Superficially?... How much argonians and Khajiit look like humans with animal heads and tails stuck on. I understand WHY it's like that, from a rigging/mesh/making it work with everything else etc etc perspective. But it bothers me conceptually, breaks my sense of disbelief a little. Pushing their shape to be closer to how the werewolves are, visually, would be really nice... Ah well.
More seriously? This is probably because of my background at a D&D player... But I think its the underlying sense of being rail-roaded by the plot(s), despite the game being so big and "open ended" at first glance! It'd be nice to see more variety and impact to things, based on decisions you make. You have a hand in a few big decisions (Civil War, Forsworn...)... But even there, the exact form of it just feels so scripted to me. I'd love to see something like they did with New Vegas, where the endings are a mix-and-match of different outcomes caused by the variables you affected.
Heck. Even just making it so there can be quest-relate consequences to your actions... Results of snubbing deadric lords during their quests. More ways to lock yourself out of certain quests because of past choices... I understand not wanting to accidentally punish a player, but I kind of feel like it'd add a certain level of excitement to the game. ACTUAL risks can be really fun! I just feel like there was some missed opportunities for depth, when instead they went for sheer breadth.
I agree entirely. I can't help thinking of Fallout:New Vegas factions system, which meant your choices and interactions with different groups affected the overall setting and game much more dramatically and specifically than "Stormcloaks or Imperials"... Of course that's not necessarily a perfect solution either, but it still offers an interesting "what if..."
I think what's missing is the sense of actual "risk" when making choices. Ultimately, your choices have very minor consequences, so it doesn't matter. Whereas if there were real results, some of them bad/unpleasant/frustrating, from the actions you took, it'd add nice suspense and excitement!
And the roleplaying opportunities. Oh, the roleplaying.
The fact that you can't truly side with the villains. My evil characters sympathized with many of them.
Mercer Frey: The letters you find indicate that he's a top notch thief, despite his poor performance as your follower. You also find his plans laid out in plain sight on his desk, and he taunts you when you're tracking him down. In my role play I imagine that he robbed the guild out of boredom more than anything else. Also, I hate Karliah.
Harkon: Mainly annoyed that there was so little interaction with him. If you go Volkihar you go straight from valued follower one moment to be seen as a threat to his power the next, with so little warning. I wanted to tell Harkon where Valerica was so that her blood could fulfill the prophesy. That way you can be evil without sacrificing Serana, since Bathesda is determined that we must love her.
Miraak: Again, annoyed with how little interaction he has with the player. I also couldn't help but feel bad for the guy. He's been trapped in a realm of oblivion for centuries, and is using whatever means he can to escape. It was also creepy how Hermaous Mora seems to consider you Miraak's replacement, and Miraak's final words of how he hopes you will get the same reward he did, ie, being trapped.
The fact no one (and this fits with the majority of TES games i think) really cares that you broke out of prison at the start of the game. At the very least someone should have tried to put you back, i mean it's not like no one else survived and knows that you escaped. The only people that comment on it are Tullius and Ulfric and then only once when you join up with them.