Many players enjoyed The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, but they still had complaints about certain aspects. For instance, by no means everyone appreciated the progression system.
Recently, Bethesda veteran and lead designer of TES V: Skyrim Bruce Nesmith appeared on the Examined Game podcast and admitted his mistake. He did not expect the level cap to ultimately become an issue.
The original progression system capped character development at level 81. Bruce Nesmith assumed that most players would finish the main bulk of the game around level 50, and once they hit the leveling “ceiling,” they would start a new game: “Most Bethesda games are designed for players who will finish [main] content at around level 50.”
However, it turned out that players wanted something else. Many had grown deeply attached to their characters and did not want to part with them:
I was wrong. Players did not want to stop playing their character at level 81 and start a new one. They loved their character and asked: why couldn’t they keep playing them?
This case demonstrates that for some players of action-RPGs like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, freedom of action within the game world is just as crucial as the freedom to level up their favorite character. Players want to continue developing their character in various ways even after completing the main adventure.