Saying that Oblivion's levelling system screws you over is like saying that not IV and EV training your Pokémon screws you over. You don't need to max everything out. It's completely unnecessary. Whether you think it's bad or not isn't the point, I'm simply pointing out that you would have to do something inconceivably stupid to find yourself gimped by levelling. I literally cannot think of what you must be doing to find yourself in such a situation.

I agree with Jiro that levelling is arguably pointless. It's main use is to unlock higher level armours, but I thought they were ugly so would rarely bother with them anyway. I would just enchant normal clothes and do my adventuring like that, just because I could look cooler.

My main disappointment with the Elder Scrolls games is how they keep removing brilliant things. Where the hell is spellmaking? Why have my enchanting options been completely nerfed? Where have loads of spell types gone? It flummoxes me that Bethesda can continue to decrease the replayability (*gag*) of their games and still be considered one of the best companies in the industry.