it sucks so bad that 'lightning magic' in every media is just some pathetic little strands of electricity. i wanna see some LIGHTNING. show me a magic setting where lightning magic lights up a room like the sun, and the bolt is only visible as an afterimage burned into your vision. I wanna see someone cast lightning and have the thunder rattling the room and shaking everyone to their core. i want lightning magic to be a split second blast of so much power it leaves everyone's senses reeling. c'mon guys don't you know what real lightning looks like? we can be doing so much better than this.
I agree with this but I'm always far more upset when plant magic is incredibly weak or used exclusively for healing. Like... Have you ever seen what a tree can do to a rock? What plants over the course of a millennium can do to an area? Or what some plants can do when they grow on a living thing? Now imagine you could do all those things in an instant, anywhere you wanted. Imaging growing an oak tree in someone's chest. Imagine growing new trees that are very resistant to fire suddenly to block an enemy spell. Imagine filling the air with pollen so thick it causes the enemy forces to suffocate. Plant magic should be the scariest magic in any setting and instead it appears gets limited to "oh, I can't hurt anyone. I must defend and heal those I care about." No. Rip off that guy's limbs with strangle vines before he even gets a chance to attack your friends.
