Really? I've observed the Bethesda fanbase to be exactly the opposite.

Incessantly shitting on [current installment] based upon various flaws, real and imagined, whilst mindlessly praising [Installment speaker first played] based upon various achievements, real and imagined.

Let's take the fanbase's favourite golden child, Morrowind.

Looking at it objectively, it's sort of a shitty game.

The combat system is, quite frankly, ugly and broken due to the effort to combine dice roll and hack and slash mechanics.

The journal is an unusable mess.

Don't get me started on the nightmare that is it's directions. I always get a good giggle when I hear people say that the Arrow-Markers hinder the ability to explore. Unlike Morrowind. Where you needed to just wander around until you found your goal, seeing as the directions were just flat out incorrect five times out of ten.

What's left?

Oh. It's much vaunted lore. I suppose that stands, but honestly, most of Elder Scrolls cherished lore is just an imitation of Moorcock, so I don't know how much that's worth.

I once had this discussion with a Morrowind fanboy, and once I'd dissected it, he fell back to that grand mark of premium quality.

"It was our first (medium) man! It was like, the one that introduced us all to (mediuming)!"

TL:DR

that made the previous installments good

Elder Scrolls was never good.

Elder