If anything the new spell system should resemble the old (all the way back to arena) but I strongly agree that there could be some significant improvements (not because i think OB was crap, but because its the next gen and it should feel new) and I'd like to see it reworked from the ground up. to me the most important thing is game play mechanics and rules: if its fun then ill play; if its real then who cares, unless its fun. If its has pretty graphics; then good, but if i just wanted a show, id go watch a movie.

I'd like the spell making system to be a part of the character menu instead of a Mages guild perk. instead of buying spells, you buy spell effects, then make spells on the fly (in the heat of battle). A little like how Morrowind's enchanting was possible anywhere. This would alleviate the huge list of nearly identical spells that many ppl complain about as you could only have as many spells in the list as there are spell effects in the game. (I just started naming my spells fire1 fire2 fire3 etc, as i leveled up and made better spells. not pretty, no immersion. but anything else could mean I have fire1 at the end of the list and fire 2 at the start and who knows where fire 3 went, oh there it is next to that useless healing spell that I only used once, now what was I doing? oh right, a Deadroth.... what was I going to do about him? oh right, fire 3... where is that spell?)

Why cant we have constant effect spells? alteration and restoration and conjuration are good candidates for this. It could easily be balanced by a constant drain on MP. CE feather (this would directly affect your combat ability since you don't have as much MP instead of just cluttering the top corner of your HUD) CE water breath (now having water breathing doesn't mean u can't die in water, it just means you wont die until you run out of MP instead of constantly recasting the spell) CE buff attributes ( useless fortify luck 15 sec spells would be gone. instead, maybe Fortify luck 1.2x for .5x MP regen), CE summon companions (Imp familiar anyone?)

Also extra effects for spells would be an easy and effective improvement. I don't mean effects like levitate (tho I always wondered why there isn't a Star Wars style "push" spell, there is telekinesis AND knockdown effects already after all). I mean effects like magnitude, area, duration, touch, target and self. Area effects could have shapes. I want to make fire spells that spew out like a flame thrower! instead of just being limited to fireballs. Shock spells that jump between characters (Friendly Fire!). Giant snow balls falling from the sky like snowy death! (just a suggestion)

Also there's some real world physics concepts that shouldn't be ignored. (well then again only if it adds fun, so feel free to criticize this paragraph) things like Faraday's concepts http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Faraday_cage. So the enemies armor DOES affect your spells. Maybe if they have conducting metal, your shock spells wrap around them and only their armor takes damage ( eventually arch welding their joints together, or melting it, causing heat damage?) Fur could catch fire, but protect from cold. Glass, iron, steel could melt at high enough temps. Cold could make some materials brittle. this sort of rock-paper-scissor game play is the fundamental reason for having different armor types in the first place, but more importantly, it presents a decision to the player that has real consequences. rather than "I like this armor type because I like the way glass armor looks." and it alleviates the problem many players have with "i don't want to be forced to use glass or deadric if i want good armor" I could go on to how some armors are better against some weapons/ situations, but this is a magic thread and those arguments have little to do with magic...

I always wondered why many spells have ball effects like destruction spells. why cant "magic" damage just be instantaneous, with no ball effect at all. like a DnD smite spell that happens inexplicably. Pick a target and zap, no dodging, no mercy. Balance it with more MP/DMG. mysticism, alteration...

What skill do the mages at the Mages Guild have, that I (as a mages guild member (leader even)) cant learn? why cant I enchant my own stuff? Why can't I enchant my own stuff as well as some no-name enchanter that leaves his prized sword (with like a grand-grand soul gem) in chest in a pit of goblins? I know Bilbo found the Ring of Power in an lowly orc cave in the middle of nowhere (not even in a proper chest), but there was a lot of story to explain that. I dont expect to be able to be the most powerful figure in history, but the most powerful person in the province... maybe. and if I find all this random loot that I cant make, it ruins the dream.

I think alchemy should be more powerful and more gradual. you don't pop an aspirin and immediately forget your headache (if you do, i recommend switching to placebos) Poisons should have crippling pain and multiple effects. health drain, health damage, vomiting, spasms, blurred vision, paralyzes, hallucinations (o.0) dizziness, blackouts instead of just collapsing on the ground after chasing someone half way across the forest. as for making potions, its not ideal, but its fun. so I'm not opposed to leaving that system more or less as it is or reworking it from the bottom. tho i will say, id rather new even if its crap because otherwise I might as well go back to Daggerfall than buy a new game. And if its crap, then at least there's the rest of the game to tinker with.

Other ideas I have wouldn't fit the TES game style, but should be made mod-able. I have always wanted to do away with the fatigue/mp system. Its archaic. I think fatigue and mp should be the same stat. MP was made in the 80s (70s even maybe? idk) because fatigue wasn't a concept yet (maybe it was, but how would you implement it in something like Final Fantasy or DnD?) and it was unbalancing for a mage to spew powerful spells all day. You shouldn't be able to cast spells till your exhausted and then close and start fighting like you just finished resting while your MP regenerates. There are other stats that could fit there... so I don't think that things like derived attributes should be hard coded. I'm not a big modder, so I don't know what was possible in the older games, but i think the developers should keep their mind open for any major game changing mods and not cut them off.

Finally a futile plea for the old. PLEASE BRING BACK DAGGERFALL STYLE ENCHANTING AND CHARACTER CREATION. I like balancing my own negative effects and negative effects on soul gems is so interesting. I would spend hours hunting new creatures just to see what their souls did. Astrological signs is meh. If your worried about balance, then play OB with the diff slider on easy and see how fun (or boring) it is. Then go play Daggerfall with custom 'birth signs' and try to make it boring. You will have fun TRYING to make it boring. And there's been easy ways to console cheat from the beginning, so why worry so much about balance when people tend to balance themselves.

These changes are suggestions at best and I don't really expect anything like them to appear in TES V or even TES VI (if it ever is (in my lifetime)) but these are the KIND of changes i would like to see rather than more focus on graphics or voice acting or animations (which ARE fun but not a priority IMHO). games have been improving graphics since they were invented, but somewhere along the line mechanics took a back seat. we still use mp/hp. we are only now worrying about physics. we still cant make custom combat combos, no one has even considered magic user combat combos. we can't forge new weapons in-game (I mean make new meshes, textures, bitmaps in-game and use new user created weapons, not "bring these materials for a sword like 'this'" (sounds unbalanced, but it wouldn't be if we had REAL physics) if anyone wants to know what I think combat should be like then play dwarf fortress. Swords don't have a damage and durability stat. They have things like shear and tensile strength, weight, volume. These determine how they handle in combat. Creatures dont have HP, they have size and limbs and organs(!). limbs can be lopped off, but it doesn't mean the fight is over necessarily, especially if the mob ignores pain. bleeding on every cut. organ damage. Ever heard of a bronze colossus? sounds tough? it is, but not for the lucky lucky fluffy wambler. http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=56935.0