and if your code is the least time consuming part that's still really really sad
Games are about gameplay design and programming is about forethought. Therefore game design is the biggest single most important aspect of making games.
You can ask any of the programmers you have named if i'm talking sierra or not and you will almost certainly get the same reply.
If you did not design your game then you spend most of your actual time coding doing things that you would have done in the design stage an awful lot faster.
are you impressed by flash games? Seriously
A few have been very enjoyable but most flash game authors tend to write very short and very simple affairs which are not impressive - but I have nothing against the platform.