@James_B2 the wildlife are not level scaled. They were at first, but as a compromise the scaling was removed from them. They were also originally added in response to mob variety as more of a decoration, and ended up mainly dropping fishing lure stuff. They’re a direct product of community feedback, from existence to making them drop more lure parts to removing their scaling.
In OG, I didn’t mind dying repeatedly. It was always a challenge to overcome, from being creamed by king stag (the original beginner mob outside of the instanced tutorial) 17 times in a row while I adjusted to “panic casting” until I could kill them, though not so much by leveling up, but by honing my newb mage skills (can’t level up if you keep dying anyway! Had to survive and win eventually, then leveling came after). It felt like we needed 3 people to get those Cenn’s Farm redtails for those first two fighting in-town quests. Then feeling like we had our legs, that we’d moved forward, go downstairs, think we can hold our own, ALMAS SPRITES!!! Figure out almas sprites, think we got’em, but little did we know the horrors of the Narrow Orchard Infested Sprites xD at level ~6, about six of us are trying to carefully pick one out, we’d all jump on it, aight cool, next pull a few came - and everyone ran screaming, some fighting to the death, some chased down halfway across that little town (me). But it wasn’t a struggle that lasted forever, it was a mountain to climb, and we danced at the top. Also, armored wargs! Oof. And this is all just part of the Midlands. After having leveled, if we didn’t want to kill things too easily for a lower level, all we had to do was equip a lower level weapon to cap ourselves. For me, I wouldn’t attribute my preference to “power fantasy” so much as feeling like I’d accomplished something. Instead of treading water forever, I’d learned to swim. I can appreciate the arguement to keep scaling based on skill increasing to survive, but it’s still a bit too much of a struggle for my liking. Plus my complete inability to save anyone.
With Reborn, the scaled monsters are mostly the exact same difficulty as day one, maybe a bit less, or something I never stood a chance against much anyway. As a mid-20s shaman, I made a new friend and was helping him as a level 6. If he aggro’ed a monster accidentally (vs we intentionally started the fight) he pretty much always died. I couldn’t save him. Half the time I’d die too. When I didn’t die, it was usually because I ran. Some I did manage to finish the fight, but why should I fight alone, him try to run back from the cemetery we’re not quite near, then he aggro’ed something and died before getting to me anyway? It was tedious, but at least we enjoyed each other’s company. Then trying to do Sarrow’s Cave… after 30 minutes of solid dying, I called for backup, and about 30 minutes after that, two people came to help. I remember when the donkey cart took more than one play session, plus a million people to finally succeed. It was a heck of a challenge, but one we eventually overcame. Think of low population times and when a higher level could viably help because that army wasn’t available during that play window. How many friends did we make stepping in? Ditto for Spider Island cough Death Peninsula cough, sorry Snake Battlefield I didn’t mind dying 18 million times for that quest myself, then half a million more times even with a few more levels and helping others. It was still possible to die as a 20 if you weren’t paying attention and aggro-ed three giant spiders
For my gameplay, I most prefer being in a small group. I like helping people and chatting. In Reborn, mid-20s dps, I can’t help. Another time, I was playing with two level 10s. We were doing okay in Highsteppe, but they expressed never having been anywhere else and didn’t feel as though they’d survive elsewhere considering how tough Highsteppe felt. I figured the flooded rainforest would be fine, especially with the level scaling. Nope. Two feet into the flooded rainforest, they died several minutes in a row until they gave up and logged out. I managed to survive most of the fights, but I couldn’t help them or save them. I never babied things for people in OG. I’d equip a lower weapon or at least stand nearby as a safety net, enjoying the social interaction, giving pointers, and only attack if they hit red. Keep them safe as they healed, then back to it. It wasn’t boring for me to stand guard, but fulfilling. I’d been the struggler before, and now I was helping.
I wasn’t immediately against level scaling when it was announced, and while I also don’t personally feel it’s the worst thing ever, I’ve come to not like it. If the intention isn’t to fight this particular enemy / fight at all / grind, the answer is run. We’re always just fleeing until the thing “worth our time/effort” to fight. I think the scaling is great in the dungeons and makes sense for events, but I don’t have near as much fun in the overworld as I used to. If we wanted the challenge, we went to the Wilds. Even Lucian Plateau and Lamavora weren’t complete cakewalks. I’m not a big end game person. I don’t have any personal interest in climbing to the highest shard, although I think it’s great that’s an option for those who really want to push themselves. So do I really have to git gud and have +30-anything to assist a newb in Highsteppe? Should parties of 4 or more be necessary unless someone is very talented?
Bare minimum, if we can’t have level scaling removed from the overworld, can we at least have much much fewer scaled packs? The non- scaled are quite the minority. Or the option to enable or disable by personal preference, or mandated by party leader?
! It is about having a more accessible world, and first of all one where you actually feel and experience in which kind of area you are, high level, midst level or low level.