The user population falls in to two general catagories, users who are just that, users, consumers who use a product and know little about what is inside, that catagory is most of us, then there are the technician user, those who can do there own servicing and know as much about the inside as the factory authorized technician.....While servicing a reg on a reasonable schedule is a good idea, doing so at a rate that is much more often than is actually needed is not wise, it introduces more problems that it solves and cost unnecessary repair bills, both for the service and for the returns to fix the problems introduced during the “service“. The issue is not should they be serviced but rather how often…..do you base that on actual failure rates or on a manuf model that is obviously designed with a profit in mind.
I fall into the camp of, the manufacturer has a recomended service schedule, it is conservative and that is fine with me. I service my auto as directed in the owners manual, I drive my cars 180,000 trouble free miles and then sell them 15 or so years later. My SCBUA gear gets serviced on the schedule the manufacturer recommends. O-rings are replaces as per the mfg recomendation, what ever that is. Are the o-rings being replaced too soon? Maybe, but they are cheap. Am I conservative? Yes. Here is how I take care of my gear. April 22, 2006, last dive before going away for a long time (20 months with Uncle Sams travel agency), another diver flooded my 1st stage with salt water (don't ask, I have no idea what he was thinking). I had my gear serviced and put it away until I returned. December 2007, back from my trip I took my gear to be serviced before going out on the first dive (all except the BCD). The BCD of course then proceeded to malfunction on the first dive. Quick fix at nearby dive shop. Overkill? Perhaps, or maybe just a good idea. Beats being the diver in the "Lessons for Life" Article who serviced his gear, dove it a time or two, stored it for a couple of years and then took it diving. Rust inside the 1st stage shrededd the o-ring and he experienced a failure at depth resulting in the divers death. Extream? Yes. But this is an "extream" sport and maintance is cheap, funerals are not. I would rather spend money over serviceing the gear than the alternative. Does servicing introduce a potential failure point? Yes, it could, just as not servicing it could. But if you have a compentent service tech, the greater risk lies in underservicing the gear. Corrosion and water getting where it should not is the biggest enemy.
But that is just me, each of us must find our own path.