Ive put in about 125 hours and I agree. There's no game that I've played(other than oblivion and Morrowind) where I've had so many "wow" moments. This game took a quantum leap over Oblivion and I can't believe they are able to keep improving the series with each game so dramatically. Ya oblivion probably lacked in areas that Morrowind filled and skyrim to oblivion as well, but overall the game feels vastly better than any other in the series as far as combat, music, sound effects, GUI, and voice acting. So what it doesn't have spell making... I didn't care much for it. The leveling system dumbed down? Nope. Simplified intelligently. Dumbed isn't even a word by the way, so people that keep saying that can go read a dictionary and leave us be. They cut the fat out of this game and left us with some precious tender, but wholesome meat.
I have a feeling the next one will have more features but I'm looking at fallout's potential now.
I don't think it was the spellmaking as much as it is about the lack of spells (the murder of Mysticism). Mods will fix any problems for PC users but for people like me on the console we just have what the game gives us, so it's best not to dwell on those things too much.
It was simplified I'll give you that much.
Sometimes a little fat is good, I agree the quests could have been bigger and more intricate, I for one enjoyed the rankings in guilds in Morrowind and Oblivion. Not every person has to be involved with a quest, pretty much anyone in town either gives you a quest or is involved in a later quest. It'd be nice to just get some random people, but perhaps it's the lore because not many people would want to live where the Dragons are popping up... still sounds like an excuse to rush things though...