What do you guys think.... and WHY?

I think they said its out, but will put it in. Though don't expect it to be the same as before.

I don't, before spellmaking was far too... linear. Magic is supposed to be the unknown, unlogical, unfathomable. It better return, and it better be done... better.

That's illogical didn't you ever watch Star Trek? Spock reference aside, I too want to see a return, but I don't see how they could really make it better than it was before, besides interface changes. They already allowed you to make variants and combinations of any and all spell types in game. Are you expecting them to allow you to make your own spell types? Like a spell that changes your enemies' hair color?

For novelty purposes, spells like that would be awesome!

Add it to alteration lol !

i've already voted in polls pretty much like this but I'll do it again, and every time one comes up. spell making is as close as to lore as a game mechanic can get. no spell making will make the game considerably less fun for me and would sertainly affect whether I buy the game full price... or buy it used.

Eldron, can you add an option on the first poll for "I have no [censored]ing clue"?

I can't believe I said unlogical, lol, sorry.

Anyways, as for you changing hair colour reference, that's not exactly what I had in mind. I want it changed, not for more options, but maybe fewer. I just want the mystery of magic to be maintained whilest still being able to design aspects/create your own spells.

Well, I didn't exactly use your wording... but it's added.

100% agree. I was already a little irked when they removed Mysticism. They will tell us that it was redundant, but all it really means is less spells. BGS would truly have to sell out their core fans to remove spell making, and if that is something they are okay with then I am okay with not buying the game. At all. Not even a Steam sale.

No fewer spells. The school was redundent, not the spells, the spells have been redone and grouped into other categories. Yay!

Do you really think they are going to take the time to move all those spells to another school? No, man. An entire school of magic was removed. They will not go through the effort to add nearly twice the spells to a single school of magic if they don't have to. They may include a few spells, but in total I have this feeling there will be far less spells compared to Oblivion.

If spell making were altered so that making a spell no longer was comprised of a trip to Magicmart to buy a new spell then hell yes. As long as the dev's can take the aspect of spellmaking and make it actually magical then it should be in. Spell making (and spell buying) in previous games was about as magical as going to Walmart to buy a lamp shade.

Studying magic should be magical and dangerous. I am sure most people here have read various fantasy stories where budding mages or magic oriented characters are just as likely to blow themselves up, cast a wrong spell, or cast duds when they were practicing. If a system like that cannot be designed then cut it out. Just focus on making awesome spells that can be manually altered in various ways. That alone will be incredible.

The impression I had from the Howard interview was it was the school and not necessarily the spells that were removed. There are 7 unique spells in that school. (sout trap, telekinesis, detect life, dispel, spell absorption, reflect spell, reflect damage) http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Magical_Effects You have "Spell Absorption" in Mysticism while "Absorb Magicka" and "Absorb Skill" are in Restoration. Dispel also seems to be a good fit for Restoration. The rest look like they could logically fit into Alteration.

The other impression I had from the interview was based on the comments he had made regarding the number of spells. He talked about the number of unique spells that were currently in the game (85? I think?). This can be read two ways. This could be 85 spells total. Or 85 spells that each can possibly be altered many ways. The impression I had from the interview was the latter.

No idea and no. I hope and even believe that BGS have the magic system all sorted out by now, without removing anything interesting (that would/could be exploited).

All I can say is that spellmaking was one of my favorite things about TES games - I remember first playing morrowind at my cousin's house, happening upon spellmaking, and thinking to myself, "Why don't other rpgs have this?!?"

Same thing with Oblivion, upon learning a new spell type I'd instantly be thinking of how I could make a new, more useful version of it with spellmaking - or better yet, combine it with another effect.


So far, I haven't seen any dumbing down of Skyrim - except for the hints about removing spell making. It wouldn't make me not buy Skyrim, by any means, but it would feel like a great deal was missing, that could have contributed to make a even more fanastic experience.

I look forward to trying this new system out.

we basically don't know all about it, so who knows, it could be something way better than you imagine.

Again? For real? Give it a break already Wait for a few months.

Well I have no idea. All I know is they've got some ideas in the works. Would I like some? Definitely. Unfortunately it's not that simple. The new magic looks far more advanced, so mixing effects might be a coding nightmare for all I know. If Bethesda say "no promises" there's a damn good reason behind it. I'd rather they were honest now and release without than to promise if and still release without. Of course being honest now and releasing with it would be great!

i really loved the 'spread sheety' spellmaking of oblvion. i'm kinda sad it's getting rid of. whatever they come up with, hopefully i won't mind it. i loved enchanting my sword with paralyze, and then fire damage

Im not sure what Todd was smoking when he said Spreadsheety, but the whole point of magic in TES was making your own spells to suite your needs and situations, not ooooh fire cool spells or like some DA2 dev said, press a button and something awesome happens. being a mage isnt "buying" spells from some vendor and then spamming it its making your own or being taught specifics so you can better shape your magical prowess to your own needs.


We don't know if Spell making will or will not be include, it being out is a rumour so dont take that to much heart.

One thing I will say is; I hope along with the traditional typing methods for consoles they include a list of preset words. Just naming something took ages on the PS3

No idea if it will be included....seriously, seriously hope that it IS included.

It must be in, otherwise I'd try to get the game used. I don't want to play CoD in the Nirn, I want to play a TES game. Spellmaking was in since Daggerfall (at least, don't know Arena), why leave it out? At least some degree of spellmaking must exist.

They should at least have a way to combine multiple effects of the same casting type (such as on-self effects.) I can understand the difficulty of combining hostile effects such as Fire and Frost, but combining buffs such as Shield and Resistance and Chameleon should be easy.