And yet it was.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Silence. People not speaking when casting spells was a logistical thing, the same way we don't see people doing all sorts of other realistic things you'd expect them to. Every representation can't be 1:1. To fill in the blanks we have lore, like the aforementioned book.

So you say and yet i see no proof of it. Especially not from someone who never had to use it. I guess if i turn on god-mode then stimpacks are useless right? Better get rid of them in the next game

The spell silence, in TES, supposedly cut off magical casting by making the caster unable to speak. However, spells are not spoken in TES, they are thought. Thus silence doesn't make sense as one would be mute and still cast a spell.

Morrowind however also had a SOUND spell effect, which gave the target lots of sound in their head, making them unable to concentrate, which makes far more sense as spells are thought based.

>using a fictional tale as evidence of anything.

Let me guess...... you think Tiber Septim was a nord too?

Yeah, if we got rid of everything this person or that person didn't use, we'd have a linear FPS. Which, as long as it came from Beth's mouth, would be fine to some folks.

Because it does not explain to me how a mage college that has existed for several eras has forgotten how to do magic.

Lots of the spells had unique effects, mute stopped the target from casting spells and was very effective against mages. No it did not stop you from talking, that is not the important part, think the name was silence actualy but it did not help you sneak if cast on yourself

Absorb effects was dual effects they did both damage and booster yourself, more expensive but often very useful.

Weakness effects was devastating if used correctly, more complex spells but gave an huge damage boost for the magic used.

it was also nice combined with an enchanted weapon, say turn undead+ weakness to fire and an fire enchant on sword

Drain had its uses, most popular was drain health as an execute move, an large area drain was nice to remove an area of critters.

This is only destruction, and destruction worked well enough as primary weapon in previous games.

Not only was magic dumbed down into the ground, but the promised combined effects then dual cast was also dropped.

However the final nail in the coffin was that spells did not level with skill or character level, lots of their cool effect was just cool effects at higher level, as the wall or runes or flamethrower kept the same damage and it was no way of upgrade it.

In short it failed totally on all fronts and reduced magic to an utility skill.

And yet we know it works from the games and actually using it. What does Tiber have to do with anything? Believe me, you don't want to trade lore blows with me.

Did you forget that half the city fell into the ocean and 99% of the college members were driven out by the remaining nords?

Show me evidence of Silence specifically stopping a person from speaking in TES? Because even in other settings it does more than just that, it blocks them from using all magic. Last time i tried in OB silencing didnt stop them from shouting threats at me, so it the name means "silence magic", not "silence voice". This isnt a complex concept, not sure why you are having such a rough time with it

Except we know it doesn't as people didnt speak when casting spells in Morrowind.

the point was that Tbier is often said to be a nord in many books, when he was in fact a Breton. Most books in TEs are fictional stories, and thus, not proof of anything.

And believe me, I could lore circles around you. I am rather infamous on several sites for my TES lore knowledge.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Lore:Silence

"Egroamaro bowed to his adversary sardonically, and then prepared to unleash a fireball to incinerate him. Before he had uttered the first word of the spell, he suddenly found that all the creaking and sighing of the ruins around him had been stilled. He opened his voice to speak, but there was no sound. Silverthorn took his time, strolling across the length of the hall, before dispatching the battlemage with one stroke of his blade."

Except the college itself remained intact and there were members there, like the archmage that were old enough that they should remember how to do magic and teach it.

Hey, I used it for months, until OA came out. At best it adds the necessity of hunting down identical replacement parts for your weapons and armor and getting more stuff as a result. At worst it adds the tedium of having to take the time to do that, which in itself, is worthless.

Except we know it does. And for the third time, people don't use the bathroom either. Everything isn't going to be 1:1.

But, the things was I could only use a sword and rip through the game, same with bows. If i did really well they couldn't never even touch me. But destruction was just horribly UP. The cloaks and runes never scaled with level, and most magics damage was maxed at a really low level.

[citation needed]

It did not stop them screaming at you neither did it stop you taking if cast on yourself, it just stopped all spellcasting. Think of it as some sort of jamming.

This was very useful as the stupid AI would then switch to melee and come towards you.

It was also pretty frustrating if you was an pure mage and it was used against you.

So effort is worthless, good to know

The games. Game play decisions, not lore ones. So yeah, silence did just what it says it did.

Also as far as spell creation if that's still an argument, there are apprentices at the college that make their own spells in the game. The NPCs can do it, but you can't.

So it blocked a spell by stopping the caster from casting...sounds like working as intended to me. You used that example yet you also say spells are thought, not spoken...you are a very inefficient debater

Except the games contradict themselves.

As shown in Oblivion, the silence spell doesn't stop taunts and the like, whereas in the only book supposedly mentioning how it work, it says the person was unable to speak at all.

You missed the whole point somehow...... as shown in the in-game examples you yourself have mentioned, the silence spell does no such thing.

Did you forget the point you yourself have made?

No it says the person was unable to speak the spell, it didnt say he was unable or he even attempted to speak something else

That is what i hated about Skyrim. They took off all the good stuff that Morrowind had

You better not do that my precious Fallout bethesda.

speaking is speaking, magic or not.

the silence spell supposedly stopped all noise from the ruins as well.

it negates ALL sound supposedly, yet it does no such thing in the games.

I've aleady said it 4 times now, I'm not going to repeat myself again. Why are you selectively reading what I type?