There were a lot of constructive threads on spell making and why it shouldn't be gone and there is always a thread like this around. And should be. This is not "complaining" - it is feedback by those who feel the need to give it about a feature that is gone. Complaining is rational too if the reason is rational.
No, i'm not offended just stating the obvious.
Seriously though you could vent on threads like this : http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1302506-why-mages-svck/ - Now this is "plain ranting/unconstructive complaining" , i'm sure you will agree.
On a side note don't let the complaints get to you so much. If BGS does not have a problem, there is no reason for you to feel bad/insulted.
Anyway, on topic,
We can't rely on modders for this one - sad truth. At least it wouldn't be as good as it would be in vanilla. They would have to make a fairly large project, make effects etc. They could get some effects from scripts but they would not be nearly enough. I hope someone gives it a try though for us PC users.
And when did I say this thread was complaining?
I was pointing out that complaining is not the best of ideas, and you decided that a positive suggestion was apparently offensive to you. Otherwise, why the remark about my attitude when I was simply pointing out something that's pretty much a fact of life? Let it go.
First - lack of a gameplay feature which offered flexibility and enriched the variety of playstyles shouldn't be excused by lore. If TES VI is on Sommerset Isle would you excuse lack of melee weapons?
Depends on the circumstances. Understand me this way: I take it like I would a book: I don't decide how the book should be before I start reading from page one. I simply let the story be and if it's something that I enjoy, it continues to unfold until the book is closed, or else it's tossed aside in favor of something else. It doesn't mean that I don't find fault in the exclusion nor inclusion of things, whatever such things might be given circumstances, but that do not let my expectations dictate whether I should decide to enjoy something or not, just because something was included or removed that was not to my approval for its inclusion/exclusion.
Anyway lore-wise you are also wrong. The Winderhold college is a college that dwelves into magic even deeper than the one in the Imperial city. Magic is more freely researched and experiments are it's prominent feature as the npcs mention all the time. It has nothing to be jealous of the other province colleges - on the contrary.
And it's only there. There is no Mages Guild anywhere in the province, and nearly every line of dialogue I've heard regarding it from non-mages has been overwhelmingly negative and disapproving of it. Magic's presence is virtually nonexistent in Skyrim, outside of the College. You have a few mages here and there, and one as a court wizard, and they are all regarded with much suspicion and even outright scorn in some cases.
The main reason why the College of Winterhold is able to practice its magic more freely is because they isolate themselves from the rest of Skyrim as much as possible, and so they are largely left alone, save for their enchanting services. Even many of the mages at the College comment on this, especially Sergius, the enchanter, who often says to my character that were it not for the enchanting services, they would be left completely and utterly alone.
It is marginalized to one of the farthest reaches and corners of the province, as though it were a Mage's Ghetto. In Morrowind and in Cyrodiil, magic was much, much more widely accepted and practiced.