War, what is she good for?

It seems a few of my online friends are worried that 'real war' is coming. I'm not sure you can get much realer than the last one (which one? There are so many these days). I mean...well...folks got killed. Folks are being killed.

Or is it matter of how many are killed that increases a war's reality quotient?

I'm not meaning to be silly here; I'm just...confuzzled.