Try with your blackjack then.

Tafferwocky - My view of Thief overlaps with yours - I enjoy pure stealth, but like the option of a stealthy combat game. Dues Ex is most similar, but the idea also seems to have inspired the Hitman series and Splinter Cell series. I think my view is reflected in the difficulty levels - you can play easier difficulty rampaging without stealth, or at higher difficulty treat remaining hidden as an art form. I prefer stealth, but I like having both. So ultimately, that's where I'm coming from in hating the robots in Thief 2 missions. For reference I've solved every one of the Thief games - and in Thief the Dark Project even with tighter than expert restrictions (restart if any guard looks for you). I would encourage anyone to play both styles, and I think it's valuable to have both (as Hitman and Splinter Cell success attest).

Constance - Nice! I've been in melee combat with guards for fun, but replaying the original Thief doesn't do anything to help the second game's lack of melee combat against robots.

==(Thief 2 SPOILER)==
As a spoiler / aside for Thief II, if someone was command to do things, but were invulnerable to swords and arrows... why bother to obey commands as a person/robot? And that actually brings me to another point on why "Thief 2: Robots" is fitting. One key plot development involves a recording ("Vagabonds... those who will not be missed") you need to obtain, to show how people are being used to make robots. "Thief 2: Robots" is appropriate not just for the number of robots, but how central robots are to the plot of the second game.

Wow, I've played through that level a couple dozen times and I didn't know that. o.O

To the OP:
Yes, TDP/Gold was much better then TG2, I play through T1 every now and then again, but I can't get myself through T2.
The levels are just boring, not because they were badly designed or something, but because there aren't enough small details (little nots and letters, dairies, conversation you can listen to etc.)

There are quite a few missions which are repetitive and boring because of that. Would have they spiced them up, they would be as good as the original T1 missions.