A missile carrying napalm is more dangerous than Meteor Storm is. I would think the point already iterated, that high level magic isn't actually as special as asserted, would be clear by making such comparisons.
No it isn't.
A gun only being about 1/3 as damaging as the supposed epitome of destructive magic doesn't make the point you think it does.
"A gun"? Seriously?
An antimatter rifle is a gun the same way that a nail is a sword. I didn't compare it to Doom's BFG for no reason. We are talking about unleashing pure destructive energy that can likely disintegrate anything it touches. And THAT is only a 1/3 as powerful as the epitome of destructive magic. Something we are not even capable of creating in our modern age.
Was reality warping when Hiroshima and Nagasaki got bombed? No.
So why would the "functional equivalent" in a world with magic be warping reality?
It wouldn't, if you keep to the logic. But it would, if you're already starting from the assumption that magic is inherently reality warping no matter what, regardless of the properties of the universe its happening in.
I did allude to this earlier. My conclusion stems from me not assuming anything about what magic is or isn't and is not trying to force my arguments to fit an assumption.
Yes. It absolutely warped the reality of the world and geo-politics, reshaping what WAR meant for the next fifty years. To the point we refer to those bombings as the start of the nuclear age, and their impacts have reshaped our world.
And you are talking about two weapons that took a secret team of genius scientists, founded by one of the richest countries of all time, years to figure out. Then load onto highly advanced aircraft that cost millions of dollars, using cutting edge technology, flying them hours across hostile oceans, using fuel that is the entire point of an entire sector of the economy. It was a strike that could only be pulled off by the most advanced, largest, richest economy and government in the world. The cooridination of hundreds of thousands of man-hours and supply lines and expertise across a dozen fields.
And that is being compared to something that could be done by a single hermit in the woods. With no backing from a government, and no need of anyone but himself.
You must not be a fan of superhero literature if the realization of the amount of personal power we are talking about doesn't strike you as utterly warping to the world.
Oh yay, condescension. My favorite. How about you answer the question instead?
Considering cloning is real, and arguably mind transferrence (and presumably copying) could be possible as well with further developments in those fields, not so much far beyond as you'd think.
Genetic cloning is "real" in that we have done it. But it still requires a normal growth rate. Meaning that if you wanted an adult body, you'd need 20 years. Oh, and since it would be in a vat and not moving, all the muscles would be horrifically atrophied. The spell does this in 120 days, regardless of size or complexity, with no harm to the body from atrophy. Additionally, you are arguing that a completely theoritical thing might be possible. A thing we cannot do, have no idea how to do, and have no functional way to even attempt. Meanwhile, again, the clone spell transmits the soul from the dead body to the new body. No loss of memories or anything else. After death. Even sci-fi clones with mind transfers can't do that reliably. And again, for less than the cost of a big wooden boat.
Yes, in a world of dungeons and dragons and magic and gods and wizardry, immortality is peanuts when you can buy resurrection materials at any corner drug store. (Ie, you assumed what I was directing that to and got it very wrong)
In a world of phones, hot chips, and lies, immortality is one of the pinnacle achievements of humanity that we're on the cusp of attaining for ourselves after merely a century and a half of concentrated developments in the fields of medicine, science, and technology.
Its all relative and it goes both ways. Whats an amazing achievement for us isn't always going to be for another universe and vice versa.
And you still seem to miss the point. Resurrection is magic too. You are trying to argue that magic isn't warping how the world works, by pointing out how magic warps how the world works. And completely ignoring that even if a fighter bought 1 million ressurection materials... they can't do anything with it. (Plus, ressurection can't bring you back if you die of old age, clone can.)