It's funny how 90% of the people who vote "no" say that they would however like this effect on some spells, when the "yes" option of the poll does not imply that the effect should be used on every spell

That could be interesting. A type of spell which would follow the crosshair allowing the player to add some guidance to it after launching it. It could allow (within limits) a caster to hit someone who dodges to the side if they could get the crosshair back on target soon enough for the spell to adjust.

I don't mind either way. If it is in, I will love it. I absolutely loved it in ME2. It was a brilliant idea, to be sure.

You can't say.. Well, technically you can say it, but regardless, you can't say it would ruin the game and that if you can't aim the spell yourself, then you shouldn't be a mage and therefore should roll a melee. The way magic worked in Oblivion was pathetic, IMO. Not saying I didn't like it, but it just didn't have anything special.. I had no problem hitting people, but I think part of being a mage... and magic, is guiding spells. Why shouldn't spells do it? Seriously, for someone to assert that anyone should be less of a mage for wanting the ability to guide spells doesn't comprehend magic at all. In fact, that would be something mages and scholars in TES would try to do, create spells that can be guided to their target either by the spell simply following, or being guided by the will/mind of the caster. It'd be an advancement towards the field of magic and spells, and would also make warfare life and the rest of life easier. And I am positive there are casters who have been able to utilize their powers in rooms adjacent to them, using perhaps telekinesis to move items around rooms and etc. To say that it should be an arbitrary and simple system like that is just rubbish.

Some people need to open their minds and stop being sticks-in-the-mud. Just because it is TES doesn't mean TES cannot grow or change. TES isn't a stagnant pool. And new things are always developed.

And in no way am I flaming, trolling, or trying to start a war

It would make the magic all about button mashing and less about targeting and precision... Definite NO.

If they did that for magic, then bows would need to have guided arrows as well.

That would be the most stupid thing ever. We found a feature that could make the mage different from the archer, and then you want to grant that feature to the archer, too?

That would be the most stupid thing ever. We found a feature that could make the mage different from the archer, and then you want to grant that feature to the archer, too?

If mages could cast auto-targeting fireballs, why would anyone want to be an archer? Sure, spells cost magicka, but magicka regenerates (hopefully) and arrows don't. I do not want to have auto-targeting arrows, I'm just saying that auto-targeting arrows would be needed to balance archery with spellcasting, especially since in archery you still have to deal with ballistics, making it a much harder way of doing ranged attacks.

You mean BESIDES being able to attack at range and up close, with elements having various effects on the victim besides raw damage, the ability to heal and buff oneself, summon armor and minions, altering the beliefs and views of others, draining and leeching the powers of enemies, and altering the fabric of reality?

As an archer, you should have far higher range, and the ability to give headshots and such to deal more damage. Maybe you could be able to cripple limbs, Also, arrows shouldn't be blocked by a block-spell.

I voted no for reasons I will get into below.

In response to this post above, I certainly wouldn't classify myself as an 'RPG purist', as some are, but I'm more of a game enthusiast who holds player skill in the highest of regards, when playing any sort of game.

I mean lets really look at this statistics based strategic gameplay for a second. It was heavily used and developed in older RPG games because of a lack of technology to really translate those statistics, numbers and percentages into precise on screen action, in worlds that were designed of poor visual quality (because of weak graphical capabilities). Nowadays, however, technology has advanced to a point that allows us a visual immersion factor, that should be considered as much a necessity in any RPG game, as any other facet should . Roleplaying at its core is now as much about visual immersion, as it is about developing and defining a specific character's attributes and skills with numbers, percentages and statistics. Beautiful, rich, realistic environments go a long way to helping me 'roleplay' my character. Meanwhile developer creativity and ingenuity, coupled with the advances in technology and game development tools, have allowed these old number based skill systems, which define our characters, to be translated into tangible actions and effects that can be seen, felt and heard on-screen, and whose precise and proper use, not to mention their well-timed implementation is literally now in the hands of the gamer(as it should be) rather than decided by a roll of the dice. This however, doesn't simply come down to being able to aim quickly and effectively with a mouse/gamepad(but that certainly is a part of it). To me the strategy comes in when I have to quickly anolyze whats happening on screen and react expediently and accordingly, given what I know about these variables in the game, and all the while, taking into consideration the strengths and weaknesses of my character, and trying to decide what that type of character would do. Lastly it must look epic, or at the very least sensible. If it doesn't, my level of immersion is severely disturbed. And so because of this I slowly but surely master the skills involved in controlling my character in the game, and I constantly push the limits of what I can do with my character, until I'm extremely good at it, and the actions that I'm creating on screen are visually satisfying; often spectacular, but ultimately stay true to my 'roleplaying' experience.

Personally, and so long as it can be avoided, I strive to keep my combat scenarios from degrading into messy, pointless hack and slash fights, or ridiculous looking, side-strafing, panicky jumping battles that muddy the visual experience I'm trying to create and absorb at the same time.

So in closing, player skill is of the utmost concern in my mind. The greater the challenge it is to master, and the more complex and diverse the system is that the player's skill can affect and alter, the better experience I have playing a game. So I say no to anything auto-aim, auto-target, or auto-lock implemented in the game. I would say to anyone who feels that they need it----just try and get better, it makes the game experience that much more rewarding when you really do something amazing on screen.

Player skill should come from knowing when to use tools and apply them effectively and not from FPS or action-game twitch reactions in my opinion. A great example of this is Mass Effect. At first glance ME looks like a FPS with some RPG elements... but it's not so simple! At any time you can pause the game and bring up a menu. During this time you can aim at another enemy, ready to fire immediately at your new target. During this time, you can direct your team members use abilities on certain areas or attack certain targets. During this time you can queue up an ability of your own such that when you unpause you unleash it in your desired direction. The game can be played as an action RPG, but so to can it be treated as a tactical beast, letting you pause and decide your next move at any moment. This allows player skill not to come from how good they are at aiming their weapon, but in how they manage cover, their team mates, and their use of special abilities if their class has them. The ability to pause at any time and re-aim, and in ME2's case lock on "spells," prevents it from being a glorfied FPS and solidifies it as the RPG that it is. I've changed my mind, I'm no longer neutral on this. TES will not get the pause and decide your next move feature, so the option of slight auto-aiming is the next best thing to solidify it as an RPG and not a glorified twitch action game, in my opinion.

This video is a perfect example of how I think pausing and aiming or homing spells make an otherwise action game into an RPG:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YzQRa-o3mUs