I cycle a lot weekly mainly on roads and roughish tracks that can be really rough (sand/soil/rocks - combined) tree roots/grass/mud/more mud etc etc. I use a hybrid with tyres that I suspect hard-core off roaders would piss themselves at. However, they are great both on and off road and I have not had a puncture yet and have used the same tyres for a couple of years.

I rebuilt an MTB that my son broke. It has massive knobbly tyres and is a PITA to get any decent ride out of on the road and not that great off road.