TES Oblivion level scaling, really that bad?

So I'm planning on getting a new laptop, and with that the ability to finally play some games I've been waiting for.

I know TES Oblivion is relatively old, but I still have some questions about level scaling in the game. I've heard alot about it, some ok, mostly bad unfortunately.

I'd like to get the opinions of the guys on here though. How was the level scaling, was it really that bad? If so, any mods that just get rid of the level scaling and add nothing else? Or, could I just never level up my character and just add attributes?

And does the level scaling affect just the monsters, or does it affect where you find loot. (For example, I enter a cave at level 3, find nothing, but come back at level 20 and fine a great weapon magically there.)

I played Morrowind years ago, and I loved how I could level up and return to areas that once kicked my , and totally destroy everyone. I was looking forward to Oblivion, but with this level scaling I don't know if I should play it...

P.S. Was this a one time thing with Bethesda, and for the next TES will they have learned their lesson and get rid of level scaling?

 

Yes, level scaling is absolutely terrible, if you're lvl 1 you'll be fighting lvl 1 rats... if you're lvl 20 you'll be fighting lvl 20 rats or something like that. You can try O.Oscuro's Overhaul (which is the best imho), MMM or Francesco's? leveled mod.
Also there's a mod called 'realistic leveling' which doesn't do anything to creatures, but reduces the grind when you're leveling your skills.

 

I don't see anything wrong with level scaling. It's been critically appraised on the same level as Mass Effect's dialogue system, pun not intended.

As for OOO, that mod tries too hard. Parts of the stuff it adds look ugly, the monsters are too hard early on (and considering it still keeps the same level your skills as you use them system, the early part takes a long time to get out of). A quest meant for a level one can't be achieved until you're level ten.

If you do despise the leveling, why not level a bit 'til you are around ten and then go out into the wild. No doubt you're butt will be sore at the end of the day.

I found myself grinding more in Morrowind to get past a certain part then in Oblivion.

P.S. I had to have a lauge at your comment about finding a great weapon magically in a cave. Do you not find anything strange with the same things in Morrowind or Fallout 3?

 

It didn't bother me one bit.

 

Rats and crabs are two creatures that don't scale to the player's level.

 

I personally enjoyed it much more after installing the 'OOO' mod, it felt more real, i enjoy the fact that you may be met with characters that are too strong for you, the great thing is if you can somehow work a way to take them out the rewards speak for themselves or you could simply leave and come back when you are stronger, i highly recommend the 'OOO' mod, it makes a already good game...better.

 

No, it's too easy and boring because there is no challenge. You can kill anything in vanilla, the only fun thing is taking on all the guards in a town at once.

 

You think vanilla Oblivion's too easy? Set the Difficulty slider all the way to the right. You do 1/6 normal damage, and all enemies do 6x damage to you.

Personally, I play with the slider about a third to the right, so I do half damage and enemies do double. It's not completely unplayable, but tough enough to make every fight a battle for my very life. Makes for pretty awesome gameplay, I think.

 

The overhaul mods stated above work well. Keep in mind, however, that those mods often change more than just the leveling.

Also, you might want to consider a mod that maximizes all available attribute increases when you level up. It may be considered cheating to some, but it eliminates the need to micromanage in order to maximize attribute increases, an aspect I hated about vanilla.

I think Bethesda may have dropped the level scaling. In Fallout 3, there was none, and they changed the skill/leveling system dramatically. Perhaps they will lean toward that direction for the next TES game. I certainly hope so.

 

If you're getting the game now, and a reasonable graphics chip, definately consider the texture packs like Qarl's 3, there are a few packs that go together really rather nicely, throw on something that affects the annoying levelling system and you're good to go.

On my part much as I've tried with the PC and 360 version, I just never managed to get into Oblivion, very pretty with all the updates etc, but always felt a little soulless.

 

Agreed on the emptiness feeling of Oblivion. Without some dialogue mods or added people, the game feel quite empty, sort of like every Bethesda RPG right now.

They've yet to make the people believable.

As for it being too easy. I have played the game vanilla, and have died countless times at higher levels and at levels lower than ten.

 

I have heard this too easy nonsense before with people saying as level one they can clear the guards out of a town. I left the diffculty as it was and i found it impossible to beat the guards, you just do not have the weapons or shields to do it so people must put it to the easiest difficulty to do it.

I found no issues with the levelling, I am not sure i even understand what the problem is?

 

If you don't rest, you don't level and neither does anything around you. So you can eventually master all the skills and still be level one. In that case you will destroy the guards.

The leveling system works fine if no one tells you what it does. Once you realize it works, that when it ruins the game in my oppinion. It gives a true sandbox feel, as you can go anywhere at any time and still have a challenge. The only thing the original system could have used was a lock on the level for a cave once you've entered.

That being said, I played most of my 400+ hours with Fran's mod and Supreme Magicka +magic overlap. Because, like I said, once you understand the system, it ruins it.

 

ITS not that is a problem but more a preference, i mean why should enemies be scaled to ones own level, it makes the game more unrealistic, id much rather human and bosses to be overly hard and not have any difficulties with the lesser creatures, and taking away the scaling system and adding weapon and armor sets (aka 'OOO') kept me interested in the game alot longer than Morrowind where i didnt use mods, bottom line its a personal choice there are pros and cons to be had with both.....ive personally been over-loaded with these first person rpg's and am quite looking forward to a change...ie dragon age origins.

 

If its too easy move the difficulty slider up :\

 

Yeh i didnt like the leveling either. I was expecting runescape like leveling as the norm. So creatures around cities and stuff would be easy to kill, but as you travel further, it actually feels like a wilderness as its dangerous and stuff.

 

It's not the leveling of enemies with me that bothered me, it's the absolutely inane skill/attribute/leveling system. You are punished for picking major skills that you want to use, because then you don't get good attribute bonuses. I wish I had known of the mods before I spent 30 hours or so playing last summer.

 

I disagree with this because, to me, it's just more realistic. Plus 4 or plus 5 attributes shouldn't be always available. If you use your sword way more than anything else, then you should get a plus 2-3 to blade and only plus 1 to whatever else.

 

I've just started Oblivion, and it is not bad. The leveling works OK for me, but I did prefer the gameplay in Morrowind. Quarl's texturepack and a few more texture replacers for armor and weapons look great on a GTX 260m with 4x AA.

I would also strongly suggest getting a mod to reduce quest-related pop-ups. Oblivion keeps reminding you every little step of the way what you should be doing, which is annoying as hell when you are out making money and leveling up before taking on the main quest.

There's a good overview of the major leveling mods here.

 

Yup Oblivion's leveling is really quite awful. It'll get more noticeable in later levels. I had to manually boost up my stats proportionally in order to survive and have more fun.

 

Oscuro's Oblivion Overhaul makes that a game worth playing. It has great mechanics and graphics, but the level scaling killed it. O3 makes Cyrodiil a place worth exploring.

 

Dur no wonder the majority on here hate it. You wreck it for yourselves.

Obviously you should sleep and not keep on hacking away.

The system isn't bad, it's the players who choose to have a less than satisfactory experience.

 

You are free to play it vanilla or with addons. The fact that you can do both, and that there are so many great addons for it is part of what makes Oblivion awesome.