For me, playing a squishy mage is no fun because you aren't viable early on. Spamming destruction spells to survive, or running away from combat because you have no armor or weapon is not enjoyable. If I am going to play a squishy mage, then I am taking away from the game, in my opinion. Warriors can survive from the time you exit Helgen. Mages need to hit level 10, minimum, before you can go adventuring, if your perk points are taken properly. Where is the fun in standing in that? Or, walking around the landscape, spamming muffle, calm, down a potion of magicka, spam soul trap, cast ___flesh, all to raise the levels of those mage skills without actually going out adventuring? If I am going to do those things, then I might as well stand at the forge and get my smithing up to 100, so I can have epic armor and weapons, and then go out and level my 1H, Light/Heavy Armor, and whatever other skill I need for that character.