Ocean is fucking alone at work. Do you finally understand this?
Sure, it was his own decision to go the way of a self employed game dev, but that doesn't matter. It's a huge difference if you have a way to work and back while interact physically with others, have lunch/smoke breaks during your work days with others, have the opportunity for short small talk.
Ocean - as far we are know - has nothing of this, his workplace in his apartment, no real physical social interaction with others beside discord. What we know about are his visity in the gym. These are all small things that consume the mind and soul, and sooner rather than later inevitably the body, as the one is inextricably linked to the other.
I would go insane if I would sit 8-10 hours 6 days at week in a fucking single room starring into a monitor without the opportunity to do some on the things mentioned above. And the knowledge, that if you screw things up your income can be go to zero from one day to another makes things not easier.
Humans are social creatures that always seek company and form communities, which is what has made our species the dominant life form on this planet.
And after reading this I'm not sure if you're not just a pitiful creature who I'm lucky not to have anyone similar myself at work.
This is real, whatever anyone else might say, the disconnect of working alone is brutal. At most work places there are resources, protocals and forms, and people who can point you to solutions. There is no IT dept, there is no accounts dept, no HR, no advertising ...just you, responsible for everything with no training in anything other than your specialty. You're required to know every relevant law, all the ins and outs of business tax. In Ocean's case, international laws, copyright laws etc. There's no one to get help from that you don't pay for.
People who haven't worked self employed have no idea - you do every job, often for less than the pay of one, simply because you like your own hours or the field of work. Firends who work the 9-5 day don't understand why you're unable to go to bbq's on the weekend, or why you wait months for clients to honour their invoices.
Sure there's being effective, but in the creative field, almost all your clients (if that's you're business model) are less organised, and will take every spare minute of your time they can. The smaller the job, the worse the expectations.
The biggest thing I've learned is to take regular breaks to clear the head and walk, and buy the best coffee you can afford for the best coffee machine you can afford
Being in front of a screen for 18 hours a day is fine, if you speand some of that time doing something other than work. The drain is that you have to answer all the questions yourself, and if you don't, they sit there unanswered.
It's no wonder Ocean isn't here - it's hard enough managing the expectations of the people who pay you, without having to manage the expectations of the people who don't.
