Like I started to say earlier, my '93 Nissan Maxima got 5000 mile OCI cheapie quick lube service for the first 2/3 of its life and at 150k it's amazingly intact. It needs an ADBV in the filter, and many of the early oil changes were done at a Pennzoil shop using their version of cheap Frams with the questionable ADBV. It is silky smooth at idle, strong under throttle, and uses no oil.
My '99 Malibu got name brand oil and decent filters, changed every 3000 miles by me. For the first couple of years I used synthetic. At 55k it burns a quart of oil every 1500 miles. I've never noticed any start-up noise, so the built-in ADBV must work just fine. It runs fine, so I'll just keep topping it off between changes for another 50k or so, and by then it will be a rusted hulk anyway.
I once pulled the head off a friend's 4 cylinder Nissan to replace a burned valve. It was serviced with the cheapest Sears Spectrum brand oil and filters. At 105k I could still see hone marks on the cylinder walls.
I have owned 28 cars in my lifetime, many of them bought as projects to be fixed and resold. Some of them were totally sludged and clattery at 60k and some engines looked like new inside at over 100k. The really bad ones were mostly neglected, but basic engine design and driving habits have a lot to do with it too.
How much does a top-notch filter effect engine life? I honestly haven't been able to come to a conclusion. Obviously a certain degree of filtration is necessary to exclude particles larger than bearing clearances. Beyond that? The only filters I ever considered to be obviously bad were the couple of Purolators I bought with metal shavings clinging to the threads.
There is an often-cited GM study that showed a 70% reduction in wear when switching from a 40 micron filter to a 20 micron filter, or something close to that. I recently read a copy of the original study. It was done on diesel engines . . . and lots of AC Fine Dust (mostly fine abrasive silica) was added to the crankcases at regular intervals. I'm not sure how that equates to real-world conditions seen by gasoline engines. I do know that if I'm going to intentionally add abrasive to my oil, I'll make sure I use an especially good filter.
If I had a $50k car, it would last forever. The best Amsoil or Redline oil would not be good enough for me. I'd install Mobil 1 filters and sub-micron bypass filtration. I'd change the oil every weekend. I also would probably be too nervous to ever take it out of the garage.
Your friends' expensive cars will probably do just fine with quick oil change service, as long as they do it often enough . . . and they don't let them ever touch their transmission fluid . . . but that's for a different thread.