[Milawe]

I think that this design will have to heavily depend on your playerbase. Are they okay with going through lots of hoops to do something as necessary as spellcasting? Will they be into the realism, or will they just feel numbed by the 3 steps (at least) it takes to cast a spell? And ultimately, is it balanced with the rest of your game?

For me, I wouldn't be interested in having to unbundle, hold the component (unwielding or removing whatever I was carrying), and then start the casting process no matter how "real" it might seem. I'd feel that the system was somewhat cumbersome, but that's also viewing it from the systems that I enjoy.

We have a system where spell components are conjured as well as found throughout the world. Those that use spell components gather them and them put them in their component pouch. Various spells use different components, but we don't force them to take it out of their pouch, handle it, and then cast it. Our component system was created for a very specific reason, though, so adding too many extra steps would have unbalanced the game rather than balancing it.

Now, what I prefer is if you have a crafting system, the resources are created or found throughout the world rather than simply conjured. Then those components are "stored" in some way that can be easily accessed by my character. What I would love to see is a "power" component as well. You would basically have certain components (preferably crafted) that would charge up the spell and make it a bigger nuke. That would make components not only interesting to me but really fun.