I find it all too easy to ignore the call to Hrothgar. It's on top of a mountain, and the path to said mountain is about as far from ANY Main city as physically possible. It gets put on your "To Do" list, but if the Greybeards
really wanted you, they'd extend a bridge to Whitrun and get rid of that
Not to tell that everyone from Witherun to Ivarstead tells you that the Greybeards never let anyone enter their temple and that the trip can be dangerous and many people stop before the top.
Yes, and then after you deliver the package to Caius, he tells you to come back later on after you've educated yourself and leveled up a bit. That right there puts the main quest at a halt until you've been on your own for a while. TESIV gives the player that "sense of urgengy" pretty much the whole way through. TESV I haven't played that much so I don't know how "rushed" it feels.
I agree with that. But even then you will eventually need to come back, he didn't said "Become the Archmagiste of the Telvanni, walk half ot the world, help naked Nords and then come back" he tells you to get some experience under your belt and then come back. It's, fortunately, less rushed, but not "unrushed".
About "Oblivion vs. Skyrim" I think that Skyrim is a little better, but just a little.