and yet again you NEVER had to use quest markers in Oblivion
But they rarely gave you actual directions to a place (usually just a mark on your map) and never that I recall to a person. So yes, you did have to use them at least some, if not most of the time.
I understand why they are including OB fast travel. Some people just can't be bothered. But to give us that and no other option would be just as bad as to have only the Morrowind style. Why can't Beth put in the little extra effort to make everybody happy? It's really not a resource heavy project. Designate hubs, delineate methods of travel, routes, and prices. Yes, mods can add it in (just as easily as Beth could) but there's Xbox players to account for, and hey, modder's could also add a Main Quest but we kind of expect the game to ship with certain things already in place.