Great discussion on this thread. I think that you need to account for musical depth, when talking about simple patterns. I quote Steve Jordan, "Simplicity is not stupidity." A simple pattern, like an eighth note groove, can sound overwhelming powerful in the hands of a master like Porcaro, Gadd, Purdie, Bonham, etc. Why? Because those guys have a depth to their playing. It's not just solid time-keeping, it's the personal sound, feel, and tone that they pull out of the groove. And conversely, a chops-blazing fill can sound powerful, and can elevate a band if it is musical, and if it is rooted in the authenticity of the players voice, like Buddy, for example.
There is also the whole concept of 'rightness.' I'll do my best to explain by giving an analogy in the world of composers - Beethoven. Leonard Bernstein, in one of his books, The Joy of Music, set out in a humorous dialogue to find out why Beethoven is regarded the best composer in classical music. He and his friends first analyze all the technical aspects of his music - rhythm. It turns out that he was pretty good at rhythm, but never really invented anything gound-breaking in that dept., and his music was certainly not as rhythmically interesting as later composers. OK, so how about melody - he could write a decent melody, but most of his pieces, frankly, do not have much melody, nothing as masterful as the melodies of say Tchaikovsky, or Gershwin, or Paul McCartney. They contain melodic fragments, but very few show-stoppers. What about harmony? - some innovation, but not much, definitely not as much the next generation of composers, like Berlioz, Wagner, and Debussy. Orchestration - totally conventional, and became more and more problematic as he became more and more deaf. OK then, if it's not rhythm, melody, harmony, or orchestration, what makes him the best? Answer - rightness! Every piece that he wrote seems impossible to improve upon. The succession of notes seems totally perfect. The 2nd note follows the 1st in just the RIGHT way. And that is the most important question the composer can ask - What is the next note? Not the most complicated, or the prettiest note, or the hippest note, or the most creative note - what is the RIGHT note? And he possessed that gift to a higher degree than any other composer, and leaves all the rest in the dust.
As drummers we compose our own drum part, and so we are ourselves asking 'what should the next note be", and our experience gives us our answer. Some people just have it. You hear their playing and think, "that was the perfect fill, or groove, or feel, for the moment." Whether it is simple or not, doesn't determine the rightness. Music is a product of the musician and the listener. That magic X factor.