Bah! Whiners.

[pyrephox]

The people there started whining about Oblivion before it even came out, and haven't stopped yet. The big complaint (because they had to look damned hard to find one) right now seems to be about Oblivion's level scaling arrangement.

Here's how it works. Monsters get stronger as you do. Not all of them, and not all at the same rate, but they do improve (in both competence and equipment), and stronger monsters show up as you grow higher in levels. The complaint here seems to be that this takes all the 'freedom' out of the game, because there aren't clearly marked zones of danger and safety for you to wander through...any place has a chance to be dangerous.

The unfortunate thing is, however, that this simply isn't true. Areas of relative safety are pretty much anywhere above ground. Yes, you may run into some animals or the occasional bandit, but they don't scale much, and you should be able to one or two hit kill all of them as you go up in levels. Also, the roads are often travelled by Imperial soldiers, who /will/ come to your aid if you're attacked in their sight. The next safest places tend to be caves. Just keep an eye out for what kinds of enemies are in a given cave, and prepare accordingly. Then there are forts, with typically tougher enemies with better loot, and then there are elven ruins, with traps of UTTER DOOM, strong enemies, and very nice loot. Finally, Oblivion gates are where you go when you want some serious doom and destruction.

Yes, quests continuously scale, so they will /always/ be a challenge. You'll never be able to waltz through the whole main quest the way you could in Morrowind. This is a feature, not a bug.

Bah.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Oh I got the necrophilia NPC :) and overheard another really dubious conversation that I promptly forgot. But it was funny!

And yeah I love the way it scales, It means you can get -good- equipment from random encounters and that when you find a quest later on it is not a boring walkthrough :)

Also I have a mansion now, so all is good :)

[letiwolf.livejournal.com]

Games that scale too much /bug/ me, because I like to get to the point where I can wander and explore without worrying about opposition. But I shall wait on my whining to see how it's done in Oblivion. ;_; WANT OBLIVION.

[dreadmouse.livejournal.com]

I've only had the chance to sit down and play one decent session, so I haven't got much to contribute except that the game is just freaking gorgeous! I emerged from the sewers and started exploring the nearby ruins, and I'm finding my jaw dropping every time I turn a corner and see something else that's new and beautiful. The flickering of candles through a grille looked so real... I can't even imagine how good the game must look at high detail levels!

[soaringdragon42]

you mean you haven't seen the bitching about saved games and the interface? Those are just as big as that one. ^_^

I really ought to drop the difficulty a touch, cause I put off going up 4! levels last night trying to finish clearing Kvatch. Not that it mattered, I had to level those up anyway to beat the mini-boss in the back of the castle. >_<

I hate boars. Actually, I hate just about everything but wolves and humans. Everything else sucks. :P :D