The Daily Grind: Do you want realism or awesome?

I realize that any discussion of realism in MMOs can quickly devolve into absurdity, but bear with me. I was recently involved in a discussion between some guildies of mine who were extolling the virtues of Tribes: Ascend over more realistic FPS games. "It's the jetpacks," they told me. In a realism-driven FPS, there's an emphasis on physics and gravity, but in Tribes, it's all about the jetpacks and learning how to fight effectively while using one. The fun of a game like that is in how awesome it is to break realism, not in how true-to-life it might be.

Pure MMOs are no different. Many games make compromises along the spectrum of reality, especially when it comes to travel: In some games, we're grounded, forced to use a horse or our own two feet to make our way across the world; in others, we teleport via magical contraptions or leap tall buildings in a single bound. So riddle me this: When it boils down to it, what do you prefer to be the guiding principle of your MMOs -- realism or awesome?

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!