I don't know what the GP was specifically referring to, but one of those things is not like the other. If the GP was talking about lo-fi or procedural assets, then Starcraft doesn't fit in there, as it required a significant investment in asset creation. If the GP was talking about the kind of slow growth and relying on a sort of "long tail" of fans, Starcraft also doesn't make sense since it was a big budget game following several other hits from an established studio.
If you just mean that your game won't be a hit, that's a risk no matter what you invest in it, whether it's long nights in your free time or a 100 developers and artists and several years.
But I think Dwarf Fortress and Minecraft are examples of breaking out of the mold of big AAA titles laden with creative assets and a heavy script, which are closer to interactive movies than DF and Minecraft.
