It's pretty obvious that when they say most people live with them, most people don't have the bad kind.
I had two sudden onsets of floaters, one was about 5 years ago after my first MRI, they were bad enough but obviously not that bad because I didn't feel driven to find support forums and surgery didn't even enter my head. Second MRI last year and they got significantly worse, they are not at all ignorable now and they totally affect my life - I go outside only when I have to and I keep my head down when I do. Completely different ball-game.