WorstUsernameEver said:
...do you remember reviews calling them out on the decline in writing?
No, not at all. Not even one.
Bethesda has amazing writers, actually. The books in Morrowind and Oblivion (most of which were carried over) are a testament to that. Granted, many of those writers have probably long since left (I've never bothered to uncover the names of those individuals) but they at least used to have an understand and appreciation of quality prose.
As for the quest writing.. well.. I don't remember anything in Morrowind that really blew me away. It was all passable but nothing really left a strong impression (save, perhaps, that "last dwarf" quest).
Oblivion had decent structuring in some respects (thieves and assassin's guild missions / introductions weren't horrible) and Fallout 3 elevated their quest design structure (i.e. multitiered quests) but, on the whole, Bethesda's claim to fame are the virtual worlds ... and even these aren't excellently realized (they just have little in the way of market competition).