[Nutmog]

If the early 80's was good, then something else must be bad. Perhaps you meant it was good compared to what happened before, or compared to what it would have been if people didn't make games. But a reasonable guess is good compared to today, which is an implicitly negative comment about today's programmers. I think the reply was quite reasonable - it doesn't make sense to glorify the past when the present has massively more of what was good about the past.

[oldmanjay]

you have a zero-sum model of things that does not reflect reality well.

[hartpuff]

> If the early 80's was good, then something else must be bad.

If programming from one era was good, why do you think that means programming from another era "must be bad"? Why can't good programming exist in both eras?

> But a reasonable guess is good compared to today

If you insist on guessing there's more to my final sentence, why isn't a reasonable guess, "as well as non-amazing programming back then" or "just as there is amazing programming today"?