PC users have their mod raising the difficulty and Bethesda says they plan on releasing free content in between the add on type dlcs so this is one of the things I want. Im sure every dlc will get harder but the vanilla game should too. At least have that option.

There are plenty of ways to increase the difficulty, its very simple actually. Dont over power your gear, raise the difficulty up, and dont use a follower. I use lower levels of armor/weapons (upgraded with smithing is as advanced as mine gets), I play on whatever is after adept lol, and I dont use a follower. I find the game to be plenty challenging, but not so challenging its un playable. And yeah, I know after a certain level the monsters dont level with you, but you can always start a new character!

Hmm. Self gimping or starting a new character.. Nah, I dont think so. Building a weakling is of no interest to me. The game should just get harder and it will, at least in the dlcs.

There is no skill involved in exploiting crafting systems. You may aswell just play the game on a spreadsheet.

No, I agree with the OP. You don't have to "exploit" the crafting system for it to become OP - my first char was a smith, and I had to start a new char instead after a while, because even on Master, Smithing makes you so over-powered without doing anything. On Master difficulty, the game should effectively be extremely hard, so you can use any skill in the game to even yourself out (obviously without abusing glitches). One should not have to limit oneself, or stop using at least 4 of the remaing skills, just to not have a boringly easy game. Play adept/novice if you want an easy difficulty, it should be hard on Master.