So I can't throw a spell that acts as a DoT, I can only do a flamethrower if I want to have a stream of damage? I apparently need to have the spell in both hand sot make it an explosive fireball? Why can't I make smaller less damaging fireballs with one hand. All these supposed perks because holding down the mouse key makes it a flamethrower etc. are things that could have just as easily been dealt with by hotkeys. So I lose functionality for what? I see pretty much no game play benefit, at best it will have snazzier graphics which I don't care about. Though I am still assuming this is a miss translation and spell design is still in the game.

When I role played a mage, I loved spell making, because it added to the customization of my character. I didn't have every spell that everyone else had...which all the NPC's had....it was me, my character, with what he wanted to carry with him. I'll give you an example. I had an Altmer mage and there were customer built absorb spells that were something I aimed for and worked towards and then when I could create it, the goal was reached and there was a great sense of accomplishment. When I was able to summon a Lich for a longer period of time and have him fight at my side, without constantly having to recast the generic spell, again, it was special to my character.

I don't like the spell maker, b/c I think it can be exploited to get easy levels for your character. However, if some folks want to use that exploit, I guess it's up to them. At the end of the day, I truly felt it was a rewarding experience to be able to build my character the way I wanted. Almost like creating your own armor or picking different pieces of armor that you think go well together. That's what I enjoyed.

I think the reason why there is no spellmaking is unique effects of the spells. Like we might have this flamerthrower spell, but also a chargin fireball spell, etc.

To me, spell making always seemed as a way to make simple and mostly poorly done magic to something usable.

Of course I will miss making those odd spell and naming them with stupid names, but if magic will be more fluid and less bothersome (You know, having gazillion different iteration of same fireball cluttering my spell inventory. Was that cool?), I will be happy without spellmaking.

I'm hoping that someway, by hook or crook, spellmaking is in. OK, maybe the new system will blow me away, but all I have to go on is previous games. In former TES games, there were always redundent and/or useless (to my character) spells, and at the same time very specific spells that I had to make to have in.

I was actually going to post that just now

I usually used that spell in the arena and also summoned a dremora lord with the armor. Of course it was fun in other situations as well.

It was pretty fun to do that when it was two on one. I actually got one of the enemies to fight the dremora lord while I fought the other guy. I could have just killed them on my own in a couple of hits of magic but it was more fun to do the two on two battle.

One of the main reasons why I liked spell creation was that I could create spells like this that Bethesda wouldn't think of combining. I doubt they'll come up with as many good spell combos as I did and I'll likely feel very restricted as a mage in Skyrim (that's if I decide to even be a mage anymore).

Would still be possible, you'd just have to cast each spell individually. Which is why I think spell "creation" is out (if it is true). You never really created new spells in MW or OB, you just combined or tweaked existing spells. Removing this tweaking capability could allow them to make each spell more unique and balanced in the game. We don't know yet how it work. If spell strength levels with the character it could actually be really effective.

I hated in OB that my characters that had no involvement with the Mages Guild, but still had good magic skills were pretty limited in the effectiveness of spells since I couldnt really go and make my own.

The only thing I liked doing was enchanting stuff. I never liked creating spells.

This video was very interesting and I think anyone worried about spell making should watch it. Not that we can say that Skyrim will be anything like this, but it gives you an idea of how bland TES magic system has been in the past by comparison.

Voted for the "Yes, I do like making spells" one (whatever it says). Hey, if you don't like making spells, don't create them! Problem solved. But I do like having that freedom, personally.

I made an awesome specialized companion spell in Oblivion. I forget the exact effects but it was something like putting a Sheild on the companion, as well as boosting their Health and Strength. Something like that. I made some other spell which was just the opposite. It put a light spell, fear, and some sort of sustained damage on the enemy. Not only was it dangerous to the enemy, watching him run away screaming "DON'T HURT ME!" as he was on fire, and then being able to see where he was as he tried to hide deep in the dungeon was just plain funny to me! You really wanna take this freedom away, OP? :confused:

Problem with culling spell creation is the fact that you can t adjust spells and for example mana consumption to your need.
The argument that spell creation is too strong is brainfart, you have a dozen way to reduce it.

