Ah, a religious schism here! ; - )
No doubt, scratch, ding and nick protection is better in a case, but that is not an issue for me, a thirty year old bass can a have a nick or two with me. Also the rubber and foam of many stands will react with fresh finishes in the first years too, so that is another thing that speaks for cases. As is the fact that daylight will wear a finish out sooner, I can practically watch as my burgundy red 68 EB-2 has first turned bronze and is now on its way to brown. But not a single one of my 150 or so basses is in a case, I just don't like it!
I once read an interview with Sting where he said he kept his basses in cases at his mansion "until I heard you're not supposed to keep them in cases that long". And Entwistle kept his huge bass collection in his castle in the nude too.
But if I'm honest: I like to keep my basses outside of a case because I see them more often that way and they look better nude than confined to a case!