Ah~ Skyrim... I agree with everything you said. Your explanation suits Western RPGs more than the Eastern ones. (Freedom based VS Story Based.)

Skyrim is one of the games that I postponed playing until I didn't want to play anymore... It didn't help that my brother played it alone, finished its main story AND spoiled many things on me, then I asked for more spoilers as I decided to spend time playing other games.

Good Post.