i miss the old days where you could get certain spells or abilities from fighting mobs. you fight a mob and you can only get their special spell from them casting it on you. the way vii did materia was by far the best way i have dealt with magic in any rpg/mmo. too bad the materia system in place now is a bastardization of what materia was to the final fantasy series.

they are taking spells down to the bare minimum though because they have to make it simple enough for the lowest common denominator to be able to do it.