You’re onto something huge here. This is why I have little hope for most long-loved franchises (Elder Scrolls, Halo, Fallout, Tony Hawk games, Call of Duty, etc). Like any other collaborative artistic endeavor, it’s a product of the people at that time. The name applied to the group doesn’t fully encapsulate it.

The same Todd Howard who is credited as doing “additional design” on Daggerfall is the same Todd Howard who came up with the idea of releasing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary, TES 5 (FiVE): Ultra Titanium Edition: The Skyrimmening.

So many of these games were born from the pool of creative synergy that could never exist again. Pertinent:

Old Bungie vs. 343