Lemming42
Arcane
I think your last point is right, Beth's longevity is down to them being the only type of person making this specific genre of game. If any other devs tried to make a game in the exact same template, Bethesda would get absolutely bodied, as they did when Obsidian made New Vegas.
A lot of critics of Bethesda also forget that Skyrim is legitimately a decent game, despite Codex protests to the contrary. Fallout 4 was a write-off and Oblivion was a joke, but Skyrim is a great dungeon-crawler for people who just want exploration and combat with no substance. Same for Fallout 3 for people who just ignore the quests and dialogue and want to go around shooting shit and grabbing loot in subways.
A lot of critics of Bethesda also forget that Skyrim is legitimately a decent game, despite Codex protests to the contrary. Fallout 4 was a write-off and Oblivion was a joke, but Skyrim is a great dungeon-crawler for people who just want exploration and combat with no substance. Same for Fallout 3 for people who just ignore the quests and dialogue and want to go around shooting shit and grabbing loot in subways.