Wow, I'm totally surprised by the two comments so far.

As a professional software developer, its VERY CLEAR that certain character types just do not have the temperament, self-discipline, and motivation to carry out the necessary self-learning and slog-work required to succeed in the games industry.

Software development of ANY sort requires a love of what you do. If you don't enjoy it, if you aren't driven to excel at it, you won't ever make it into any of the serious game development firms, and the second-rate ones you end up at won't be too thrilled about you either. Having interviewed a lot of developers, I speak from experience.

There isn't any real lack of people trying to get into the game industry. Practically half of the software industry thinks about getting into games. But the long hours, low pay, thankless tasks, and extreme pressure mean that most just would not make it, and are wasting their own time and potential to try it.

Richard Bartle isn't saying don't get into the game industry. He's saying that unless you are serious and have the character traits required to succeed, you'd be happier and better placed looking elsewhere.