I've heard the scaling model is going to more closely resemble FO3's - I didn't play much FO3 - can anyone clarify how it was different from Oblivion?
FO3 was very similar to OB overall, but there were a few hand-placed static items, and occasional "random" spawns of things that might be way above or below your level. The other item was that if you entered an interior, it locked to your current level, so if it was too hard for whatever reason, you could go back to it later and it would still be at the earlier level. That at least prevented a "flawed" character from being unable to complete a quest.
FO3 was "better" to a degree, but still suffered from the excessive levelling and scaling to some extent. A few levelled spawn points, such as the one in front of Megaton, resulted in higher and higher level monsters attacking the static-level guards as your own level increased, until your mere presence in the same game cell spelled all but certain death to the residents in the various settlements.
On the other hand, I recall my low level (2?) character encountering a bunch of well-armed and armored mercenaries who were running toward something over the nearby hill, which turned out to be a Deathclaw. It tore them to pieces one by one, then came after me, while I ineffectually emptied my feeble pistol at it.....for the rest of my character's brief life. It was a "nothing you can do" moment, but the very fact that it was POSSIBLE in the game made me play a lot more cautiously, and I believe it was a better game because of it. It's something that works well if used with caution, and sparingly, but works badly if overused or misused.
I believe that SR will use less levelling and scaling that OB, but still have some, which COULD be a good thing. We won't know how that turns out until after 11/11/11.