I find it more odd that they didn't tinker with the third person view. An over the shoulder sort of view or closer to the character's body view seems like it would make more sense in general. The camera in third person is liable to glitch out easy. I had it glitch out when I was being killed with no way of knowing what I was attacking due to the camera focusing on the wrong thing. I was in werewolf form, as well.
Morrowind's third person view wasn't perfect, but it was more manageable.