I won't even be bothered with the questlines if Bethesda didn't actively try to dumb down every aspect of the game for the worse every chance they get.
For example, Morrowind had a dozen armor slots, then Oblivion had 5 armor slots and it's down to 4 this time. I'm not even sure what was the point of this dumbing down when WoW has two dozen equipment slots per character and that didn't stopped it from gaining 10 million players. By TES6 there will only probably be just one armor slot because the previous game was "too complicated". Why not just dump the whole RPG pretense and make a God of War except with an open-ended world.
I agree.
But that's where the modding community shines. There will be mods for new item slots, new item models/textures when upgrading quality (looking different when going from "Fine" to "Exquisite" and "Legendary"). There will be mods for updated meshes to add just one apparel on the left or right shoulder if the player wants. There will be new item sets, and much more. For the moment it's too early, and the editing tool isn't even released yet. In a year from now Skyrim's potential will reveal itself through a plethora of mods, some of them inevitably trying to reinvent the wheel, overhaul the whole thing or just add a little something somewhere that's going to make a heck of a difference for many.
Now, the problem with this is that by the time modifications do start to be numerous, varied, complex and meaningful, then most Skyrim players (obviously not everyone, not the "fans", those will keep playing by that point) will be playing other games, and many of them wouldn't have the time nor the will to temper around for some mods and their inevitably complex installation methods to make things work (think Oblivion and some overhaul mods that need third-party programs as well so that they can function, such as a script extender or a specific script/language/wrapper like Wrye Bash/Python, stuff like that albeit not common will happen for Skyrim, mark my words).
What most players want (and I agree, I'm part of them, despite the modding community) is a good experience out of the box, without "having to" rely on any mods whatsoever, why isn't
that happening? Probably because developers (generalizing) don't have the time to make a game that's going to satisfy every single players out there (I.E a "perfect game", it just doesn't and cannot exist). Unfortunately dumbing down stuff like the number of slots for gear, or only having less than a dozen item sets, and having each of those sets pretty much looking the same despite the extra smiting and refining you put in them isn't bothering players out there, enough so that it justifies the dumbing down in the first place. If developers can "save time" by reducing a game's complexity and variety under any specific aspects of it then... (unfortunately) why not? Seems pessimistic? It might be reality although I'm sure any actual employee over at Bethesda would gladly deny it, maybe even out of naivety as well.
Why is it that Morrowind had more of this, and more of that, and that Skyrim many years later has less of the same aspects that Morrowind is having more of? Is that only affected by decisions to "simplify" game-play mechanics? Does having more item sets named differently in Morrowind any "better" and more complex than Skyrim's less numerous item sets? Do having only a few items to care about end up compromising the fun? Being able to craft your own spells in Morrowind and not being able to do that in Skyrim is also another example. Additionally, why removing some spells completely such as the one to increase the carrying capacity, which was present even in Oblivion. Also, why is it that most dungeons in Skyrim seem to be set in a single track that we have to follow, without having much to explore and ways to veer to and branch out of the main path?
There's many questions, not many answers, and even if the developers themselves would come to explain (or "excuse") their decisions, then even that wouldn't satisfy most disappointed gamers. The best thing they can do (the devs) is to let the community itself make and re-do things as they see fit. The thing is that since Morrowind the TES games are all sandbox games. It's easier in my opinion for... say... BioWare to make a story-driven scripted game that would satisfy more gamers than it is for Bethesda (or any devs while we're at it) to make an equally good sandbox game. But still, I'm saying this, and look at the consumer reviews for Skyrim (not the paid "professional" ones), they're for the vast majority very positive, and let's face it, most of them are from console consumers whom have no idea of what's going to happen to this game when big mods come out. They're already satisfied with the bumded down product (and many of them I'd bet have never played Morrowind anyway, and if they did, they would probably not like it with today's standards).
In the end, yeah Skyrim I agree seems (and, well, yes it is in some aspects) dumbed down when compared to Morrowind (and even to Oblivion, such as the removal of certain spells that were in Oblivion, and a few more aspects I could mention). But the community is there, the only question is how many of us out there currently playing Skyrim will actually care about a modded Skyrim in one or two years from now? Not sure... but one thing I am certain about, is that the absence of the editing tool for Skyrim is only hurting the game's modded potential, and the longer we have to wait for it, the more time many players out there will have to lose their interest for the game that might have otherwise been rejuvenated by a good mod beyond just having a new texture.