Skyrim's difficulty options were your typical type in which the statistics of the enemy NPCs would systematically increase the more "challenging" the option is. I think it should be changed to a more versatile system that takes the players' preferences into consideration. How? Let me elaborate further.

From what information I've gathered by reading comments and articles in various places, I reached the conclusion that most players fit into three distinct categories when it comes to gameplay:

Casual: Players in this category like objectives and simplicity. They tend to mostly ignore dialogue, lore and, to some extent if not entirely, the story. They focus on superficial aspects of the game. They tend to like balanced gameplay mechanics.

Immersive: Players in this category like role-playing and complexity. They tend to play the game as their secondary world and treat it as such, the more believable the game is the more enjoyable the game will be. They don't mind/want to sacrifice balanced gameplay mechanics for more immersion.

Challenging: Players in this category just want a challenge, everything else is secondary. They focus on the gameplay mechanics and personal skill when using them.

I think that offering gameplay options to players that take this three categories into consideration would satisfy the series' fans much more than just generic difficulty levels.

What do you think? And how would you improve my idea?

Combination of all three. I like it being challenging and Immersive.

The current method might work if they increased or decreased damage done by both player and enemy. On high difficulty battles would be decided quickly one way or the other, on low difficulty you can take your time whacking the enemy while he takes long time whacking you, leaving much time to react.

Add to that a resource based difficulty or just add it to "immersion". No gold can be found anywhere, no potions scattered about, no weapons, armors, lockpicks or anything found anywhere, Except big chest after you reach the end of a dungeon. Want money, lockpicks, potions, weapons, armors, food etc? Loot, Craft, buy, steal, pickpocket or earn them from appropriate places or quests. You know, use the skills provided, make them not useful but necessary. Locks break after 5 tries on a novice one and 1 try on a master one. Want it to be easier? Put some perks on the damn skill. Carrying more crap, slows you down and increases stamina consumption gradually.

Immersive!

What I'd like to see though is a variety of difficulty settings in the next game. Ones for, say, enemy health, player health, enemy damage, player damage, elements (for survival option), basic needs (drinking, eating. Again for survival option), Dialogue/interaction difficulty.

That way you could tailor the game to your liking for mood, character, playstyle, etc.