I think level scaling is inherently good for the game, and I think complaints are almost (and we’ll get to why I say “almost”) all not really grounded in reality whatsoever.
Complaint #1: The D2 Comparison
“D2 had no level scaling, look how good that game was! This game sucks because level scaling is bad!”
A lot of people call specifically on D2 to showcase how a game can be really good without level scaling. Can anyone name a single viable end game activity to farm exp and hit max level in D2 besides 1000000 Baal runs? The gaming landscape is just completely different from back then. You’re looking back on it with rose-tinted glasses, but the reality of the situation is that we are now fully accustomed to playing games that have end games with orders of magnitude more depth than D2. If you need an example of this, look at Path of Exile. There are 4.5 hour long videos dedicated just to explaining what you can do in the end game.
Complaint #2: The Difficulty Curve
“I want to feel like I’m getting stronger as I level, but it feels like it’s getting harder and harder to kill monsters as I level up!”
This complaint, I actually understand and agree with. This is why I said “almost” earlier on. It makes sense when you think of it this way. Monsters obtain their strength through a formula, which means they are scaling perfectly. Players get stronger through skill points, item level upgrades, and build break points (such as the first time you get your shout cooldown ring as a Barb). In other words, while monsters get scale in perfect proportion to their level, players scale disproportionately to their level. That means that players can either gain 3 levels of strength or half a level of strength in the span of one full bar of XP, and that’s entirely dependent on their own choices and RNG.
The solution to this, then, would be to find ways to adjust the scaling relationship – not to remove scaling completely. Removing monster scaling entirely leads to a different, much larger issue, which I’ll get to in a second.
Complaint #3: The Removal Plea
“I don’t even understand why it’s in here, it’s just bad for the game! Why did you even put level scaling in the game when we asked for it not to be here?!”
What is the proposed alternative? Open up your map, and start naming the zones you think would hold level 2-5 monsters. Name the ones that would hold 5-10 monsters, 10-15, 20-30, 30-40, and so on. Let me know when you get to the ones that would hold the monsters with a level range from 90-100. What zone did you choose? Well, I hope you like that zone because this is the only zone you’ll do any content in ever again after hitting max level.
With level scaling, all parts of the map stay relevant for the entire duration of the game. That includes while you level, which means you can take more creative paths through the campaign or leveling journey (pretend Champion’s Demise doesn’t exist for a moment here).
Friends, this is a brand new game with years of content ahead of us. Until we’re shown otherwise, this map is our home for the next few years at a minimum. Level scaling makes sure that we can always use all of it. If anyone has any counterarguments for that, I’m listening. If anyone has any alternative suggestions to what they can do about level scaling, I’m listening. If you’re going to just complain and ask them to take it out without giving any suggestions, then you’re just complaining for the sake of complaining.