For what its worth, Richard Garriott is not just a "gamer" or "designer" -- he's better known as Lord British, the creator of the Ultima series of games -- a hugely successful series of computer role-playing games. Ultima faded after a disastrously bad Ultima IX and Ultima OnLine was eclipsed by World of Warcraft, but at one time, he was a household name among gamers.

I've never worked in the computer gaming industry, though I do know people who have. Its my understanding its actually a pretty crummy job. It doesn't pay very well and the hours are miserable. So many kids right out of college want to go out and program video games, they pay lousy wages and expect grueling hours, because people think its cool to work on video games and are willing to put up with it. You can get rich in it, obviously, but I'd say your odds are about the same as in any other industry.

So, unless you're in the buggy whip business or some such (what business are you in, anyway?), you're not in the wrong business; Garriott just happened to get really successful in his.