There are a lot of interesting and very sobering thougths in this thread. Sad ones too. I think, at the end of the day, the people who really desperately want to make games, will make them whether they are paid to do so or have a team to share the work. There is ALWAYS something you can do, even as a one-man band.
Boy, have I joined and believed many a mod team (leader) or stand alone amateur games, and gotten some practise, and wasted time on things that never became anything.
My question to you guys who have obviously been around the block a few more times than me, how do you spot a team with a figting chance of making it?
