Gutters get ignored until they fail. Then suddenly you've got water pouring down the side of your house, soaking your foundation, and rotting your fascia boards. We've seen it happen plenty of times around Cordova.
Good gutters do one job: catch water from the roof and send it somewhere safe — away from the house. When they stop doing that job, water finds the next path of least resistance, which is usually behind the gutter, into the soffit, down the wall, or into the basement.