College of Magi dissapointment?

[ThomasBlaine]

Am I the only one who misses a real school of magic in any RPG? The attempt is there in almost every one of them(the college in Skyrim, Arcane University in Oblivion and the Circle in Dragon Age) but joining them, every single time what I actually want to do (study magic, as it is manifested in respective games) is completely derailed and forgotten in the wake of some epic quest for some ancient artifact or inter-guild war between that exiled necromancer's followers and the rest or whatnot.

 

In Skyrim I really got my hopes up. Everyone I asked in-game literally said : Wanna study spells? Go to the College.

So I took my amateur Breton sorcerer-in-serious-need-of-training and rode to the northernmost location on the map to see what all the fuss was about, expecting another railroad of a questline not unlike the Companion's.

 

But no, I got there, and was asked to demonstrate my skills, and not by killing a mob of stupid monsters terrorizing the vegetable garden. Cool, I thought, this is pretty original.

 

I got in, met the head-mistress-ish woman who gave me a tour. Met my classmates, arranged my quarters, and was instructed to join the current lesson.

 

At this point I was pretty impressed. It seemed like the developers had taken the idea seriously and thrown a bone to all of us who wish we could've gone to Hogwarts as kids, or at least that anyone would make a decent Harry Potter RPG . So far, so awesomely amazingly good.

 

I joined the lesson and was taught-actually taught- a minor Ward spell and how to use it in practice. It was incredible, for the first time in any game I felt like I was digging through to a mystical culture of power, learning to harness it and stepping closer to proficiency with the most interesting talent imaginable, for both utility and combat. I was panting, begging for more.

 

And then I was sent to locate and research ancient artifacts of magic and stolen books, and to beat an evil wizard, which weirdly earned me the title of Arch-Mage, despite obviously having just started learning magic, getting as far as one lesson and training no skill above 50.

 

Does anyone else out there feel how much of a buzz-kill that is?

Edited January 27, 2012 by ThomasBlaine

[David Brasher]

I was a bit disappointed by that questline too. I wasn't a very powerful mage by the time they made me the Arch Mage either. (I could be pwned by the average ice mage I met in fort ruins. Those ice mages have some pretty deadly ice spikes.)

 

I sort of don't like it when quest lines have to the "save the world from destruction!" sort of things like a Hollywood movie. I think it is okay for there to be lots of small little quests with fairly low stakes. That is more like real life and does not require you to suspend your disbelief in such an intense and long-lasting fashion.

 

In Oblivion it seemed like the Mages Guild quest arc was all about killing Necromancers and saving the guild from certain destruction. (And killing a pathetically underpowered boss at the end.)

 

I really liked how it was set up in Morrowind. There were lots of little quests given by various eccentric mages. Some of the quests were rather humorous. You had to achieve certain skill levels in magic to be promoted and to receive certain quests. You actually found yourself shopping for particular spells you were required to learn, and seeking out trainers in certain skills or else doing repetitious practice or changing your combat style in order to gain experience in certain magic skills. In each playthrough, you did not receive all the same quests. It depended on which quest givers you talked to first. Then you would advance beyond some of the quests and they would be unavailable to someone of your rank. So there was some replay value.

 

At the end of the quest arc, there was no huge "save the world" sort of quest. There was just a choice on how you wanted to play, and how badly you wanted to become Arch Mage. Depending on how you chose, you may not have become Arch Mage.

 

One issue that I had with the quest-line in Skyrim is that it seemed pretty short. It seemed like I had just barely put my belongings in my new room, and it was time to leave the college and seek adventure elsewhere.

Edited January 27, 2012 by David Brasher

[Dukkah]

I totally agree, friend. If you ask any innkeeper in Skyrim where you can learn magic, they will tell you to go to the college. But do you learn magic at the college? No; you do the same fetchquest BS as everywhere else. In the beginning, it felt like the devs put effort into it instead of rushing through the quest line, but they didn't. The effort is a lie.

[invertedpanda]

Agreed. The progression of the Mages College was rather lame. I miss Morrowind's Mage's Guild. There was a lot more to it.

 

The Dark Brotherhood and Thieves Guild are much more complete (although the Thieves Guild is rather dull). While the Mage's College was epic in a sense, it was just absurd, and the characters ENCOURAGE you to rush through it all. It's a shame when you can become the head of the college by level 15.

[TimF]

The common problem of any guild is that you can become its leader in few days and being of lowest level. But anyway, you can practice in magic skills and master all the spells in the college. You can imagine how you do it while at it.

[Dukkah]

The common problem of any guild is that you can become its leader in few days and being of lowest level. But anyway, you can practice in magic skills and master all the spells in the college. You can imagine how you do it while at it.

 

That's the problem; I could imagine the entire game if I so desired. The point of the game, however, is to simulate the experience so that we can play the role. It fails at that.

[gsmanners]

The college is a lot more fun if you don't aspire to be a mage. Role playing good excuses to not do the quests is what makes it a challenge for me. In particular, doing all the radiant quests involving the college before you do any crazy things like finding the staff of Magius makes it much more interesting.

[TimF]

That's the problem; I could imagine the entire game if I so desired. The point of the game, however, is to simulate the experience so that we can play the role. It fails at that.

 

Well, I don't thing that much people would like to see scholarship and theoretical study on spells simulated in great detail in a game such as Skyrim. Really, the ward is the only one with a non-obvious usage.

 

Also, you really do some research (practical, again) on master spells.

[BCbrad]

Got to agree with you. My player was lvl23 when I became Arch-Mage. There should have been a revolt over that!

I seem to remember just getting into the University in Oblivion taking longer. I see a lot of room for expansion here, hopefully the modders will make being a mage more meaningful.

[ThomasBlaine]

Wow, Morrorwind's magic guild sounds awesome. Never got around to playing it myself, but I'd consider giving it a try just for that.

 

Anyway, maybe I'm just a sucker for training montages, but that one mostly dialogue-based lesson in the Lesser Ward spell was the most stimulating quest in the entire line, maybe even the game for me. I'd be an instant magic-enthusiast if the entire quest-line consisted of lessons in different spells, with side-quests like experimentation, pranks and shared research among the students, and a few artifact-hunts and magic duels for exams or something.

 

Learning magic should be more thematic and intricate than just shifting numbers around and selecting a book that we never get to read anyway. I can read the "Lust Argonian Maid" word for word, but can't peek in the book that teaches me to throw fire? It's just wasted potential and missed highlights where they really should've spent more resources, and that's not even mentioning the countless awesome utility and variational spells that were lost between Oblivion and Skyrim.

 

I love the new spell-casting system and skill trees and the Ward spell in particular, but it seems like the raw material and flavor of magic was just dumped down for Skyrim.

 

I agree that it's pretty ideal for non-spellcasters though. A monster-hunter or dragon-slayer or legendary assassin would plausibly stop by the College to review the most vital of basic spells, gather a few utility ones, learn to enchant something specific and maybe, maybe not get tangled up in guild politics and a weird discovery without bothering with in-depth study.

Edited January 27, 2012 by ThomasBlaine