Changes in magic system of The elder scrolls

[Beant]

One of the things that has always bugged me about TES games is their end all be all magic system. it completely relegates cure disease and restore health potions to near useless makes lock picking a wasted skill to pick as a major. No need to sneak hell the only thing vanilla magic doesn’t do is repair your armor for you, might as well make repair hammers redundant as well. I don't think anyone has a problem with making magic effects cooler, the only issue may be whether they are possible to implement correctly with the available technology.

[Rompage]

Oblivion also got rid of the having to switch stances aspect making magic even more "easy". And let’s be honest, how cool was it when you played dark messiah and used the ice spell to make someone slip off of a cliff. all TES magic does is particular types of damage. I want to see people clothes start on fire if i throw a fireball at them. i want to see them get electrocuted even more if they are standing in water. i want them to slip if i shoot an ice ball at the ground in front of them. I would love to see spells like in other games where you could get people caught up in some vine trap for a short period of time.

[Deenanath]

I have played rogues and warrior but the only way I would even consider playing a mage is by using a mod like midas magic. Please bethesda balance out your magic, make certain diseases require a potion, put a limit on alteration lock picking so that if you want to open the really hard locks you have to improve your lock picking skill. And put the stances back in. I feel like I am skipping down the street with a balloon in one hand, an ice cream cone in the other just flipping my hands around casting spells while i chew bubble gum go back to morrowinds stance change.

[Emilian]

But, of course, rapid regeneration came to be because there were so many popular mods for Morrowind that made magic a renewing resource plus a lot of people complained that they couldn't play a "pure mage". What D&D doesn't have "pure mages" where you can only cast one particular spell per day? People wanted to be the super-wizard and Beth gave them that ability. But they kept the old "rationed, but very powerful" system in place. That did lead to some oddities.

[Cadwallader]

I tend to agree mages are supposed to be "clever" characters. Their spells should be less about direct damage and simplistic elemental bits, and more about creating an environment favorable to the mage. Slippery ice on solid ground, and solid on water surfaces for walking on, and trapping enemies underneath to drown are smart uses of frost. Using small fires to create large infernos is a smart use of fire, as is taking advantage of the resulting panic for combat or stealth presumably burning down a city block makes for an effective, if dangerous, distraction for citizens and guards alike. Shock could be a Bioshock style effect, and/or could be tied toward weather control magic.

[Gajendra1]

As for limiting uses, I think magicka should be divided into two types (say, Spirit and Magicka). Spirit would only recharge with rest, Magicka would recharge quickly as in Oblivion. In fact, Spirit could be used to set the maximum for Magicka. For the most part, Spirit would be used for semi-permanent effects -- for example, summons, wards, or certain buffs could have an indefinite duration (and the Spirit expended on the effect would not regenerate until the effect was canceled/dispelled/destroyed). It could, however, also be used for spells that would disruptive if overused. Magicka would be for spells that are going to be used repeatedly.