People didn't turn away from these games because they don't want realism; they turned away because primitive world-generation and AI are not very convincing. Creating a building layout and a story by hand are much closer to reality than whatever Nethack can generate; the only problem is volume (Nethack could create one very unrealistic dungeon for every playthrough).
Reality has nothing to do with making a successful video game. Of the top 10 video games of 2013 were Animal Crossing, Monster Hunter, Pokemon X/Y, Assassin's Creed, Bioshock Infinite, and Grand Theft Auto.
I mean, doggies taking down Helicopters is cool and everything and makes for an exciting storyline... but no one is going to convince me that the action inside of Call of Duty: Ghosts is "realistic".
With regeneration (Bullet shots to the chest recovers in seconds), Medpacks that magically heal you and so forth... the modern FPS is hardly realistic... but a fantasy designed to make gameplay fun.
After all, "campers" make games go stale, even if it is the most effective and realistic tactic of games. Modern games discourage camping and encourage close-up action.
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Those who fight for "realism" don't understand the typical gamer. Why have a realistic fight when you can instead, turn into a dragon? http://dota2.gamepedia.com/Dragon_Knight
