As far as I know, it depends on the size of the model. If it’s a large mid-poly object, it’s often textured using tiling textures and masks instead of unique texture maps in order to achieve higher texel density. Another reason is VR projects, where it’s generally better to rely on actual geometry. I’ve also noticed that…
The only trick I have for models like that is use so much geo that the width of the bevel at the intersections is the same as the spacing of the edges around the pillars. It's never going to be perfectly clean, and you could delete some of the edge loops after modeling out the intersection. If I just needed a clean high…