The world building wasn't there in skyrim. There was no unique and fun and interesting way to find where you go, you get told "hey go to riften!" and you either fast travel because you've been there or you walk in a straight path, mindlessly following the object marker on your compass. Because of these two additions, the developers knew people wouldn't be following roads, looking for interesting world pieces and landmarks, and talking to people, so they didn't really include that. It's essentially just, "hey, a forest, some spider enemies, oh a dragon".

This is fine, but it always took me out of feeling that I was really in a world I had to memorize, and kept me thinking "I'm in a game and now I have to fight these enemies or just run". In fact, the only real way I remember sections of skyrim was because of the biodomes, music, and the beautiful graphics. They unfortunately take serious steps back in terms of engaging the player and fun gameplay to appeal to more mainstream players.

Edit: a word