I am also very "pro-real life", which is selfish from me because I only do "photorealistic" meant imagery, but there is a fine line. I only care about the end-result, not means to get there.
And modelled bulbs with emitters to light scenes at same time is just overkill.
Completely opposite was this recent tutorial on Maxwell website called "Think like photographer" (LOL because it had nothing to do with that...), which advertised hidden area lights everywhere, not to boost light, but completely fake it ! Even GI !
I was like what the fuck ? Why would I use something like Maxwell if I wanted something so incredibly crappy fake. Renderers should foremost cater to their CORE customers and intentions. Otherwise they end up bloated over-robust craps which excel at nothing particular (IMHO Vray slightly felt into this trap, as it's now midway between its design-field origins and currently headed entertainment area ). But one renderer simply can't satisfy fully both (otherwise renderers like PRMan and Maxwell would cease to exist in their current forms, even though Maxwell seems to be confused at times and still tries to get into VFX no matter what...like anyone cares..)
2014+ onwards will be "Specialized/Niche" solutions everywhere, in every sort of bussiness. No more too universal approach. Now there is finally bussiness oportunity for such solutions, because of over-saturated market. It was hardly viable before.