I love cutscenes, but very rarely in the context of the game itself. At least, not in situations where the player loses control of their character, unless there's a very good reason to, such as having their character knocked unconscious, bound in chains, magically bound, something of the sort. Even then, I feel it should be used sparingly.

However, I admit I'm a sucker for a well-done cinematic, especially if it's depicting major events. Nothing annoys me more than when a huge event takes place and it isn't done justice because they had to or felt the desire to have it play out with the in-game engine.

To use a common example, and spoilers are ahead for people who have been living under a rock, when Maiev kills Illidan in the Black Temple. That's a huge event. But it's just done through a quick, somewhat boring and anti-climactic game-engine scene, when it was an event that deserved at least a short cinematic.

In other words: Let the player control it all, put the player at the forefront and don't force him to be a bystander. When you have to for the sake of the story - which should only be done for major plot points - give us a short and exciting cinematic and not some underwhelming game-engine + text scene.

I know this isn't taking into account the time and money it takes to produce a cinematic, but just me speaking as what I would ideally enjoy, unrealistic though it may be.