Speaking as a player who grew up playing SS games and didn't really play many EM games at all until this year...

If I'm out on location and putting real money in to play, I prefer replays. In a home environment or membership arcade environment (buy a membership for admission, all games are on free play), I prefer extra ball/AAB, or sometimes even novelty play. This is true for every game made from the dawn of coin-op pinball to the present.

The best example I can think of is the Cyclone at the membership arcade where I most often play. I really wish it was set for extra ball play. Getting the special from the mystery award is basically the same as getting "zilch" without the "you pays your money and you takes your chances" quote.

Getting back to an EM context, the replay levels on EM games, if set properly, are good for knowing I have racked up a pretty good score without having to look up at the score counter. If I'm not paying per game to play (can EM games even be reasonably modified to require, say, 50 cents per game?) there's no value other than satisfaction in getting a replay from a playfield special and knowing I'd have another credit to play and/or give away were I actually playing this at a coin-op location.