getting good results in BASIC isn't any easier than getting good results in C++. Either you can make a good game or your cant - the only effect the tool makes is whether you give up before you finish it or not.
I disagree completely. For one thing C++ is a more difficult beast ... which is why you aren't using it yet and you are defending BASIC.
As far as games go ... yes you can make something good in BASIC or C++ and the gamer won't care ... and more important for the topic it's more a matter of game design skill and production values then programming ... usually. Of course if you're going to try and make something truly amazing then you also need amazing programming ... and BASIC isn't amazing!
You mention a pyramid to describe the skill levels of programmers of each development platform. Well ... as it works with programmers walking up the pyramid BASIC is often the first step ... and C++ among others are above that. So BASIC is kind of the sub-par player in this pyramid.
Asm.
/ \
C++ Coding
/ \
BASIC Programs
...isn't the simple fact that high quality output is the domain of only the top members of each community evidence that the final quality of what we make is down to us as programmers, and not the tools we use.
Yes and no ... everytime I produce something of relative enough high quality in one domain I look for the next more challenging but equally more rewarding domain. If you're still fixated on the domain of BASIC then that's fine ... I felt content with it at one point also. However, now I realize that it's time to move on. BASIC will never do all I need it to do and I'll never make the highest quality product I can possibly make using BASIC. The quality of the final product isn't just game design, graphics, user input, etc... there's a lot more to a game then just what you can 'gameplayically' make it do.
As I said ... C++ is the force and BASIC is the Death Star both are powerful when attempting to achieve one type of goal (destroying planets or creating games) but in the end the Death Star is based on the force and the force can completely overshadow it when used correctly.