Gearbox creative director Graeme Timmins is back on Twitter to touch base with the Borderlands 4 community.
This time, he fielded a question from community member LilGasmask. They asked Graeme this question:
Hey @ProdigyXL what all counts as “side content” for helping with enemy level scaling.
Feel like if I’m 5 lv under and do 5 side quests the enemies don’t drop down at all and if I farm contracts for 5 levels I go back and they level up with me. Do collectibles help???
Graeme gave this immediate response:
Completing side missions and activities in the zone you’re in should let you go into more difficult areas in that zone.
We’re looking at this system and are working on a few things to make sure difficulty doesn’t get too spiky though.
This is generally how the Borderlands games have worked since the start. If players are willing to endure dying several times on a mission they’re not ready for, they will slowly level up.
Of course, that’s not the optimal way to finish these games quickly. It’s also not optimal in terms of playing video games as a hobby you enjoy.
Gearbox has actually been tweaking how this system works between games. And that’s where this conversation goes into interesting directions.
Ki11er Six shared the opinion that Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands managed scaling best. Graeme then replied:
Scaling the world to the player removes growth and progression, which we still believe are important to our RPG side of the game.
Overcoming an area that was previously hard, and eventually stomping enemies feels great. We’re looking at adjustments to scaling to prevent spikiness.
EpicNNG then came in to ask if Gearbox could set level scaling for each area. Graeme said this:
Set scaling isn’t possible because of the non-linear nature of the open world.
Our system has to account for players going between zones and still providing a balanced challenge.
Giving players agency to go where they like, and keeping satisfying challenge meant invention for BL4.
Graeme clarified how missions count towards scaling in Borderlands 4 even further:
Campaign missions count toward our system, but are balanced to nudge you to side content, wherever you are, if you’ve been only doing the mains exclusively.
Ideally that nudges you to activities, which reward SDU tokens, unlocking fast travels, etc.; everything is connected.
What’s fascinating about this conversation is that the biggest community members like EpicNNG and Ki11er Six already finished the game and are in Ultimate Vault Hunter Mode.
Otherwise, they would not have gotten far enough in to air their grievances about the endgame. This level scaling mechanic is important throughout the game, but it’s most vital for your first playthrough.
In terms of game design, Gearbox needs to balance the friction and reward systems to keep players playing Borderlands 4 right until the end. They’re already very good at it, but this is about figuring out how they master their craft.
