When you're talking about WoD it's not magic vs no-magic, it's freeform magic (Mage) vs spell-based magic (everybody else.)
Freeform magic systems are not inherently more powerful than spell-based ones. There are a couple things going on:
1: They require more creative effort from players, so they're harder.
2: They are more vague. So they're more open to GM interpretation. It's quite possible to love Mage in general but hate it on FooMU because, goddamnit, every fucking time you try to do magic, FooMU staff tells you it doesn't work that way. Getting the strong impression that your staffer 'trusts' Abelard to cast 'correctly' and hand-waves it while carefully examining your attempts for flaws (and of course, finding them) is a common occurrence.
The oft-mentioned overpoweredness of Mage probably has to do with point 2, not the game system itself.
PLUS, when you're talking about a MU, "balance" and "overpowered" mean something different than a tabletop game, and/or what the game designers anticipated.
Unless you don't let characters advance, or you give everybody an XP when anybody earns one, a MU can't be balanced like a table-top game (such as the system was designed for). The way to achieve balance on a MU is not to have all PCs equally capable. It's to provide plotlines/adventures/events that cater to Camille's strengths and interests, and to contrive ways to keep Abelard out of them if he happens to share Camille's strengths +2.
