Level Scaling

There was a lot of discussion after the release of Oblivion as to whether level scaling was a good thing. Well, there was some discussion and a lot of abuse. Most of the abuse was directed at Bethesda some of the abuse was directed at other members of the Bethesda forums ("Can't we all just get along," Jack Nicholson). With another expansion being released for the game I think that the notion of level scaling is a good one to revisit.

In the last couple of weeks I have been playing Oblivion on the Xbox 360. I picked it up because I wanted to see how it compared to the PC version. I remember there was also a lot of discussion about the menu system in Oblivion at the time. Saying that it was customized for a console, however, I definitely feel that it worked better on the PC than the console. Overall the gameplay is a very similar experience on both machines. In fact, you would be hard pressed to separate them as a gameplay experience.

I still think that level scaling is a good idea ... on paper. However, no matter which way it was implemented with Oblivion it just did not seem to work. The concept of having endless replayability with a game is great. To be able to pick the game up, no matter what level you are at, and to be able to go to any area and have some form of challenge is a good idea. However, that challenge didn't come across.

I think a fundamental aspect of Role Playing Games is the notion that you start as a feeble peasant and you work your way up to uber warrior/mage/cleric/etc. The concept of the Hero Journey is well documented by Joseph Campbell (Hero with a Thousand Faces) and is traditionally a set pathway. The basis of being feeble is that you don't have access to all areas and gaining access to these areas is a part of the reward process of levelling up. However, I don't think that if Bethesda had made this single change it would have made Oblivion the all-time greatest game.

What else could have possibly saved this gaming concept? I know that a lot of gamers were pissed off that bandits who attacked you in the wilderness of the game suddenly appeared with Ebony and Glass weapons. I do agree that this was a ridiculous part of level scaling. It was poorly thought out. Why couldn't there have been more bandits? as opposed to the diametrically opposed super bandits who suddenly (actually they gradually appear leveling as you do). One of the things which RPGs strive for is to create an alternate reality. A world which is believable given its fantasy context. Level scaling does not create a believable alternate reality. I think that Bethesda could have spent other ways creating a scalable environment rather than slapping on the bandaid of everything going up in level with you.

There is also the possibility that, in theory, you could go through and complete the entire game without progressing past level one. This, given the context of the tradition of roleplaying games, is absurd. While I don't believe it should be necessary to prescribe the desired level a gamer should be at to complete the game to not progress at all and still complete the game is ridiculous and poorly thought out.

Given all of these thoughts about level scaling why is it that I played Morrowind for months after its release without completing the main story, and yet I did not return to Oblivion after finishing the main story? I finished the main story in Oblivion in about 3 weeks. This was not constant play just your standard casual play. I thought about going back and playing Oblivion but I did not take that extra step. Whereas with Morrowind I spent months playing the game trying to progress and even restarting several times. To me Morrowind offered a much deeper, much more satisfying level of gameplay. Because I had to travel to places the hard way then I felt that I had achieved something when I got there. I think, given the way Oblivion was set up that you naturally take the game for granted. You don't appreciate the progress you have made. Unless you traveled anywhere on foot or on horseback how could you appreciate the fantastic environment?

Level Scaling is probably not the only thing which stopped Oblivion from being one of the all time greatest games ever released. While it is possible to get rid of it through user created mods this is not the way the developers intended the game to be played. It is probably a good way to get extra life out of the game with new expansions being released for Oblivion. I hope that Bethesda learn from their experiences and become a better developer because, for my money, they are one of the best developers around. Oblivion would have been my "game of the year" last year. It just seems hard to believe that such a great game could have been even better.