So I know how level scaling in Oblivion works - every single monster and item in the world is leveled to you exactly, so that you could complete the main quest at level 1.

And I know how Morrowind's works - items are not leveled, most human NPCs and mainquest areas are not leveled, but some spawns create different monsters depending on level.

How exactly does Daggerfall's work? Are mainquest missions leveled to your character or static? Are nonmainquest missions given any difficulty parameters related to your level?

And how about Arena? Same questions. I'm thinking of trying either of these old games but I just don't want to go through the stupidity of everything-scaled again.

In Daggerfall, human enemies such as Battlemagi and Knights are directly proportional to your own level. Other monsters aren't really levelled. It's not uncommon to be confronted by a mob of spiders at level twenty, nor is it uncommon to encounter a Vampire Ancient at level two! :ahhh:

I don't think quests are scaled in any way (by the way, Main Quest dungeons are generally more realistically designed and easier to navigate than the others, so if anything, I find the Main Quest tasks easier than random ones). Loot may have some very minor levelling factor? I'm not entirely sure, to be honest. Concerning Arena, I have no ideas either. I believe human enemies, again, reflect your own skill level.

Some quests have legal reputation restrictions. If you want to play a thief always running from the guards make sure you don't use your thieving skills in the 3 main kingdoms. Some quests, i believe, have level restrictions, but only one or two at the beginning.

Monsters, dungeons, loot and store inventory is leveled but not in a linear and predictable way. The game has plenty of surprises and exceptions to the rule.

In each dungeon there is one or mores treasure rooms (about one per block) with a chance to find loot of a quality much bigger than normal. There are also danger rooms where you will get a chance to find almost impossible enemies like ancient lichs and vampires depending on your level. This is very much the way rogue-like dungeons are designed at a basic level.

You don't top encountering weaker enemies but the chance to find one lowers when you level up. I think this is because there's a greater chance to find certain ingredients in animals.

The same happens with kingdoms. Each kingdom has one or two special stores that sell items of quality and with special enchantments not found anywhere else. The Daggerfall Gazeteer site shows where these places are.

Don't know why they didn't made something more interesting with leveling in Oblivion which is clearly much more simplistic and boring.

Also, in TES2 there are few level restrictions for main quests. You need to be level 6 to take the Werewolf quest from Castle Daggerfall.
I'm not sure if this was the case with some of Caius' quests in TES3, too, or was he just hinting that you should go get some experience...

Then, there's one thing that's axed from later games. Your spells leveled with you. A fireball could deal more damage according to your level, IF it was build that way. While in TES4, at level 1, when your destruction skill is at 5, you need only 1-2 fireballs to kill a rat, while at higher levels, destruction at 100, the same kind of rat takes much more fireballs.

Arena random encounters are strongly scaled. But the MQ dungeons are seeded with monsters that get tougher as the game goes on, so you pretty much have to level.

Good question. I just dl'ed it about a week ago. Great game. From what i've noticed most npc's and creatures arn't leveld. BUT what i have noticed is that when u do side quests for quilds and what not and they send u to dungeons to kill or grab something the higher the level you are that you will be sent to a tougher dungeon with higher leveld npc's and creatures. Because it seems each dungeon has 2-3 creatures/npc's in them and depending on what dunegon u go to it varies. It also varies on how hard it is to explore a certain dungeon. Some are harder than others.

From what i've noticed most npc's and creatures arn't leveld.

Met a Vampire Ancient yet?

DF's enemies are levelled throughout, MQ and random.

Actually, if I recall correctly, the player needs to be at least level 2 in order to progress past a certain point. Otherwise, yeah, the higher in level you go, the tougher everything gets. It's bizarre to watch the world get more dangerous the more powerful the player gets. Nothing like playing a "hero" that makes the world a deadlier place to live in the more powerful he gets.

well, i dunno, maybe cuz its not even the same team anymore?