20-30k a year is way below industry standard if we're talking USD. http://gamedeveloper.texterity.com/gamedeveloper/fall2011cg#pg27 44k is the average for <3 years for an artist.
Trine is totally worth $5. I bought it for $20 on the psn and it's been worth that for sure. If you can get local multiplayer going, do it. It's tons of fun.
Wow, that's pretty incredible for only 20 bucks! I was thinking about buying a non-commercial copy of crazybump, but might have to check out shadermap instead.
I think almost anyone who's managed a team will agree with most of what you're saying - where opinions will differ is over where it is beneficial to the business to make the sort of investment you describe vs just quickly hiring someone who can do a good enough job. For me personally - if I can reasonably expect a hire to…