I remember HT commenting an a simular issue, some time ago.
He said that the more realistically one models stuff in, it means more variety in the outcome, since many different factors are in work with all kinds of different situations. Then he said what really sucks is that people actually hate variety and like consistency, except a certain level of consistency can only be achieved when the modelling is actually done unrealistically. So, people say that they want more realism, but they complain about realism if one actually models it that way.
At least, it was something like that IIRC.