The basic suspension forks seem to be fine for casual riders that have little interest in riding fast. We have some rough roads in my neighborhood, and my wife likes having the suspension fork when she rides around pulling my daughter on her tandem tag-a-long. Her prior bike had a rigid fork, and she says she can tell the difference in a positive way. She has no interest in riding hard enough to make the fork bob up and down.
For me, on the other hand, I have a rather firm suspension fork on my hybrid that I prefer to her softer fork. If my fork wears out before I buy a new hybrid, I'll replace it with a cro-mo suspension corrected fork.