I
Immortal Sun
Guest
We called it "Second Edition".
One ramification of being able to cast a Fireball is that, should circumstances warrant, you can deal a bunch of fire damage in a large area. Another ramification of being able to cast a Fireball is that you know you can cast Fireball, and others may believe that you can, so that changes how everyone acts in your presence.
If you walk into a public place and start waving a gun around, the fact that you have a gun has a strong influence on everybody present, whether or not you ever actually use it. The firing is a rather small part of the experience.
Your gun analogy is flawed on the grounds that without demonstrating your magical ability, only the player knows their character is capable of magic. A wizard isn't a gun. A wizard is an elf, or a human, or a dwarf or whatever, with a concealed carry permit. But if that person never reveals that they have such a permit, or that they're carrying, then that "wizard" is really just any other person.