Why are Spellcasters not as well liked as Vampires/Werewolves?

I'll break this response to parts. This is going to be a long post...

"Gordy;c-18180757" wrote:
What the others said. Many of the spells are either basic cheats, or reskinned content from other packs. But there are some other things I'd like to call out.

Yes, they are. The only thing that needs to be done is learning them. When we take The Sims 1 and 2, your sim had to hunt down/make the ingredients to cast spells and make charms. It was annoying, but it was balance. I am all for more interesting spells!

"Gordy;c-18180757" wrote:
Potions are a mess. They're not worth the price it costs to make them, or worth the effort it takes to get their ingredients. It's not worth selling them. Only a couple of potions are useful, and Plentiful Needs is way too easy to make and unlock, for something that's so powerful.

Yup, not to mention that your sim will get one potion they just learned to make. So learning it from a sage or a tome will give you a potion. Then use copypasto on it. Potions can fail though...
Again, the previous games also had interesting potion. However, I didn't bring them out before here. Ah well, might as well bring out now...

Again, I'm all for more interesting potions!

"Gordy;c-18180757" wrote:
Familiars are also useless. They're glorified drones that sometimes give you generic pop-up messages. You can't interact with them besides choosing to summon or disperse them. They save you from death by magical overload, but magical overload is something you have to actively go out of your way to achieve, and it's even harder to die by it.

To be honest, I don't know how familiars can be useful. Maybe send them to fetch ingredients, maybe some can be socialized with. They also boost spellcaster experience gain and reduce charge gain, so for me, they are sort of cheat objects to remove balance a little...

"Gordy;c-18180757" wrote:
Brooms basically teleport you. You can't ride around and have fun with them, which gives them less immersion and gameplay potential. Duels are similar, in that there's not a lot of interactivity or variation.

Brooms I already brought up.

"EgonVM;c-18180763" wrote:
@Gordy
Ah yes, brooms. While they were bikes in The Sims 3, you could literally go to a Broom Arena and do broom stunts.

And yes, magic duels in Makin' Magic were awesome. Though the only problem with that system would be that if you know the system, there's no way for your sim to lose. So, in my opinion, the magic duels are so because it then has chance of your sim losing.

"Gordy;c-18180757" wrote:
They're also almost completely unnoticeable if you're not playing with them. At least werewolves can wolf out sometimes, and vampires fear sunlight. Witches might ride brooms if you give them one, but other than that, they don't cast spells or do anything magical autonomously. And if you try to have that via the club system, they just cast Inferniate and burn all your stuff. So it becomes a detriment to try and work with them.

Now that is something where players can have different opinions on. Some prefer open-magic (The Sims 2), others prefer closed-magic (The Sims 1). I think like with werewolves, it should be in the options for players to toggle. Limit magic to Realm of Magic, and if you want extra challenge, the fine for casting in front of non-spellcaster sims could also be an extra option.
Though with clubs, I agree. For me, they constantly enable and disable teleportation. Plus they'll cast spells until they die by overcharge.

"Gordy;c-18180757" wrote:
They also have no secondary form, which is a major appeal for vampires and werewolves. You can greatly customize them. Not that you could do much with spellcasters though, since they have very little CASsets that fit the spellcaster theme. The only witch hat we got was in a completely different pack.

Hmm...
I'd say like with vampires, it should be optional. Plus it would be great to have some shape-shifting spell, allowing the spellcaster to temporarily become an animal or another lifestate (werewolf or vampire, including the powers they have).
And I'll quote myself again.

"EgonVM;c-18180763" wrote:
And I agree about CAS assets too. I get that they were going for the spellcaster customizability thus avoiding the classic witch and warlock look, what if I want to make a classic witch/warlock?

Though yes, it was annoying that The Sims 2 tries to force that witch/warlock outfit on sims. Yes, you can change it, but a change in the alignment level will change them back into that witch/warlock outfit (even when they become more good/evil).

"Gordy;c-18180757" wrote:
On top of that, what makes them different from other sims? Vampires and werewolves require you to change up your gameplay style to accommodate them. Mermaids benefit from living in worlds with swimmable waters. Spellcasters are normal sims that can sometimes use cheats if you feel like it. And I get that witches are generally portrayed as enhanced humans, so there's less room for deviation from normal sims. But there's little incentive to play them outside of that way.

Well, yes. I think it would be great to see more of those curses players would rather keep to make spellcasters different from human sims...

"Gordy;c-18180757" wrote:
I love playing spellcasters, but they're pretty basic. I have to imagine a lot of my stories and gameplay because RoM didn't give us enough to work with. Meanwhile, werewolves and vampires have unique looks, unique items, and unique gameplay.

Agreed. Spellcasters do need a refresh. I'll quote myself under spoilers to show some of my ideas.

"EgonVM;c-18180673" wrote:
For me, they have so much potential. So much cross-pack compatibility could be there. They could be really powerful. But...
I'll take a look at the previous games. The Sims Makin' Magic and The Sims 2 Apartment Life had a lot of unique spells. Some spells even gained some functions when you had DLC (You can cause rain or make the sun shine and butterflies appear with Seasons). I'll share some interesting spells from the previous games.