The problem with Skyrim is that whenever you look your possibilities of creating uniqueness is being pulled under your feet.

The trend is: If its a problem, solve it the easy way, take it off the game.

As for eyecandy being probably why they are cutting spell creation, its probable. But screw eyecandy, it is the game factor that degrade the fastest. And whatever you do, modders will trampleover your work in weeks, while trampling aver a gamesystem rocksolid and interesting is hard.

a lot of these posts think I don't want spell making in at all, that's not it

I'm simply saying if I had the choice between spell making and more unique spells by default, I'd prefer more unique spells. I also think this is the case as to why they took it out, I would, however, love to have my cake and eat it too

How can anyone support not having spellmaking in Skyrim? There isn't a single spell you can't make more effective by making it yourself!

There is no legitimate reason to do this, Bethesda! GIVE US BACK OUR SPELLMAKING ABILITIES!

I think one of the most broken aspects of the series is that it costs gold to make spells/enchant. I'd rather spells not be bought at all. Horrible game mechanic that just needs to go. Making thins cost more and more is not any kind of solution really.

As usual with this thread TES conservatives whining about the loss of Any previous game feature without seeing what features will take its place. Like skill loss without understanding perks. How about suggestions on how to improve than just saying 'please don't make it so I can't play the exact same way as last game.'

Like instead of gold as a measure to enchanting or spell-making ability that ranks in these skills are quest related or faction rank related. Making it gold related is just lazy,

So spells it seems are not even the same as in previous games - it seems instead they are saying that there will be 85 spell effects that can then be manipulated along an, as yet, unknown system of what seemed to be the variables (touch, AOE, range, etc) of what we previously called spells - that are then limited by what could include skills, perks, attributes ... and hopefully something more original than gold.

Since when is gold a measure of mystical power?

I don't have much to add but I agree with your thoughts on the matter. I have posted this in other threads (there have been at least two other closed threads about this same subject) but the old system felt tacky to me. Not that I am going to criticize it in its own right, it was useful and appropriate when it was released (in 2006 I believe?), and was hardly noticeable. I did think to myself though, "who am I paying this money to so that this magic skill exists? Does that make sense? Oh well no biggie". I love the learn as you level system like in Final Fantasy 2. I remember leveling my characters up just out of the hope that I would learn a new spell. It was kind of exciting to find out what new spells were around the corner. When you finally get Meteor that was a highlight of the game in my opinion. I really really hope and wish that this new system incorporates more immersion and functionality along with creativity than the last system. That would be fantastic!

i like this idea. i would love to have some sort of magic customization. i feel like being able to magically customize stuff (either creating spells or enchanting paper) needs to be in the game. it adds to your creativity on what you can do. they can limit all the stuff that ruins the game like 100% chameleon, but i just want some sort of customization to make magic feel more in-the-game.

I wouldn't mind if spellmaking was a part on enchanting.

How can you demand something back that you never lost?

I liked Spellmaking alot - especially when the MIDAS mod was added and gave us huge possibilities.

It's a shame they didn't add that to Skyrim, but I won't loose sleep over it either. In a way, dragon-shouts are going to be a form of magic that all classes can enjoy - maybe that was the trade off...?

C by far.

I'd rather have good and effective spells right out of the box and not have the ability to make spells rather than be forced to make all kinds of cheap magic exploits to feel powerful.

Ditto

It isn't confirmed out I believe, but it was not mentioned in the GI article where as enchantment and alchemy were.

Removing spellmaking is a horrible idea for one reason:

GI mentioned there are 85 spells to buy in the game. There are 5 schools. That's 17 spells per school. In the school of Destruction we have fire, cold, electric, poison, damage health, damage fatigue, damage magicka, drain magicka, drain fatigue, drain health, drain attribute, damage attribute, drain skill, disintigrate armor, disintigrate weapon, weakness to fire, weakness to frost, weakness to cold, weakness to magicka, weakness to disease and weakness to poison. That would be 21 different effects in the school of Destruction itself, and that would mean 1 spell for each? Dumb. Now let's say there was one ranged DoT spell, one ranged AoE spell, one touch DoT spell, and one touch spell for each of these. That's 4 spells for each effect, or 84 spells.

