Are you saying Morrowind never happened?

Does no one remember the ninja monkeys that dotted the land in the TES CS for Morrowind? - those were levelled monsters

The level scaling felt just as bad as Oblivion when I first started playing. I then realized that the game is built to have companions with you and it was fine.

I am fine with it. When I am frustrated with Dark Souls I switch over to Skyrim and no complains just a cake walk lol.

As pointed out (several times) creatures in MW were taken from levelled lists. Each region had different lists so the Ascadian Isles were never very dangerous and Red Mountain was very challanging for a low-level character but the creatures you met were largely level dependent and it was noticeable. Skyrim's wilderness encounters are ok, probably as well done as MW and defnitely better than Oblivion (where creatures seemed to become virtually extinct once you'd levelled past them). I haven't made up my mind yet on if I prefer MW or Skyrim approach to dungeons, although again both seem better than Oblivion.

I like it the way it is. Having over-powered bandit chiefs (for example) does make a certain amount of sense: it's the reason they got to be in charge. I like the way that monsters get tougher as you venture away from roads. And I really don't need to wave my [censored] enough to need high level nasties everywhere at higher levels: I'm the Dragonborn, with daedric armour and weapons, and many many hours or training - of course I can thrash most victims.


(edit: gotta love the censoring system here: the word I used was a slang expression, and has a double "e" in the middle. Only a forum might consider it an obscenity!)

I love the new leveling system. I am amazed to find it difficult in some palces while in other I sweep through the bandits like a hurricane. I though I was pretty well set off early in the game (aroungd level 10) because of the one handed skill perk increasing my damage and thje fact I found a steel plate chestpeice incredibly early in a dungeon. So feeling like a badass I wandered up to face a giant; and immediatly got my [censored] tossed. After a few more attempts (one in wolf form) I came to the conclusion that now matter how powerful I may feel the giants were a step above to be sure. Later in the game i came across a high level bandit cheif and I was amazed to see how little damage I did to him and how MUCH he did to me.I was able to come to the conclusion that my troubles wit the cheifs weren't simply sue to their high level but also to the gear they are suited with. Most of the tiem they wear steel-plate in my game are are duited up with a warhammer, which, surprisngly punctures through your armor as if it were non-existant. This is due most likely to the 'skull-crusher' perks that can be found in the two handed weapons tree not to mention the fact that a two-handed power attack will send your stamina bar to hell. I also found on my journeys as my sword-and-board paladin that mages posed a huge threat. While most fire spells were laughable, shock would complete deplete my mana and my abality to use healing spells and frost would completely negate my ability to close the distance with a forward chargte power attack and unfortunatly for me there is either
A: More than one mage in any given group each tending to specialize in different paths.
B: One badass mage who can cast ice spike like its a machine gun before switching to a different spell which will also be cast like mad.

Also: and no matter what they always have some sort of melee backup.

I LOVED this. the fact that the devs made it so not all enemies are the same level and certain ones post a greater challenge made this game amazing for me. In oblivion I could COMPLETELY toss anyone my level. However in skyrim I find myself having to make more tactical decision in combat. While hiding behind a pillar to dodge a gust of flame launched by a furious mage or dragon i always find myself thinking of a way to escape the situation. Whenever I find myself in a brutal fight with the bandit cheifs I find myself in a desperate struggle to get my stamina back and shield bash him in mid-swing or take a massive hit. Thats how combat should work.there are the easy time and the hard times and all of it furthers the experience for me.

alos on the note of getting your [censored] tossed in morrowind and coming back later. I find two porblems with this.
1: It is never fun to have absolutely no chance n combat simply because of stat numbers.
2: You assume you will be able to leave the dungeon in order for this to happens, I recall more than one time in MW when I would walk into a dungeon, have it auto-save and be killed immediatly by a greater - bone walker that just happened to be near the door. In the one situation which I did manage to kill it I recall it having a very, very, very, very, very, very, very, long last over-encumbered debuff which would leave me standing there for a good 3 hours RL time

You're missing the point again. The point is once you get super gear, there's no point in exploring other places anymore. Why? Because you have super gear and you won't find anything better anyway. So why bother?

You also ignore the fact that level scaling works both ways. So yeah, you'll never find an impossible dungeon but you'll also never find one that is banol either. Which, again, helps a lot in a game where 90% of the content is optional dungeon-delving.

I dungeons weren't leveled, then what - once you get to 40, which you can do without leaving Whiterun Hold, 3/4 of the dungeons in the game would be made pointless as you'd be far too high in level for both enemies and the loot.

The bad thing with Skyrim is that there is no challenge when your character is at an higher level. You can run around and kill everything without fear, even the high dragons, and this is boring. So what is the motivation if you don't have to fear anything, if there are no unpleasant surprises or if there is no scaled equipment?
It is the same as in Mmorpgs. Almost nobody with high level char is present in low level areas, even if the design is harmonious.

In my opinion such a scaling how it is used in Oblivion is essential for an open world RPG.

Level Scaling should not be in an rpg. Its a cop out for lazy game design.

I was not shocked, I was more estatic and happy. I was used to games where you got your butt handed to you if you went to the wrong place at the wrong level including Morrowind. The level scaling was too transparent and cheesy in Oblivion for my taste. I think Skyrim is much more balanced with the scaling.

Now you are missing the point of the open ended RPG that is the TES series. It is not an MMO people. The game was made to quest and explore and see new places in a different world and immerse yourself in another characters life. Not find the baddest gear and finish the game.....

For all those with this mindset, please go back and play WoW or whatever MMO you came from.