Something i just thought of that may help with the difference between. Notice how in Warcraft 3 Jaina use frost magic for stopping her enemies then improved to polymorps like what we saw in the Maw.
Compared to what we experienced with Thalyssra where even as a weakened withered form she used time stop spells, and a barrier that both repelled and damaged her enemies. It even held up for a moment when she ran into the cave of shal’aran and was sustained during the Mana Storm in the Arcways.
Even the sorcerers of the moon guard sustained a shield and used time magic on themselves.
But it may be just a difference with frost vs arcane. Khadgars spells were a combination of some but he had Atiesh and the training of a guardian.
The mages of the kirin tor used shields albeit a combination of a few mages to cloak and conceal themselves.
I like to compare magic use to stuff like PhDs and exercise. For exercise, if you do it perfectly for the first year, that’s as much gainz as you’re ever going to see in a single year ever again - no subsequent year will really come close to comparing to that first year (except if you hop on drugs, but shhhh). But there’s also an absolutely massive difference between someone who’s been doing it for ten years versus someone who just finished a (let’s say fully optimized) first year.
PhDs also take ages, and per a lazy google search the average age for finishing that is around 31-ish. I like to think as each spec, or type of magic, as a PhD unto itself, possibly with even more variations within. I don’t think it’s really reasonable to have a human mage take 30-50 years and be casting fireball, frostbolt, and arcane blast at 70-90% of the effectiveness of a mage who’s been at it hundreds, thousands, or upwards of 10k years. I don’t think there’s enough time in the day for them to get the ‘reps’ in, so to speak.
I actually really enjoyed Khadgar’s portrayal versus Xal’atath recently, where he seemingly blew all his mana on a single big 'ol beam and then had to tap out immediately after. I think an elven mage would’ve been very far from OOM at the end there, and further could’ve done the big 'ol beam with frost, or fire, or whatever else they’ve been studying in their spare time.
I’m absolutely down for some good 'ol ‘the POWAH of human potential’ most times, but I still see it more as…A human mage might have biceps close to an elf mage’s biceps (exercise). Or their (magical equivalent) jab (frostbolt?) might be 70-90% comparable to an elven mage’s jab/frostbolt. Or they’ve both finished the same PhD. But the elf has that extra 10-30% on top, and has it for everything else - all thee other muscles, all the other spells, and squillions of PhDs (depending on the age of the elf).
I suppose it’s also very possible I’m just really cranky about how badly Blizzard tends to write characters in that kind of age class and am just coping/seething here >_>
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The variety of replies in this thread warms my heart to an exceptional degree, and this particular topic engages with a philosophical notion that I think gets overlooked a lot in multiple narrative circles.
The nature of potential is a tricky one. How do you know when someone has truly reached the absolute apex of their capability, has become the absolute best possible version of themselves within their contextual field? What does someone do when they exist in a society famed for producing exceptional arcanists and sorcerers, when their own skill is middling at best? Do they cheat? Do they focus on something else?
I don’t have any particularly concrete answers on this hypothetical but it is something I feel might be particularly poignant to the specific topic of innate magical potential and the theorized disparity of it between cultures and species. If nothing else it makes me think that a very old highborne who, despite all of their training and effort, just really isn’t a very good mage might be an interesting character concept. How they might rely more on reputation, trickery, and preconceived notions about what they are rather than actual demonstration.
I always loved the idea of a ‘not absolutely fantastic mage’ character. Or force user, because I RP in SWTOR a lot. Every mage should learn to cast Power Word: Gun. My mage, who specializes in a few things that aren’t exactly 1:1 combat relevant has a pistol hidden up her sleeve, and my Sith (who is also very short and not amazing with the Force) just strapped a blaster pistol to her wrist and started shooting people mid-parry.
Unconventional use of magic is the best thing ever. Non-combat portal mage? Waddle up, drop a bigass bomb on the ground, then teleport away.