This is definitely an interesting topic. I too am in part of one side, part of the other. It depends on my mood. As a tickler, to me, if someone will let me tie them up and tickle them, it shows they put a lot of trust in me not to abuse that, and I like that. I think you can have a lot of fun with bondage if you go about it right. On the other side of the ropes/stocks/handcuffs, whatever you choose, I've never been in that position myself, so I can't really say one way or the other until I try it, except to say that, if it's someone I do trust, I would be willing to give it a shot. But then, I'll try anything once.
Would I want to do the bondage stuff 100% of the time though? No, I can't say as I would. I also really enjoy tickling with the other person free to move and wiggle around, and to a degree, being tickled in that position as well. That can be a lot of fun too, and a very playful kind of tickling, which most of the time happens to be my favorite kind of tickling. That's the kind you can do when you don't want things to get too serious, when you're just playing around. To me, that's a time to sort of put the fetish part of it on the back burner and kind of get back to the lighthearted side of our fetish.
Is one any better than the other 100% of the time? No, I'd say not. I believe both kinds of tickling have their place in our favorite pasttime. I won't say one's any better than the other, nor will I say one's any worse than the other. As far as I'm concerned, it's all good both ways.