When making and debugging game I use pause play mode a lot. I even have a dedicated button on my mouse for pause play mode. There's two things that I dislike when working in playmaker while Play mode is paused.
1. I don't like that I can't change global variables when Playmode is paused.
2. I don't like that helpful Playmaker highlights disappear. In play mode. I mean, things like green highlighted state, progress bar on wait action etc.