I just do a quick tap to the button if I don't want to activate the animation. Always works for me. I think I'm somewhere in the 300-400 area for assassinations. Most of those being the animation. I only ever get the chance to do the animation when an enemy is by himself so I just go for it anyway. However I've managed to pull some off when they've got teammates around so I guess it really depends on the enemy team and if they're willing to save a teammate or wait for them to die then go for the kill. I think I'm gonna start going for the beat downs from now on though. Or at least go for them more frequently.
For me, it depends a lot on the situation. It just feels more satisfying to smash someone's skull into the ground (a la running sprint to catch somebody with a jet-pack). But there are some instances where it is totally suicidal (SWAT, Snipers, etc.) Overall, I do more assassinations though.
I think most people view it the same way. Tactically the assassination animation takes to long and is not worth doing in serious competitive play. But the animations are fun to view for the visceral feel they give off. It gives a positive psychological boost to the player having seen something that makes them feel like they are so much better than the person they killed. So in not so serious matches the animations are certainly fun to pull off when applicable. I favorite animation is the elite boot to the face maneuver...especially off of the spire in invasion.
I went positive 10 in a game of snipers without firing a shot, 14 assassinations (full animation) and 1 beatdown. This happened to be with three friends on my team who are excellent snipers but were getting wrecked by the enemy team. I've tried the same thing in swat, but never with such good results. protip: Learn how to activate certain assassination sequences. There are some almost as fast as a regular backsmack that still give the satisfaction of laughing in the face of the enemy and any of his teammates nearby who you will still have time to engage after the assassination. My personal favorite is headsmash.
Same for me. But i think there should also be a Medal called Yoinked or Showstopped if you get your victim killed or if you get killed while performing an assasination so you still get a nice Medal for trying. Since i really hate that glitch(that is getting more and more commom) where people can showstop the guy they are getting assasinated by so they survive and my good assasination goes to waste.
I always go for the full assassination if I can but in tighter situations I go for the beat down... however that train of thought never works and I end up dying or losing my kill...
I prefer to go for the quick kill most of the time, especially in competive play. There is something abotut pulling off an assasination thought, particularly when its against someone who has perhaps been t-bagging or camping. Its nice to Assasinate as its rather humiliating for the opponent to be caught out in this way.
Melee kills are not satisfactory, Assasination's however... I would say the problem lies in people not being able to decide whether they should perform an assasination or a beatdown, when I go for an assasination I sometimes get a beatdown and vice-versa. This may be a controller problem, but I doubt it. Also I feel I am more likely to get a kill if I assasinate, as once the animation starts, I've generally got the kill. Meanwhile the usual pummeling motion is generally a two-hit kill, so I feel safer with the assasination, despite the fact that the beatdown is quicker and cleaner. Just my two cents.
The only time I assassinate is when the enemy and I are different characters. Meaning, I'm a Spartan and they're an Elite, or I'm and Elite and they're a Spartan. Mostly because if I'm in a game where it's possible to have 2 different "species" is in Invasion, or a custom game, in which case it doesn't matter because it's not really competitive.. And also, the animation looks awesome for Spartan-->Elite / Elite-->Spartan, however if its Spartan-->Spartan / Elite-->Elite is very boring to watch, Imo. *EDIT: Oh, and when I ninja someone, I usually assassinate, just to rub it in.
It never gets boring for me, but if I ever had to sit through one of the longer animations I might get bored. ADD FTW!
I only do the animation when I'm sure I've got people protecting me, or when the people I'm assasinating are alone. All other times, I do simplae whack and proceed with the battle.