Something to keep hardcore mages interested in taming:
-convert all magery summons into a menu based format (like polymorph)
-add most common tamables in game based on level of taming
example: low mage/taming- summon a rat or weak dog.
gm tame/mage: summon mules or a dragon.
120 tame/mage: an imp or unique mage companion
This keeps young players from spamming EV or blade spirit as they could be considered a "pet" instead of cast and laugh.
Pet stays with you but level is unchanged and based on a formula including both skills.
Pet disbands on dismissal/death/logout. Could also be put on cast timer (30 minutes maybe?)
For balance maybe require certain reagents/items (despite lrc gear) to summon stronger creatures.
Idea: Player takes special skinning knife and kills appropriate mob to "absorb" the ability to summon it later.
Also a mage summon pet could take more slots than a normal tamed pet.
Could add a humorous element like the echee: If you cast summon and also try to tame an animal it does not like- they will kill each other regardless of skill.
To make it worth using both, maybe apply a casting ability to summons, based on a fraction of player's magery.
-low taming but high magery can yield a spell-casting rat that might help in a pinch.
-high taming but low magery can produce a dragon (if success) but it's almost certain to be low lvl and all phys damage.
Just some ideas. Hope you like them!