I don''t play Ultima Online, I don''t have the time to invest, but if I did I would consider a mage doing that as bad form. I mean, if you are attacking then someone should not take you kill.

I know in my old MUD days people could get deleted for doing stuff like that - well unless you were in a Party and then you shared the XP anyhows.

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All messages are of my own personal opinion and
not meant to offend. But if they do - tough :)

Neuro.

For me magic is not a gift, it is a skill. So anybody can learn magic. Still there are many limitations :
- there are few masters who can teach you magic so if you want to learn, you will have to found a willing master. Perhaps will he require to be paid somehow...
- it takes years to learn to do more than a globe of light so if you begin playing a magician character you should be of a certain age.
- powerful magic attract powerful magicians so if you do this kind of magic, other could come looking for you
- common people are VERY afraid of magicians and could slay the would be magician in his sleep or burn it just in case
- too much magic = big trouble like major earthquakes, stars exploding or even universe anihilation It should be reserved to NPC, or the consequences well imposed upon the player.

Besides casting a fireball seems dull to me when I read Jack Vance, Mathieu Gaborit or plenty of good fantasy writers. Magic has to be wonderfull, requires rites of ashkent to summon the Death. I really think magic is not used correctly !

Moreover, what is interesting in fantasy is not only the magic and fighting. Meeting characters like Tom bombadil , Pug the magician, or Rhialto is also part of the fun.