Re-reading your first post, I just realized I misunderstood what you were saying, up there (was typing while at work, and doing three things at once) -- the enemy-scaling system uses the Morrowind/Fallout 3 mechanism, but the player-leveling system is the same one used in all but the very first Elder Scrolls game, correct (i.e., advancing through skill-use). Apologies about that.
But yeah, the skill-leveling system is exactly the same as it's always been, except this time, all pre-made character classes (Spellsword, Assassin, Battlemage, etc.) and stats (STR, DEX, INT, WIS, etc.) are gone, and have been largely replaced by Fallout's perk-system. Each time you gain a level through skill-use (as seen briefly in the video), you'll allocate skill-points to either Health, Magicka, or Stamina (where the old stats have been re-aligned), and choose a number of perks to custom-build your character class with (warrior, bard, sorcerer, agent, stealth-user, alchemist, enchanter, dual-wielder, summoner, assassin-type, etc.).
Regarding the enemy-leveling system, the number-one most important thing is that, this time, creatures DO scale-up in terms of abilities to match your own level. Meaning, each Mountain Giant you encounter in Skyrim will have different attributes, depending upon your own attributes when you encounter them.
In Fallout 3, each territory in the game was assigned an encounter level that determined the level and equipment of the creatures when you discover that specific area. This basically means that, when you're at Level 1 and wander into a Level 5 encounter-territory, you're in for a fight. Loot is, in general, also scaled to the territory's encounter-level, but some items are also hand-placed, like in Morrowind.
The territories' levels don't remain static as you level up yourself, however -- as soon as you enter an area or territory, its level will be locked, and will NOT scale up in difficulty as you do.
As previously mentioned, undiscovered areas and territories will level up in difficulty, but it won't be to specifically match YOUR level. So, say, when you begin the game, an area that is designated a Level 5 encounter-level will become, say, a Level 8 encounter-level when you're at Level 15 yourself.
Something a lot of people have said they want to see is the possibility to enter an area that is absolutely WAY too difficult for you to handle, then return at a later level with better equipment and stats and just cleaning house -- this scaling system allows that 100%, as when you entered that dungeon with those difficult enemies, it will be "locked" to those, and will not change as you level up.
(In other words, those Dread Zombies you saw in there earlier in the game will remain when you return in 10 levels, and they won't have gone up in stats.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by Josh Dial 
Don't even get me started on the scaling "feature." Best game of the 2000s? Please. Borderlands was a better RPG, and it wasn't even a true RPG!
We'll simply just have to agree to disagree on that one, I guess -- the hundreds of hours I logged in it certainly makes it a strong "Best Game of the Last Decade" contender for me, at least (not to mention all of the GOTY awards it swept from the critics the following year).
Edited by joshEH - 6/9/11 at 7:55am
