I also feel like they half-assed the factions. I find it hard that the companions would over leadership to someone they just met less than a week ago. The College quests could have been interesting (During the first quest I was excited because I thought it would be more like a college than just a quest dispenser with the lectures etc.) but the story is rushed and unsatisfying. The Dark Brotherhood is good, but it still feels too short.
I feel like Bethesda has relied too much on the radiant story system. Very few of the quests are actually thought out and written by professional writers while there are loads of crappy quests that all amount to "go into this cave and get my family treasure from the chest at the end!" that really aren't that different from running random dungeons.
Radiant story, while useful, is NOT an excuse to cheap out and get lazy with the writing. This game could have been so much better if they had just ditched that idea and just done the quests like they did Oblivion's.
