I fully agree with blattsalat, he's got the right idea.
some people are taking this wayy to far, and thinking completely wrong.
You shouldn't think like "1000 polygons looks better so I will use it, computers today can handle it" you must make changes for each situation.
do you REALLY need a high polygon house? 90% of the cases the polycount can be cut drastically with OUT losing details.

Dont "waste" by just maiking all models higher polys, even if they are not needed. So what if computers are capable of handling it.


Now I do agree that 50 polygons is WAY to small for a house in a FPS. being creative with a limit is one thing, but with 50 polygons no amount of shaders, textures, or other lighting effects will make up for the lack of detail.