Perhaps you have some kind of more advanced combining in mind, but you can combine the effects into one spell and even though a direct interplay may be missing, you can come up with a lot of useful synergies this way and have a spell which is sometimes more than the sum of its parts.
Combine jump 100 with slowfall with 15 secs or so duration to have a fun custom spell for travelling long distances.
Combine weakness to x for 1 sec with x damage on target.
Combine drain willpower 100 for 1 sec with paralysis to paralyze just about everything.
Combine weakness to magicka 100% for 1 sec with drain health 100 to instakill pretty much everything with 200 hp or less.
That's just putting spells in sequence. That's not really what I mean. The point is, basically, that the game doesn't give you any reason WHATSOEVER to experiment with spells. The AI is so incredibly straightforward and simple - and the character/NPC mechanics don't need you to do anything "smart" to overcome it. So, basic damage/paralysis spells are more than sufficient.
So while more advanced combinations are possible - they're also completely pointless.
At least, that's been my experience.
Also, some spells have more uses than it may initially seem - for example you can use command spells to lure strong opponents underwater and let them drown or to lure vendors out of their shops and loot these afterwards, etc.
Iirc, you can also cast levitate 0 pts on cliffracers to make them crash into
ground
. Etc.
Yeah, I know the drown/weight thing as well. But again, the game doesn't give you any reason to experiment - as Bethesda just provide the tools. They don't actually design the system to inspire players to be careful or think about what they're doing with spells or character builds. They don't seem to even bother with that.
Maybe it's not so much the system I have a problem with - but the lack of reasons to experiment with it.
Even so, it's still a boring result either way, as the effects are so plain and similar. Frost spells look like fire spells only with slightly different colors and so on. To me, it's like a tiny handful of particle effects that just scale.
Hard to explain, really, but it just didn't excite me like a strong magic system would.
About the best magic system I'm aware of is Neverwinter Nights or Baldur's Gate 2. They have a TON of spells that look and behave very differently. They also place you in tactical situations where you can really use them for good effect.
Essentially, they give you a very wide array of well-designed and interesting powers - and they provide the playground to justify the existence of spells beyond the basic ones.
Maybe I misunderstand what you mean, but Morrowind´s spell system allows you to upset balance in spades.
Like, for example, casting drain skill on yourself before taking a training lesson
.
Or the custom drain health spell I mentioned above.
Yeah, I wouldn't call any TES even remotely balanced. But I write that down to incompetence more than a wish for imbalance. When I listen to interviews and look how their systems evolve - I see developers streamlining and simplifying mechanics wheerever they can, so as to not give themselves too much work finetuning mechanics and intricate systems.
I guess what I really mean is that they want to give you a playground where you're not hampered by consequence of your choices - and they don't really want you to invest in your build. Well, maybe they'd like it - but they're much more concerned with giving everyone a fair chance to succeed no matter what they do. Just like their character system will accomodate any approach.
I'm not saying that's "wrong" - I'm just saying I don't like that kind of consequence-free environment. I guess the best comparison is playing "cops and robbers" as a child. That was fun because there were no consequences and rules would bend or not get in the way.
I prefer the opposite today, where I'm challenged and I'm asked to make choices which will weigh a LOT throughout the game. That's how games make sense to me. I don't enjoy sandboxes without purpose or without challenge.
Which is one of the reasons I rather like Morrowind´s spell system - it goes well hand in hand with exploration.
I know many people like it - and that's great.
Personally, I think the entire game is pretty bland - and it makes your choices completely null and void - because you can defeat every single enemy in the game through very simple approaches. The TES skill system is so painfully stale and straightforward - that you have zero reason to experiment or think about building your character or your spells.
I know, you can do it "for fun" - just to see how things happen with different approaches - but I personally need more than that. I need to be challenged, before I'm inspired to experiment.