Now you have one spell for each other school in the game... and I haven't even gone into the coolest spells in older TES games where you mix and match effects, especially things like "Fire Damage X over 30 seconds + Soul Trap 31 seconds.

I hope they meant 85 spell effects but without spellmaking, well, we're talking something on the order of 85! spells that Bethesda would have to put in for me to feel satisfied with the state of magic.

So no, no spell making would be a terrible "addition" to the game (rather state that removing spell making is a terrible thing to remove) simply because it would be going away from the entire point of TES: you make your character do what you want to make your character do. And to rebut one of your points about spells looking unique: TES has never been about the spectacle (except maybe Oblibbions, but that's why it's generally disliked). TES doesn't need the shiniest graphics and the most unique combat effects ever to be a memorable and loved game: instead save that disc space for places where being unique actually matters: in the towns, the cities, and the people. I'd rather be able to cast 35 different fire spells that look exactly the same than 2 fire spells that look unique, and I'm sure I'm not alone.

EDIT: Option C is a svcker's option. Spells aren't "more unique" because you buy them from a vendor, nor are the spells necessarily "more unique" because spellmaking is taken out of the game. One great option for making certain spells "unique" would be to make their effects greater (like much greater) and more mana efficient, reflecting that the spell has been around for a while and been perfected over time (so you are paying someone to "teach" you the spell), but the spells you make at the moment are often more powerful, though they are much less efficient than they could be mana wise (reflecting that the spell is "brand new" and hasn't had the kinks worked out yet). Voila, spells from vendors are "unique" without getting rid of spellmaking!

Let us not forget the new perks system. It will most likely apply to magic and spells as well as weapons.

These perks might just revolutionize the entire system of TES. Personally, I like the sound of it.

You must realize that we know almost nothing about the game as of now. The system of magical combat may be entirely different than what you are describing. What if each spell has a touch, ranged, and area effect option, and it does different levels of damage for each? How do you know how the damage for each spell will increase with each level? Each spell might not have a set power or damage. Maybe it levels up with you. Maybe the new perks you get will dictate new powers for each spell, perhaps, as you said, allowing you to combine certain spells and add time durations. Who knows? You need to take everything into account, especially because we know nothing.

Oblivion is not generally disliked. You most likely have that warped viewpoint because only the most vocal and critical people actually go looking for a forum to post their critiques on, hence why we see so much of it on the forum. The vast majority of the player base does not post here. Bethesda would not make a game to appeal to a minority of their player base. Hence, it is logical to assume that because Oblivion was such a success, there are more people who liked it than disliked it.

The 85 spells is the reason I believe spelmaking is in, it will be far to few spells even if you drop lots of effects, remember that most spells has different strength, durations and targets.
You have four heal self spells and 4 heal on touch spells even heal on target. Fire frost and shock damage is verified, now you need this in difrent strength, target and area off effect.
Water walking on touch is not a buyable spell as I know, but very useful on your horse.
Posible options is far higher than 85 even if you drop all weakens and other features who makes spells interesting.

One option is to set strength by charging before casting, yes it let you adjust so you don't waste all your mana killing a rat, or run around with an underpowered spell. But you still need area of effect even if you drop the target or touch difference. You also need self or target for healing. Now let talk about summoning; each creature or armor piece will cost 1 of the 85 spells.

I have a feeling the reporter mix up dragon shouts and spells, same way somebody with no knowledge of Oblivion would assume that sigil stones and no enchant skill would imply no custom enchantment.

Game will be playable without spellmaking but not as a pure mage, even if the supplied spells are powerful enough it would be boring as mud. Archers and melee fighters will work well enough. Pure mages was not playable in Morrowind either without mods or potion exploits and the game was still good, but I would call it a major [censored]up in the category of removing bows.

90% of my spells are custom because Bethesda might be an expert at making an amazing living and believable world. But they haven't got a clue on how to balance things. Or know how to make abilities useful.