I believe that the people developing the game actually care, but they have to fit in their guidelines, which in itself is actually costing them business in my opinion. I think they want to have some form of consequence, but can't due to the average gamer being "stupid" and "dull" by most people. When in fact gamers actually want a challenge of some kind.

So in conclusion:

The developers care, the corporation doesn't.

Exactly. Video games are art. Artists do not go out to their fans and,"What would you want me to paint, that would fit your tastes?"
Art is all about the expression of one's self, and how you interpret things. Once you start going out and asking for opinions and advice on what YOU the developer, should be doing on your own, then it stops being art, and starts being something totally different.

Historically speaking? That isn't what art has been. Expression of self is a much more recent development in the mainstream sense. In the past artists were always constrained by commissions to make something. So the Artist literally did go out and ask the person who was paying them what they wanted them to do that fit their tastes.

Constraints and feedback to not negate something beig art.

This is about how I feel.

I'm sure a majority of the people at BGS who actually build these games, the people who do the coding, make the models, write the scripts, etc., put their utmost effort into their work, because they genuinely want these games to be fun to play, because they themselves love fun video games. RPGs in particular, I imagine. A lot of them probably don't agree with some of the creative decisions that have been made by the people who have the authority to make them, but they're in no position to challenge those decisions. So they just do the best job they can.

I don't let the people who make the big decisions off so lightly though. Todd Howard may be a genuine gamer, but his bosses only care about money, and if he wants to keep his job, he needs the games he's responsible for guiding into completion to outsell all previous ones. This undoubtedly motivates him to try to churn out more accessible games, whether he really wants to or not. I get the feeling he doesn't mind it, though.

I'm not against expanding ones fan base, I just disagree with streamlining being that necessary. The more you dilute your original niche idea, the closer you get to not expanding your fanbase, but simply, slowly, swapping one smaller demographic out for a larger one. I fear that ES is heading in the direction of being the games people play because they're the games to play. And it bothers me not just because that's completely not why I picked up Morrowind to begin with, but because it doesn't have to go down like that in order for BGS to be around ten years from now.

In the past I have been guilty of questioning the corporate division of Bethesda for its arrogance, but I have never doubted that the developers, programmers, concept artists, voice actors, etcetera do take their jobs seriously and make many personal sacrifices to bring us a game series unlike any other. They labor night and day to give us a game such as Skyrim that gives us the freedom of living in a fictional world and doing whatever we may choose within that world.

As fans, I believe we are perfectionists. Although the Elder Scrolls is the most comprehensive and detailed game series out there, we chase the ever-elusive perfection of a Skyrim without glitches. This is unrealistic. It is our duty to support the people who loved video games and made the choice to create brilliant games for a living. Who wouldn't want to? We have acted like spoiled children. If I were Bethesda, I wouldn't be very thrilled or in a hurry to create more games for us.

So, thank you to the individual people who put their heart and soul into making games such as Skyrim that allow us to truly immerse ourselves in a world much better than the one we live in.

Not quite. Look at Square Enix. It should be easy for Zenimax to take care of the MMO side, while BGS continues with their flagship single player series.

So you have no problems with George Lucas's handling of the prequel trilogy?

I do actually.

TES is their baby. Of course they love their games.

Ah yes, the defense league has once again risen to the occasion by faulting the fans who expect just a little continuity with an effort to improvemerather than remove for the money they willingly cough up with the high hopes of seeing their dreams of the perfect game finally realized. Surely that goal of perfection is not unreallistic as some say it is.

Par for the course though, in this thread I've read nearly every excuse thrown about since Skyrim came out. Now if someone would just say;

• It's too large, bugs are expected. or
  
• Most sites gave it a score of 9/10.

the list will be complete.

I believe they do and they have a right to be proud of the games. Bethesda is one of the good ones.

I'd imagine the devs do want to make the best game they can, but remember it's a business they are in, not a charity.

But Lucas is the artist...

No they hate games, they hate people, the only thing they love is money.

because that's how game development works, actual enjoyable games don't bring money you know.

/another"fan"

Just because I don't like the prequels doesn't mean anything. That is his interpretation of them, whether I like them or not.

So, do you believe the prequels would have been better had Lucas listened to what the fans wanted?

I can answer for myself.

No, there are a lot of fans with bad ideas. Far more than those with good ones. I have few problem with the prequels. I actually like them more then IV-VI. But I am not deep into the Star Wars Lore. About 30 years of fan conjecture, hype and speculation probably led to the prequels being seen as a huge disappointment.

Their internal version actually has RAI, living economy, PC UI, DX11 etc. They love it internally.

Any game of TES size and detail has to be made with love. While I disagree with some of their design choices, I believe they have the best intentions.

Those [censored]s

Pretty much this. I don't sincerely think the BGS devs have a sinister plot to tear apart their fanbase. Although that may happen sometimes.

The conclusion that the Elder Scrolls developers exclude depth, or that they streamline or drop or add features, not to effect RPG gameplay but to attract more customers, does not follow logically from observable facts.

Another problem: none of us are ever going to agree about the definition of a "bad idea."

Also that. Best to leave the art to the artists. Give them critiques and let them draw their own conclusions.