Excellent post. I was about to mention the same things but you beat me to it.

However I think it's worth mentioning that games such as Starcraft offer the unique opportunity to taste glory (at least in Korea) at no personal risk. In the same way that Rome's gladiators had their whole lives defined and determined by the games, perhaps Starcraft players live and breathe the game and consider it their ultimate purpose? With such a mindset, analyzing costs and missed opportunities becomes irrelevant: you don't need to learn skills because you are already doing what you love.