Before you angrily reply something like "the game is fine as it is shut up," just know this isn't a rage. It's a serious question!

I love this game. It's Elder Scrolls, my favorite franchise, and MMORPG, my favorite genre.

The main thing that drew me into the Elder Scrolls was 2 things:
1) First person fantasy woo!
2) Freedom to go anywhere and do anything

Of course we got #1, and we kinda have #2, just on a much smaller scale. But I've been thinking about it now. After having played through the zones of the Daggerfall Covenant... a few times... (I actually can't speak on the other 2 factions but I'd imagine it would be the same case), I've noticed that there really is no linear story tying these zones together. The only reason one goes from Glenumbra to Stormhaven to Rivenspire to Alik'r to Bangkorai in that order is the level pacing. (Side note, you can't walk through the door from Stormhaven to Rivenspire until you finish the main questline of Stormhaven, but you can waltz right on into Bangkorai because ~whatever~!)

I've played more than enough MMOs to know that that's usually just how things go, so I accepted it pretty easily. But the most common feedback I've heard out of people who don't really like the game is that they can't run all the way from High Rock to Black Marsh (I know a lot of the zones aren't done but you know what I mean. Running from zone to zone and still being able to find adventure without having to level up).

And at first I would say "Well it's an MMO that's just how things are." But after having played ESO, I noticed that there's really no reason to pace things. So why not scale players' levels to that of the zone and allow them the free roam! We already know ZOS can do it, like in Cyrodiil. And quest rewards too, like from the Main Story and Guild questlines!

Example:
Let's say, I make a new character on the Covenant. He wakes up in Glenumbra at level 3 (if you skip the intro of course). In southern Glenumbra, level 3 is viable. But at the northern end of the zone, the enemies are level 13-14. Me being adventurous, I run all the way from the Southern end of the zone to the North. Depending on the level of the enemies in that area, my level will scale up to be near theirs. My actual level will still be 3, but my stats will be raised high enough so that I can take on these enemies and have a chance at surviving, and still gain experience for killing them to go toward my next ~actual level~.
So now let's say I cross over to Stormhaven, where monsters on the western side of the zone start at level 17. Once again, my stats will scale up to level 17 so I can fight and do quests near them, but my actual level is still 3. The story isn't ruined because the zone's stories don't lead into one another. The only thing that would have to be done is removing the re-occurring characters from the future zones (The Daggers, Lady Laurent, etc) until their quest in the previous zones are completed. That might be easier than re-recording dialogue.

As for going backwards, (being scaled down instead of up), I'm sure some people will debate that. I know plenty of people who like to 1-shot everything. But let's say a few months from now, you're VR16 and your friend picks up the game and makes their first character. You want to play with them, but you don't want to make a new character. But if you take your high level character, you'll just 1-shot everything for them, probably ruining their fun experience, meanwhile you're getting no XP toward your next Champion Point, and no loot you can use. Buuuuut if your level was scaled down to match that of the zone you're in, you'll both be able to play together while not ruining the experience. You'll gain XP from killing enemies, and if there are any quests you didn't complete beforehand, you'll be able to do them now and get stuff that is your level. And if you want to run all the way to Bangkorai, you totally can. Free roam!

The doozy, however, would be the other factions' zones. Personally, I'm not a fan of the whole Cadwell's Gold and Silver; you must complete faction A to go to faction B. The way the game is now, I get why it is this way. But if level-scaling was implemented, you wouldn't need to wait until max level, and you wouldn't need to complete one before the other. I could walk up to, let's say the Prophet because he's instantly accessible from the get-go, and he'll give the whole "You fell on these shores but what if you fell somewhere else?" speech. I pick either faction that I want to do, and it takes me there. And if I want, I can go right back to the Prophet (in my faction's territory), and ask him to take me to the other faction's zone. I could have quests from both factions simultaneously. And lastly, for the main storyline, if I'm from the Covenant, but I ding level 15 while in The Reach, the Prophet will call for me in my factions' Harborage, and the Main Story would be completed in my factions' territory like normal.

It sounds really complicated and convoluted on paper, but it isn't! It's just that I wanted to provide as much detail as I could on-paper. Err-, forum.

Feedback? Questions? Comments? Concerns? Insults? Please leave them down below. I'd like a real discussion please, not an angry rant telling me I'm dumb for wanting things to be different.