Is level scaling necessary?

[BadReplicant]

 

 

It also makes your progress less noticeable and the world feel more similar throughout.

If you don't know where to go.

 

Try mr. handy factory, old state house, the light house, super duper mart etc at early levels, then come back at 40+. You will feel powerful. Those places wreaked me hard.

 

That is not really a valid response. I was thinking about how to reply but I don't know whether you're insulting my intelligence or honestly trying to help me do something meaningless??

[Boombro]

Not any of those. I was pointing out there are indeed areas that feel really different throughout levels in case you didn't know.

 

An insult from me would not be foggy.

Edited December 26, 2015 by Boombro

[BadReplicant]

An insult from me would not be foggy.

lol ok. Well I knew that some areas respond differently to your level, I was speaking generally. I don't think I like the concept of level scaling. It's not a point for or against fallout. I was just wondering if others felt the same way.

[jcdenton2012]

Yeah... I honestly favor no level scaling though it's become pretty crucial to guarantee long play-times, continued exploration if you will, long after you've finished the game. Skyrim is a good example of this (though levels don't scale in cleared dungeons). Mostly, level scaling appears to be in games which are relatively thin of explore-able content (like Dead Island). Sorry, but I always hated those damned level scaled zombies...

[Talwyn224]

Level scaling doesn't really bother me that much but I do prefer a more thought out approach to the placement and difficulty of hostiles. I liked how they did in in FO:NV where just to the north of Good Springs were a swarm of Cazadores and to the North East was a quarry full of death claws. All of these dangerous creatures made you go in another direction although if you where really careful, you could sneak past the Cazadores etc but then you still be running into much tougher opponents with starter level gear and not much else.

 

I'd rather see a system in which encounters in cleared easy areas get a random new encounter [hostile or otherwise] that is scaled to your current level. It'd make going back to places like the Corvega factory more interesting.

[Karstedt]

I like the semi-scaling approach. I dont like the bullet sponge approach to "increase" difficulty. 20 headshots to kill is not difficult, its stupid.

[JimboUK]

I liked the way New Vegas did it, it had enemies that could kill your character in one hit if they were at a low level, that gave you a feeling of progression when you were finally able to go into these areas and clear them out. Morrowinds system was good as well, good because you didn't notice it, rather than scaling enemies it would spawn different types of enemies as you went up in level, when Winged Twilights and Golden Saints started to appear not only did it give you a new challenge but it also refreshed things by placing something new into the game.

[Scribblesix]

I actually think FO4 does level scaling relatively well. However what id prefer to see is a dampening of the effects of leveling generally, particularly in regards to health. So a lvel forty raider has similar health to a lvl 4 with his advantages coming from better accuracy, equipment and tactics. Of course this would also apply to the player who would gain little health via leveling but instead focus on improving equipment and gaining perks to acquire comparative advantage.

[Aintiarna]

What I'd really like is a game that stays scary even when you get to a high level. None of them seem to manage that as well as I'd like. That feeling you have as a low level character when you know if you wander off the road you're probably going to die. Losing that completely is the most common reason why I end up rolling a new character.

 

New Vegas was one of the better ones. Even as a high level character, Deathclaws never stopped frightening me.

 

I think the best games strike a nice balance where most of the 'grunt' enemies become easier to defeat to give you a sense of progression, but the elite and boss enemies keep the fear factor. That's hard. Some players will be able to exploit whatever combat and crafting system there is to the max and others won't have the time or patience to do that. New Vegas did it by placing really tough enemies in out of the way places. That way inexperienced players could mostly avoid them, and the players who wanted a challenge could get it.

 

FO4 is a bit of hybrid. High level enemies in specific places that are partly levelled and then when you are high level they also appear all over the place. It feels a bit too "gamey" to me to suddenly find all the glowing sea enemies popping up in downtown Boston just because I've reached a certain level. It spoils the uniqueness of the various areas. Like Skyrim and FO3, FO4 is a game I enjoy much more when my character is low-level.

[Boombro]

 

Like Skyrim and FO3, FO4 is a game I enjoy much more when my character is low-level.

That true pretty much to all games with any kind of leveling system.

When you are low level you plan everything, the build you want to have, what gear you want and so much more. When you at the top, it seems more fun to start a new game to do all of that again.

Edited December 27, 2015 by Boombro