Once again, it seems to me that a large part of the disagreement comes from a problem of definitions and perspectives. You and Gandalf don't, I think, mean the same thing when you say "bad" or "dud nations" (if Gandalf ever affirms those terms
). I think Gandalf's concern is that people new to the game or new to the topic may get the wrong idea, and that he's trying to supply the contexts and provisos that others are leaving out when they comment about things in a negative way. Of course there are also cases where people haven't considered the good sides of something, or haven't learned the good uses of things (e.g. Agarthan amphibians, Sidhe assassin, human heavy infantry).