For what little its worth Beamer, I thought it was a great post. But yes, it will fall on deaf ears, or TL:DR A.D.D posters.
I still check Blues every single day (or more), but checking the comments reveals just the same old tired diatribe from the jaded few, as opposed to when games were actually openly debated for their merits and flaws.
Checking the comments here is atually kinda humorous, as 95% of the time you can predict why there are 50 posts on a certain subject before even clicking to view them. Self entitlement, jade, DRM, x developer fucked you personally etc etc are always at the forefront before anyone actually considers the games themselves. The aging PC 'community' is self-destructive, and only has itself to blame (not that anyone will accept this - awaiting same tired responses to be shovelled out).
GG Valve, eagerly await your next game, your next mould-breaking marketing, your early release and your community engagement. Yes, we do exist.