Twinfalls, keep playing it. You're not that far in; you're succumbing to the same thing that happened to me when I first started playing Oblivion, Shivering Isles, Fallout 3 and NV. Soon you're going to hit the wall.
And believe me, once you hit it, you'll hit it hard.
I absolutely agree with most everything you said. Out of the wrapper, Skyrim seems great. New shiny toy, ooh, they did this a little different, they did that a little different, hmm, they eliminated this but that's okay, it's so much fun to play...
It's still the same old shit from Bethesda.
Believe me, it pains me to say that. I can admit that because like you I have very fond memories of Daggerfall. The feeling of freedom, the sandboxey goodness -- in the end it all goes away. Skyrim soon started revealing its putrid fillings after getting through its sweet frosting, and the eventual result is the same as with Oblivion: there's no motivation to play anymore other than to just powergrind your way to the end.
The inns are all the same. The quests eventually reveal their blandness. The creatures are one after the other, all ragdolly stupidity. The voices eventually start to sound the same (because they are), the items, the locations, all the "special effects" they worked so hard on. None of them make a truly engaging game and yes, it's going to be up to someone like Obsidian to attempt to turn this new toy that Bethesda fucked up on into something worth playing with, again.
Some may consider this post a bit of a flip-flop for me, but I just consider it a (re)awakening. Shit's happened before the same way. I'll keep trudging away in the game, just for sake of curiosity and stubbornness, but the veil's been lifted and I can see anew the flaws inherent in everything that Bethesda touches.
You'd think I'd have learned my lesson by now.