That just means that a lot of people get killed by "Overrated sissies". What does that make the victims? I on the other hand believe that assassins are a force to be reckoned with and I would be honored to have such a challenging foe. That way honor and value is gained whether I win or lose! Ok, I went deep with that but you get what I mean.
In my mind the assassin type is the only one who seems to rely heavily on planing. With a warrior you can usually just charge in there deflecting the minor injuries where as an assassin has to think about who the best person to take out at the moment. For example if you don't take out the sentry in the corner your next move might be spotted and will raise alarm. But for a warrior you kinda WANT to be detected as it makes the fight more fun. For Mage (in my mind at least) they kinda follow a similar fashion as assassin. Take out stronger enemies first then worry about all the petty one. But that's my thought.
I think that when the assassin begins to kill like a psychopath they have ceased to be an assassin. I agree that true assassins have standards and are the example of a professional killer. They are very specific with targets to the point they will ignore an entire gang just to kill their leader only and no one knew they were there to begin with. However, they are not above a face to face fight either. Ninja during the Feudal era in Japan knew how to fight face to face with no other weapon than their enviroment.
Also, another thing I found in TES: OblIVion was the Fame/Infamy system:
By completing the Thieves' Guild and Dark Brotherhood quest lines, you end up with a large amount of Infamy.
To counter it, either do the Pilgrimage at the beginning of the Kot9 quests or do a massive amount of good (closing Oblivion gates is a great option here!)
However, in Skyrim, there is no Fame/Infamy system...
Here's the way I see it: Unlike your average shooter, assassin games very often strip away the element of "return fire". Usually it takes some effort to remain stealthy, and I'm not saying these games are easier just by dint of being assassin games, but it's not the same as having the pressure of being perpetually shot at. Players still get to kill stuff (which is all the rage these days), and find a variety of ways to do it, even including open combat like a shooter (though usually not as fluid).
What I enjoy about being dark assassin like characters is murder is always justified. Why would I brawl over some racist nord for bullying a "gray skin" when I can just murder him when no one is looking? Plus at least in Skyrim you don't need to stick to bows and daggers to be an assassin. There are lots of mods that add spells like Zap that you can use from stealth OR my personal favorite Fury. Just walk up to someone, say something mean about their mother and cast Fury on them, when the person dies it doesn't even count as murder cause you can plead it was self defense.
I actually find it impossible to love warriors of justice. I mean, games where you can be evil are so rare... why would you pass that up when given the chance?
I love KOTORS dark side options, since they are actually tempting.
Being a member of the Dark Brotherhood in skyrim doesnt really give you any extra options.
Its simply killing people for money, no skill, no honor, no challenge, no revenge, no justice.
At least in dishonored there was revenge and skill.
And even then, all of your friends get angry when you kill the bad guys. They're BAD guys, corrupting the empire and all that. What's the problem with me removing them to make way for a better government? Why is the game more chaotic when the corrupt people are gone?
I'll always empathise with Corvo in that scenario. There are good assassins out there!
I don't like how mercenaries fight only for money. But assassins are even worse! They murder innocent people! I laugh at people who say they're role-playing and then go join both the Companions/Dawnguard/any fairly honorable group and the Dark Brotherhood. They are honorless.
Honestly, I like them because they make more practical sense than your average 1 on 1000 rpg warrior. Instead of, trying to murder everyone you (generally) have one target that you must sneak through all of the guards to get to (you can do an offensive assassin too, but I think the typical ideal is the sneaky kind). I like realness of feeling like if you mess you'll die. Of course, in Skyrim, stealth is broken and you probably won't die unless you purposely limit your character, but it's still fun even without the limitations. Also, I like to do the "silent killer" roleplay, lol. Glass-canon assassins can be heck of a lot of fun too, especially when your making a not-so-stealthy escape. Assassins tend to have wider array of weapons and "gadgets" (In skyrim, gadgets = magic/potions) to choose from. Having more than one way to approach a situation is one of the biggest things for me.