Quote Originally Posted by Maxx Power
Unfortunately for me I know too much about the quirks of the engine from my extensive playing of Morrowind, so with my second playthrough (my first being only to finish the main quest as fast as possible) I was able to get the usual max stats et al. I will say there are quite a few things in this game that make it harder to power yourself up quickly (level limits on Deadric Quests, fewer Artefacts, static vendors, skill learning limits). In contrast to this, compared to Morrowind, there's actually less to do. Maybe it's because of the fast travel that I can usually complete a quest in less than a minute. But if you add everything up, the length of the quests and the amount available, it's easier to see and do everything, which is a shame since obviously Oblivion is superior to Morrowind in so many ways. To compare and contrast, speed-running aside, it would probably take you about thirty-five to forty hours to complete the main quest in Morrowind. In Oblivion you could probably knock it out in under ten.
I think it was because, cosidering it was being marketed to Xbox gamers as well, they dumbed it down a little. Certainly I don't think many consoles gamers would have bothered if the fighting was like what it was in Morrowind.
I definitely didn't like the whole fast travel thing. I know you could say 'don't use it,' but it was there, and it was a constant niggle for me, call me sad or what you will.

I completely agree with the dungeon part. It seems like such a great opportunity, but it quickly becomes boring next to exploring the country-side. There really was little motivation to go into a dungeon and kill stuff, because you'd very rarely get anything really worth while out of it.
I hated the Oblivion gates too. Next to the beautiful countryside, those just seemed a bit low-fi for me.