ohh no. No, I can't do that. I have to e able to hear what is happening in the game. I am happy to have no music, if the music isn't very good, but I need the footfalls and hinge creaks, wind whistling and impact noises in fights. Feels too weird otherwise.

Sound is one of the key things for me in game atmosphere. Much more so than graphics. There's nothing like good sound design for conjuring a sense of realism and atmosphere.

Agreed. We'll leave the effects on sometimes if the game gives audio clue-ins that something's gonna happen. Like, if you hear a moan just before a zombie lurches around the corner. Sometimes we leave them off so it makes it that much more difficult/fun/entertaining to the ones watching.

This backfired big time on "The Da Vinci Code". There's a four-digit safe combination that was said aloud during the game, one time, and we had the sound off. Had to go online to find that out.

Agreed.
I couldn't care less about graphics actually.
If you can make everything else fantastic then what does it matter, y'know?
I've seen games with fantastic graphics just.. suck.
I love the sounds of games though. I'd only go without if I absolutely couldn't stand it.