First of, I've decided to put this into the spoiler section as I will be commenting on the Dark Brotherhood, the main quest and other events that may spoil your enjoyment of the game. Please keep this in mind. I was honestly surprised to hear that Skyrim is set 200 years after the Oblivion Crisis. I was expecting a difference of 10 years, at most. Similar to the gap of Morrowind and Oblivion. I commend Bethesda for Skyrim's ideas and quests as well as their willingness to do something new, in regard to the "timeskip". That being said, why isn't Skyrim "The Elder Scrolls: VII" or some other number? My reasoning behind this is to not only have a great world, such as Skyrim, be there for the player, but it's also one of the players making. Imagine this: TES:V would have been Somerset, the main quest dealing with the re-emergance of the Aldmeri Dominion. We would see and interact with a weakening Empire and a growing High Elf power. Similarly, through that experience, we could see the fall of the Dark Brotherhood, as well as other organizations, such as the Thieves Guild. Perhaps another quest could pitch the revolting Argonians against the Telvanni Lords, as it is suggested in Skyrim. My point simply is, it would have been great to see and experience many of the things that are mentioned in Skyrim. My personal explanation for why this didn't happen? From a gameplay perspective it is more compelling to build things up again, instead of seeing it all crumble around you. Don't get me wrong, I love Skyrim. I believe Morrowind has finally had a worthy successor (and not just because they brought back dwemer ruins instead of those bloody Ayleids...). These are just some of my musing I wanted to share.