Agreed, though some of the divide began at least as early as the Cataclysm era when the Mastery stat was introduced.
When looking at the WoW Classic talent trees, Assassination has a whopping 2 talents which focus on weapon poisons. That’s it. Subtlety was effectively Rogue’s version of Hunter’s “Survival” tree, since most of it specialized it making it harder to detect the Rogue in stealth and survivability.
Fast forwarding to Cataclysm talent trees, which coincided with the release of the “Mastery” stat, Assassination became more formally associated with “weapon poisons” and Subtlety with “big finishers”.
So outlaw took over a spec called combat which imo felt like a stealthed fury warrior without the charge and the sustain and only a portion of the damage. But this is my opinion.
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… its a rogue spec. Stealth should be a part of it at times.
No they wouldnt. They already play very differently and dont even share the same CD timings with the most recent patch. Sin uses stealth to spread bleeds. Sub uses stealth to actually pump damage. Just cause they both use stealth does not mean they are similar.
Actually itd serve best as a DH spec with how much of a focus mobility is for them, how they use glaives, and the fact that the theme is already there as the most prominent warden literally spent her time hunting a demon.
Sub is in a really good place right now regarding both theme and rotation.
Sin has its theme but the rotation sucks.
Outlaw is good (to others. I still hate the spec) but the theme isnt clear.
Combat used to use vanish as part of DPS rotation all the time. The problem is the spec used to also be a powerhouse outside of those stealth windows.
Fix that and most complaints about Outlaw go down.
THe OP has many valid points.
Basic Problems with Outlaw: the Spec’s name:
People used to ask, “What is a combat rogue?” That name made sense to me - a rogue who is willing to go toe-to-toe with other melee combatants - a rogue who welcomes COMBAT. But what makes sense about calling a rogue an “Outlaw” rogue? We are, in essence, calling the spec a “Rogue” rogue.
The LOGICAL name for the spec should have been “SWASHBUCKLER” - a lightly armored duelist, like D’Artignan (3 Musketeers). This name makes far more sense and fits the fantasy much bettter.
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Treasure Hunter would have been better than Outlaw name.
outlaw is a ranged spec now with how much you use bte
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You’re about 10 years too late to be complaining about pirates. I mean, the class hall is like half pirate stuff. All that Bloodsail and Defias stuff is Outlaw Rogue stuff now, and you can’t say that’s out of place 'cause those factions have been in the game since vanilla.
Not that I wouldn’t like a Diablo-like Rogue that mixes Hunter and Rogue. That would be cool. 
Should be renamed to Gunlaw.