It's always been one of my problems with magic in the game mehcanics that no matter how powerful you get, its all pretty unimpressivle and... basic really. Even Divayth himself, in Morrowind, will do little more than throw some painful spells at you, and his 'power' is represented by his Daedric armor and 999 health. Skyrim, despite (and perhaps because) of no spell creation, makes the best show of making it look powerful, and adds Wards and Traps and the like, but even then Neloth and other mages really don't seem all that intimidating. Only the Psiijic taking us out of time/freezing time to talk to us, as they do again to take the eye, strikes me as a true feat of magic. Certainly the best we can see first hand.
It might be why i've never played a mage properly in RP, and play someone more down to earth, especially if playing someone long-lived. I just can't rationalise the idea of a lifespan of centuries (or limitless, with corprus) and remaining as limited as a mage is in the games. Hell, after reading about Talos (Tiber, Wulf, Acturus and all), the Dwemer, Vivec's works, the commentaries, and so forth, a vampire character who starts in Morrowind and is still studying my Skyrim has no excuse to to have CHIM'd, short of just not being interested in doing so, or being a more martial/grounded being.