Spell schools and Wizard specializations have been a part of D&D for a very long time. I've got a love/hate relationship with them myself. On the love hand, they give magic a feeling of depth. It becomes sort of like a science, with various subjects and different approaches. Reading about a spell and seeing which school and sub-school it belongs to feels like reading the ingredients of some sort of chemical composite, and it makes it all seem like complicated stuff. The kind of stuff only the smartest bunch, i.e wizards, would ever master. It sort of sets them apart from the rest of the world and explains their nerdy obsession. Most importantly, it's a good way to organize the endless repertoire of spells into a somewhat approachable library. If you want to learn a spell that goes boom, you go into the evocation department.
On the other hand, the hate hand, I don't think all magic should be sorted by schools. When a cleric casts Raise Dead it shouldn't be because he mastered conjuration or necromancy or whatever. It should be because his bond with his faith has become so strong he can perform this miraculous deed. He doesn't care about a spell school, and I don't think divine magic should be sorted that way either. It detracts from the wizard's niche, too, which I don't like.
I may just be rambling, but what do you guys think? Should spell schools be a part of all magic? Or only for the wizard? Or are they pointless and shouldn't be there in the first place?
On the other hand, the hate hand, I don't think all magic should be sorted by schools. When a cleric casts Raise Dead it shouldn't be because he mastered conjuration or necromancy or whatever. It should be because his bond with his faith has become so strong he can perform this miraculous deed. He doesn't care about a spell school, and I don't think divine magic should be sorted that way either. It detracts from the wizard's niche, too, which I don't like.
I may just be rambling, but what do you guys think? Should spell schools be a part of all magic? Or only for the wizard? Or are they pointless and shouldn't be there in the first place?