I want to be obliberated by enemies that are simply stronger than i am. The big bad archlich shouldn't be the same difficulty at lvl 1 and at lvl 30. It should be hard at lvl 30, and impossible below lvl 25. Also, at high levels, i want to destroy the bandits i feared at low levels. Really dislike games where character advancement doesn't seem to matter at all (no matter how well implemented).
Level scaling does not mean all opponents are the same level of power. Creating encounters that are level scaled to the player but offer a differing ranges of difficulty are completely doable. You can have minions, elites, champions, bosses, etc who all share the same "level" but offer huge differences in difficulty.
I find nothing fun about wandering into an encounter that is so far above my level that I have no chance of beating it. The only thought running through my head at that moment is
"I'm obviously not supposed to be here yet.". It's not a sense of danger, it's a sense of mistakenly turning left when the game obviously expected me to turn right.
And revisiting the area later at the appropriate level is not satisfying.. it's just what's obviously required and expected. I don't sit there saying
"Oh, I'm finally getting my revenge on that no-longer-scary monster who beat me easily when I was 15 levels lower than it.. the way it was clearly supposed to if stats and this game are working properly at all.. ". Instead, I'm realizing the monster is level X, and now I'm around level X, and it's time to revisit that encounter before it becomes trivial and boring.
Nor do I find it fun to come across a new area that's supposed to be exciting but is filled with monsters who are so far below my level that killing them seems like a boring chore of going through the motions. Where no tactical thought is necessary because it's practically impossible to lose a fight where my opponents are (in comparison to my party) so weak they can barely scratch me.
I prefer to come across each encounter and know I'm going to face a challenge. Sometimes the challenge feels impossible, sometimes it's easily doable provided you play smart. The important thing is that it's always present, and the possibility for victory is tied to how prepared you are and how well you execute, rather than some arbitrary level score that rarely provides players with a decent encounter unless they follow a very restrictive tour through the game's content.
But, I guess we'd all rather keep reading conflicting complaints about how Divinity is too easy/hard rather than trying to get it as close as possible to "just right" for everyone. Even the difficulty level settings don't seem to be solving the problem.
/sarcasm-on
I know, I know.. level scaling is the devil. Heck.. I remember how I used to play games in the arcade and the adventure just kept getting harder the further I advanced, instead of easier. Who wants that nonsense, am I right? Why couldn't I just roll through M. Bison by the time I reached him? Why'd the difficulty have to keep scaling up with my skill? There's no sense of progression with that.. - pretty much the ridiculous argument I keep reading here in this thread.
