The organiser and I are good friends and we've talked about his virtual offerings over the past few years. The f2f conference is way, way harder to put together, more expensive, more inconvenient for everyone concerned, expense and time for travel, etc. His profit margins are much reduced, too.
And yet - it was absolutely and obviously a better conference when he did it again in "the real world". Seeing old friends, being dedicated to actually turning up and listening to talks rather than being 80% distracted and only sort-of listening while juggling other work, going to the pub for a pint, meeting new people.
As ever - it's not (just) the talks that make for a great conference, it's the bits in-between the talks.
Long live (real world) conferences!