move there.

        • Don_alForno@feddit.org
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          3 days ago

          “A family whose business failed will not just be left to starve” is very different from “nobody needs to work”.

          • boonhet@sopuli.xyz
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            3 days ago

            I mean sure, your friends and family won’t let you starve. But you can’t rely on them forever. Government ain’t doing shit either: At least in my country, to get unemployment benefits, you need to be laid off or fired. If you quit your job to develop a game and fail, that’s on you. Yes, there’s also disability benefits, but those are small and require you to be disabled. Food banks exist too, but they don’t help you pay rent, nor do you get a full month’s worth of food every month.

            All in all, a family with kids must have at least one working adult or HUGE savings.

            So again, where’s the paradise where government will keep your rent or mortgage paid and your family fed if your game dev endeavour doesn’t pan out? I wanna move there.