In Skyrim's case it seems like it was their main focus.

Woah I thought many people saw this list , seems like not..

TES VI: No attributes. Not even health, magicka, or stamina. You just die instantly. Have fun!

never seen it before, thanks for ruining my life

What are you thinking? That's too challenging for the casuals. They next game is going to have god mode killstreaks.

You play as Akatosh in TES VI.

Just look at this:

Morrowind Weapons: short swords, long swords, broad swords, claymores, wakizashis, katanas, daggers, tantos, sabers, clubs, battle axes, maces, warhammers, war axes, halberds, spears, shortbows, longbows, crossbows, throwing knives, darts, and throwing stars.

Oblivion Weapons: short swords, long swords, claymores, daggers, clubs, battle axes, maces, warhammers, war axes, and bows are typically available, although a few katanas and cutlasses

Skyrim Weapons: Daggers, swords, maces, war axes, battle axes, greatswords, warhammers, bows, and crossbows

Also:

Morrowind Armor:
A full set of armor is made up of nine pieces: boots, greaves, cuirass, left and right gauntlets, left and right pauldrons, helmet, and shield.

Oblivion Armor:
A full set of armor comprises only six pieces: boots, greaves, cuirass, gauntlets, helmet, and shield.

Skyrim Armor:
A full set of armor comprises only five pieces: helmet, boots, gauntlets, armor, and shield.

Armor Weights:

Morrowind:
Three weights of armor are available: http://uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Light_Armor, http://uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Medium_Armor, and http://uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Heavy_Armor. Unarmored is also a skill, and can be viable protection.

OB+Skyrim:
Only two armor weights are present in-game: http://uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Light_Armor and http://uesp.net/wiki/Oblivion:Heavy_Armor.

There are katanas and Scimitars in Skyrim. Scimitars pretty much replacing the cutlasses. The only difference between them is that Scimitars are useless.

there must be a limit somewhere, they can't keep taking until there's nothing more to remove... can they?

Yeah and three races to choose from, I mean its just too hard to pick right now. Where's the soldier type? (Sarcasm, just to clarify).

The other thing is that some of the armors in Morrowind have more than one type of piece.
Daedric:
3 helmets.
2 shields.

same can be the case in Skyrim. Oblivion was the worst regarding armor if you ask me

I think we have reached the limit with Skyrim. I mean all we have left are the basic weapon types.

You see ?
So saying " you can't tell people how to play " isn't so easy..

AT BETHSEDA HQ:

Employee 1: " Hey you see ? looks like they all don't care about features , we got our millions without trying like we tried for Morrowind "
Employee 2: " But what about our old fans , who loved the complex stuff ? "
Employee 1 : " Remember , more money for less stuff , thanks to the casual [censored] ! "

* High five *

Mother of god.

then it can only get better, right? at least the lore of Skyrim is satisfying

so what else?!

Same here. Some of them pretty much had the same design just different colors.

-Glass and Elven look alike.

-Orcish and Dwarven look alike.