>That said, why not treat the aura, shield and barrier spells
>similar to exotic weapon skills? What I mean by that is,
>through use of these "nontraditional" skills, you improve at
>their use and learn to tap into their source better. When you
>begin to use aura, it shows up in your skill list just like an
>exotic weapon skill might:

I've got to say, this is a unique approach that I hadn't thought of. That being said, I'm not really a fan.

>Give or take, of course. So instead of gaining the full
>benefit of the spell upon immediately finding some foreign
>object through your exploration travels, how about having
>these spells increase in potency (both amount of protection
>and duration) through the percentage of what your skill is in
>the respective spell?
>
>Maybe instead of aura granting 15% (give or take) to boot, how
>about having it start at 8% and increase through usage.

SPAM! SPAM! SPAM! SPAM! SPAM! SPAM! SPAM! SPAM! Woot! 100%

>What this proposal would do in effect, in my opinion, is
>reward veteran players the most. By veteran, I mean the
>characters who have reached 3-4-or-500 hours in the game.

I don't understand how you come to this conclusion. You find one wand, sit in a corner and spam until it's at 100% and now you're a veteran with 3-4-or-500 hours? Pretty sure I could do this in about 25 hours with any mage class.

So long, and thanks for all the fish!