Pretty much every hit on the snare is a rim shot for me, unless im doing a fast fill or anything that needs some finesse snare work in it, then the shots will just be for accents. It does chew up sticks but I love the sound.
It's not bad live if you need that pop. I recorded my band and my drummer used a picollo sp? snare. On one song he did the rimshot thing and ended up missing a couple of times just getting the rim. I didn't notice until I started messing with it. Also that snare is a real pain in the ass to tame.
I try to do rimshots but I suck at drums so it never really works out. I like the sound of just hitting the snare head. I think it is actually fatter sounding when recorded just hitting the head.
I only use them for accents, if i do to many of them it actually hurts my wrist and elbow, i guess the vibration is much more intense or something. But they do have their place, but not constantly, man that is just annoying.
Neither good nor bad, depends on the song and the snare sound you want. It takes some good stick control to get a consistent shot. Takes some good self control to use it tastefully.
I play them on nearly every hard back beat. Fills and faster stuff not so much. I dont go through sticks that fast because I usually barely touch the rim. Plus I use japanese oak 747s. Those things last forever.