A few days ago I started reading about Pantheon Rise of the Fallen and came across this interview with Brad McQuaid done by someone called "Countdown to classic" :
https://countdowntoclassic.com/2019/...4rd-on-quests/
Somewhere along the line Brad talks about regrets/mistakes from his previous games and SPECIFICALLY mentions the spellbook medding saying that "it was probably one of THE most stupid things he implemented"
Brad interview starts at 1h05m and he mentions spellbook medding at around 1h51m15s