I remember there being a lot of hesitation directed at the amount of content scaling in Skyrim around the time of release. Many people wished areas and interiors had fixed difficulties to promote character progression, but fortunately for players, Bethesda is much more ambitious in their approach to Skyrim's scaling. The developers have described the feature as Radiant Storytelling, which acts as a tethered scaling system and attempts to blend scaling and zoning. However, before we discuss why Bethesda's current system is the best solution, let's discuss why areas with fixed levels would be damaging to an open world game.
As The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered takes up 125GB, original designer Bruce Nesmith recalls fitting Skyrim into a tiny file size.
Skyrim is still my favorite ES game. I’m playing through it again right now since I never finished it.
Morrowind is by far my favorite. But I’m getting old and played Daggerfall Morrowind and Oblivion before Skyrim
That judicious lack of oversight permeated everything in Bethesda's RPGs, in a positive fashion.
I much prefer a left alone Obsidian and Larian Studios. Bethesda's formula has grown old for me.
Larian hit another level with DOS:2 and then took it even further with BG3. They do high quality work.
I agree, I found it an interesting game. But nowhere near worth the hype (unless you include mods)
Skyrim blew my mind when it released. That game took me to the gaming, promisedland. Going back to it when it was updated for the PS5, it felt slightly rough around the edges, but great for its time
We should leave Obsidian alone. Bethesda on the other hand should be kept under constant psychiatric observation.
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I disagree with much of this article. The Skyrim I played had quests that were very similar to an MMO. Not complex at all. Also, the contention that zoning creates a linear experience shows a very limited imagination about map/zone design. I played Everquest on PS2 for a long time, leveling up a human druid, a barbarian shaman, and a human monk. All three started in different cities and I never once felt like I was in a linear experience, even though I played solo a lot of the time. I explored a lot, and part of the fun was traveling nervously through places full of fearsome creatures, avoiding them at first then finally feeling great power when I eventually returned and kicked their asses. Skyrim's method takes much of the uncertainty out of exploring. Give me zoning over scaling.