At first I wasn't really bothered by the lack of spellmaking even though I've enjoyed that feature alot in previous TES games, but after countless mages, sorcerers and every incarnation of magic user there's something lacking when it comes to immersing myself in the role as a master wizard, the inability to create powerful spells of my own design.

The realization that simply stacking magicka boosting equipment might allow a warrior or thief to cast up to expert level spells takes some of the "magic" out of the whole thing. There's little sense of accomplishment in taking the path of a mage casting spells designed by others, you're still just a novice, you've learned nothing and you are not able to use your skills in creating something of your own design.

In fact, the best route as a magic user in Skyrim is to roleplay a bard or something similar as it would fit such a character more, dabbling in magic instead of becoming a master of it. The sad part for me is that it will most likely never be fixed, nor the CoW being expanded upon. It's a shame really when the world of TES is infused with magic to it's core yet it's the most unfulfilling part of the Skyrim.

Now let me be clear, it's not bad, but it stacks up poorly compared to the other archetypes. Just had to get this off my chest.

http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1445248-some-musings-on-destruction/

There is literally a topic on this on the front page right now.