My 8+ years experience in SEO would probably be a start..
This is true, however, SEO is not always about creating 'perceived value' rather it is possible to create value i.e. genuine people blogging about your sites with their own large blogging networks. It is possible to create long-term results but ultimately it is the guys with the biggest budgets that will win.
In many verticals yes, the general public do "blog" but in the gaming industry, particularly areas like casino which are often regarded as less socially acceptable, it doesn't happen. Blogs are 90% done for SEO with a handful perhaps for affiliated monetisation and certainly anyone with a large network of blogs would be the former.
Ultimately though, links are too easy to abuse and there will come a time when link juice is all but irrelevant in ranking algorithms anyway. It will dwindle on for now obviously, with the last bastion no doubt being links from "authority" sites but IMO, any links from blogging networks that still have value, are merely for short-term gain.
What links could do however is maybe push a site more into Google's limelight whereupon it can better assess authority.
The long term goal for any site has to be authority: valuable content - not "quality content" as is so often touted. Anyone can produce
quality content with a bit of research but valuable content comes from an authority. Community sites aside, I think you could count on one (OK, maybe two) hands the number of authority sites in the online casino sphere. There are lots of very good sites but very few that would be missed if they weren't there tomorrow.
There is of course a good argument that SEO provides an alternative to people who can't build authority but it's obvious where the search engines (or "knowledge engines"!) are headed so we're right back into the short-term gain area. Which will suit many people especially, as you say, the richer ones who prefer to ride the waves and can afford to churn and burn.
In light of how Penguin actually penalised sites who went link building to rank, it's a bit more dangerous if you are trying to build a "brand" I would suggest. In fact, Google sent a very clear warning there that if you do things to manipulate your own ranking you have to accept that there might be consequences down the line.