At the same time, it would be nice to have that level of resources to devote to a project like HL3, even if it was only "sold" to the bean counters as an excellent way to boost the company's reputation and "standing" from a marketing angle.

Then again, as picky and vocal as gamers can be, would they even want to risk ending up with a less than stellar result? At this point the status of HL3 has become so huge as to provide countless running jokes and cliches. Could they even risk putting out something that wasn't the second (third?) coming?