• Turning sims into toads (which could end badly in The Sims 1 if you had a dragon)
  
• Make an object to temporarily come alive (well, The Sims 4 has too much gnome statues to make a gnome NPC)
  
• Banishing someone (either make them disappear or create a hole under them to fall into)
  
• Turning a pet into a sim
  
• Using a spell to temporarily look like a monster
  
• Making a clone that goes to work/school for you!
  
• Imaginary friends
  
• Easier magician tricks
  
• Spells that make socializing easier or harder
  
• Summoning a sim (I'd like to see a relationship drop when summoned at the wrong time)
  
• A spells that removes other spells
  
• Makes a sim act weird to other sims (act like a chicken for example)
  
• Summon bees to attack sims
  
• Resurrecting dead sims as a zombie
  
• Freezing time (it even has its own section in game tips!)
  
• Haunting curse (which kills the caster if it backfires)
  
• Pestilence Curse
  
• Ability to turn an object into something else
  
• Rain that makes non-witches dance uncontrollably

The Sims 2 evil spells really were evil. Erasing memories, breaking up marriages...
But the first two games had one requirement: spells require ingredients. In The Sims 2, you could just make it in cauldrons, but in The Sims 1, you really had to go out of your way to find them.
The Sims 3 just had magical energy that went down. When it was in half, spells began to backfire. Witches can't cast spells without any of that energy.
Yet, none of the games also doesn't force your sim to cast spells. Witches were the most noticeable in The Sims 2 (special idle animations, using brooms). In fact, in The Sims 1, if your sim casts a spell in front of non-magical sims, they'll get fined. I get a feeling that The Sims 4 is trying to re-create that secret magic theme, just without strict consequences.

But my ideas for spellcaster improvements are like so:

• I agree, more magical outfits. Like that classical witch outfit. The one in Spooky Stuff is more of a Halloween costume after all!
  
• More consequences when sims witness your spellcaster casting spells. A relationship decrease when casting harmful spells, a relationship increase when casting beneficial spells. Reputation changes. Special spellcaster traits for those who cast a lot in public. For example (in spoilers):
  
  Spoiler

  • Magician - Cast a lot of performative spells in front of sims. Sims expect your spellcaster to entertain them.
    
  • Evil Spellcaster - Cast a lot of harmful spells and your sim finds less company around them. In addition, some sims may even run away from them or stronger and braver sims may even challenge them to a fight.
    
  • Good Spellcaster - Cast a lot of beneficial spells and your sim has easier time building relationships. Some sims will go out of their way to find them to get help.
    
  • Medium-like Spellcaster - Summon a lot of ghosts and your sim will get more mourners talking to them.
    
  • Wise Spellcaster - Help sims and give a lot of advice and sims will ask a lot of advice from them, thus learning skills faster.
  
  
• More interactions with other occults and to help them or stop them.
  
• More spells and potions, list under the spoilers:
  
  Spoiler

  • Spells to change the weather.
    
  • Potions to turn and cure (vampires, werewolves etc).
    
  • Potion that temporarily gives any sim Lunar Epiphany so they can learn werewolf secrets from books
    
  • Spells to control werewolf fury.
    
  • Spell to disable vampire powers.
    
  • Spells to disable mermaids' abilities (separate for good and bad abilities)
    
  • Spell to make sims terrified
    
  • Spells to affect the eco footprint
    
  • Spells related to Cottage Living animals (send a bunny to fight sims)
    
  • Spells to cause and cure illnesses
    etc.

Anyway, that's what I have to share on this matter.

"GrumpyGlowfish;c-18181602" wrote:
Witches are my favourite supernatural creature, in The Sims and in general, BUT... there's still a lot of wasted potential here. Most of the spells and potions have effects that can already be achieved in the game by other means, without being a spellcaster. I mean, it's cool that I can magically clean up puddles and force annoying mosquito townies to leave, but if I had magic in real life, that would only be the beginning of what I'd do with it! This pack was an opportunity to go wild with magic, but it ended up being too tame.

Yup. Werewolf lore say that werewolves exist because spellcasters wanted to defeat vampires and thus became werewolves. The lore is full of awesome things magic can do, but why can't we do that in gameplay?

"GrumpyGlowfish;c-18181602" wrote:
There's also an annoying lack of compatibility with other packs. You can't use magic to become famous, change the weather, clean up hair left by pets, or fight the mother plant. And why can't we stop time like in TS2? Granted, that would probably make spellcasters extremely overpowered, but so what? This is not a competition with other occults, it's about exploiting the full potential of every individual occult, and while vampires and werewolves have gotten that treatment for the most part, witches haven't.

Agreed. We need more cross-pack spells. I won't quote my ideas again here (this post is already so long).

"CarpeNocheSims;c-18183714" wrote:
When I was going through my spiritual experimentation after leaving home, I tried Paganism. The obsession with witches "being real witches" with pointy hats...etc...etc...is a very off putting.

This is the great part about spellcasters: the customizability. They can be witches, mediums, nature oriented mages etc. That is why wands, brooms, and familiars are equal in power. I don't know how to approach these topics, so I'll apologize in advance.
Yet the option would be nice. Have some outfits inspired from The Sims 2's witches and warlocks. The important thing is that the game isn't forcing the clothing on the spellcasters after all!