It was the first Elder Scrolls game I played. As such, I had no idea that 90% of the game was side quests. So, I just played the main quest. It took me like two days to beat. I didn't level up once. At which point, I was all "wtf?! This is it?!". And then I realized I'd ignored the vast majority of the game. I just assumed the game was insanely long, because everywhere I went, I had no problems killing anything, so it all just felt like the beginning of the game (I'm guessing because the enemies basically lock to your level when you encounter them). So I started another character and gave it another shot, but never finished because I knew how the main quest ended, and I got bored of all the side quests (and honestly a little creeped out by the facial animations).
Hopefully Skyrim will go a bit better for me, now that I know what kind of a game it is. I'll definitely get it, because Oblivion was still a pretty good game. But, I seem to be into more story driven rpgs, and less the "here's a world, go do shit" rpgs. So, I'm looking forward to Mass Effect 3 and Deus Ex: Human Revolution a lot more. Personal preference.