I recall seeing an in-depth retrospective of either Oblivion or Skyrim, and Todd’s recurring defense of the dumbing down of the games was to avoid the state Bethesda was in during Morrowind’s development, where the future of the company was very much uncertain, and where Todd was one of the folks not sure if they were going to have a job next month. I dunno about Todd himself, but I guess that line of thinking isn’t present in the people with the power nowadays.