ok so im wondering if like. they tried to make skyrim the exact opposite of oblivion? granted i havent played oblivion in YEARS now but from what i remember anyway:

oblivion is in cyrodiil which is mostly warm weather except up north, and for the most part its a very civilized country where most people live in proper cities or towns and there are well-established roads. when asked to give resources for it, the leaders of each city are united in their goal to stop the daedra invasion. there's a couple awful people but in general the races arent treated much differently. the thieves guild wants to steal from and embarrass the corrupt guards, and never mess with the poor people. the ruins are even pretty intact and well kept looking despite only skeletons living there.

skyrim, on the other hand, is freezing cold and everything looks a little unstable. there are roads but they don't seem much safer than walking through the wilderness. the jarls are unwilling to help with the dragons until the civil war is dealt with. it would be far easier to count the people in skyrim who are not racist than the ones that are. the thieves guild IS the corrupt power structure that SPECIFICALLY fucks over poor people. every ruin in skyrim looks like it should have crumbled to dust 500 years ago

theres probably more but i do not remember the oblivion mages guild quests and never played the fighters guild ones. like....is this on purpose.

making you into whatever you weren't before in these quests? blade to dragonborn. thief with morals to corrupt mafia guy. experienced assassin chosen to be a listener for their skill to listener who doesnt know anything about anything and just happens to be the most special boy in the world

you see where im going with this right. i think they really could have done something with this concept if they tried hard enough (or were trying at all...? still unclear) but a lot of what i would consider important parts of this also have things i would change.....

i think a lot of what made oblivions work is that again it never came out of nowhere when you were given the high ranks in guilds/factions you always had to earn it. like even when you were made the leader it was never like "Well the leaders dead now. you may as well take over even though everyones still rude to you" because i am not kidding that happens 4 TIMES in skyrim. i half expected to be able to kill the jarls and take over for them. let me kill arngeir and take over the greybeards too why not.

actually yeah they should have let me become the world eater after i killed alduin. i slurped his soul like a soup i should be allowed to.

anyway idk. i think the opposites in skyrim/oblivion are neat. the comfortable and occasionally even friendly travelling in cyrodiil vs the constant hostility and violence in skyrim. the people in oblivion only giving their life story when you ask (generally). vs skyrims "I work for belethor at the general goods store" "if you want a handout speak to my husband" "once i save up enough coin im going to buy the inn from hulda" "my name is (bfbdgxgxv) blah blah great clan battle born a name im sure you know well" "this feud with the gray manes is as stupid as the civil war" (<- this one is stupid because a huge part of the feud in the first place literally is the civil war) NOBODY SPEAKS LIKE THIS TO SOMEONE THEY JUST HAPPENED TO WALK BY