I’ve noticed when people are critiquing models, like heads or surfaces, they’ll ask to see the wireframe version, what does that tell you that just looking at the object wouldn’t?
It shows the topology of the object better and hence makes giving advice easier.
Often people showing their model ask, “Will this animate well?” To answer this question, seeing topology is crucial, since the edge loops determine how well the model will deform with an armature or shape keys. If you can’t see where the edges are, you can’t tell.
Plus, with a really interesting model it’s often interesting to see how they made it, like with one of those Escher shapes for example.
And for some artists (myself not included) it’s the only way to prove it’s not a photo.
Because people like to see how some complex meshes are made is one reason.
And of course to tell the artist something if something’s wrong with topology.
I use it in getting rid of wrinkles, to see how the vertices align as I rotate the mesh, so that I have smooth curves. Also for marking seams cause it’s like translucent and easy to see the edges; solids can hide the verts and edges; and i work a lot with the “Dont let me select stuff I cant see” option on alot.
Also, keep in mind a LOT of our users are old tech, and wireframe is the only way to do any serious work. And by low tech, before any of you get upset, I AM old tech, cause some of my PCs are 500Mhz P3 with 640Meg…not a slouch by any standard, but any size file in solid mode bogsssssss dooooowwwwwnnnnn with my cheap little ATI on-board card.