Bethesda’s gradual shift toward simplifying its games for a broader, more casual audience has long been a sore spot for fans. It’s a trend that extends beyondThe Elder Scrollsseries alone and exists in some form or another in every game Bethesda has put out in the last couple of decades. WithThe Elder Scrolls 6’s release looming on the horizon, it’s more imperative now than ever that the studio takes a beat to evaluate what the fans want. The recentOblivion Remasteredrelease has earned a lot of goodwill, but it won’t mean much ifThe Elder Scrolls 6doesn’t meet expectations. This is a game 14 years in the making; a second wind brought by a remaster won’t be enough to cushion the backlash ifTES 6fails to deliver when it counts.
Unlike a lot of other studios, Bethesda has an extremely easy way to gauge what their player base wants fromThe Elder Scrolls 6—mods. It has to look no further than theSkyrimmodding communityto see exactly what players ofThe Elder Scrollsfranchise are most interested in. It’s a privileged position to be in, and one Bethesda would be remiss not to capitalize on. Popular mods showcase how the community’s tastes have evolved, what works, and what doesn’t. Requiem - The Roleplaying Overhaul is an extremely popularSkyrimmod that aims to ‘fix’ the game with a comprehensive list of changes. One of the biggest changes it makes is “de-leveling” or “unleveling”Skyrim, removing the level scaling from the open-world game entirely. Bethesda may want to take a page out of Requiem’s playbook forThe Elder Scrolls 6, as an unleveled world could make for a more immersive, rewardingexperience.
The Elder Scrolls 6 Would be Wise to Leave Oblivion and Skyrim Behind
Level Scaling is Outdated World Design
InOblivionandSkyrim, the world is leveled, which means a level 1 protagonist will only ever face level 1 threats, and as the same protagonist levels up, all enemies in the world level up with them. So a mudcrab fought at level 10 would be a level 10 mudcrab, and the same mudcrab fought at level 100 would be a level 100 mudcrab. In a leveled world, all threats are either scaled down or scaled up to match the player’s level.
As a result, fighting a dragon at level 1 or level 100 does not feel significantly different. Not only is this unsatisfying from a roleplaying perspective, but it’s immersion-breaking. It doesn’t make any sense that alevel 10 Dragonbornwho blitzes the main story has a snowball’s chance in hell of defeating Alduin, the World Eater, a deity-level existence. The narrative disconnect weakens the power fantasy that the game is supposed to deliver.
In Requiem - The Roleplaying Overhaul,Skyrimbecomes unleveled; enemies are as strong or as weak as they’re meant to be—no exceptions. A mudcrab will always be level 1, regardless of whether the sword being swung at it is being held by a level 1 or a level 10 Dragonborn. If it took ten swings to take down that mudcrab at level 1, it’ll take one sword strike at level 10. Draugr are supposed to be strong enough to give the average warrior inSkyrima lot of trouble, so they are.Dragons inSkyrimare supposed to be strong enough to take down entire cities, so they are. Miraak is supposed to be one of the strongest existences in the world, so he is. And the list goes on. The Dragonborn grows stronger because of his progression, not in spite of it.
An Unleveled Elder Scrolls 6 Would Make Loot Exciting Again
Level scaling doesn’t only encompass enemy levels, either; it affects loot as well. In bothOblivionandSkyrim, quest rewards and loot chests scale with level. If a player obtains an item at level 1 as a quest reward, for example, it will be the weakest version of that item, one that will quickly become obsolete as the playthrough progresses. However, the same item, when obtained at level 25+, would be the most powerful version of itself. It’s a system that encourages players to postpone meaningful content until the late game. Everything fromclosing Oblivion Gatesto hunting powerful artifacts is best doneafterthe player is almost done with the game, not before.
Requiem addresses this by making all loot static. If, through sheer grit and clever tactics, a low-level character manages toobtain a powerful Daedric artifact, they are not punished for it. The artifact has the same enchantments as it would be at level 50 because that’s what makes sense. This removes the incentive to “metagame” the quest order, and lets players enjoy the fruits of their labor without any caveats.
The Elder Scrolls 6 Could Take Morrowind’s Approach
Partial Level Scaling is a Decent Middle Ground
If a fully unleveled world feels too punishing or restrictive, Bethesda could also look toMorrowindfor inspiration forThe Elder Scrolls 6. That game implemented partial level scaling in a way that enhanced immersion rather than breaking it. InMorrowind, most enemies and bosses had fixed levels. In rare cases where scaling was used, it was done with care and narrative consistency.
For instance, entering a Daedra-infested cave at level 1 would pit players against low-level enemies like Scamps. However, if the player entered the same cave at level 10, they might encounter someFlame Atronachsinstead. The enemies changed, but the logic remained sound. The scamps weren’t magically stronger for no reason; they were replaced by more powerful Daedra, which makes perfect narrative sense.
One common concern with unleveled open world maps is that they limit where low-level players can go. But in the case ofThe Elder Scrolls 6, this should be a non-issue. Bethesda has always been proud of the sheer scale of its open worlds, and with the level of hype behind it,The Elder Scrolls 6’s mapshould already be slated to double or triple the size of its predecessors. What better way to use this wide-open space than to implement an unleveled open world inspired by Requiem andMorrowind.
The Elder Scrolls 6could be a return to form, and act as a fix for thepopularity hit Bethesda took fromStarfield. Level scaling has its time, but the developers now have the feedback, the tools, and the fan demand to move past it. Whether that means a completely unleveled world or a smarter use of scaling like inMorrowindis up for debate. However, it’s clear thatThe Elder Scrolls 6needs to break free from the mistakes of the past, and the best place to start is by looking at what the fans have fixed already.
