Your sample size is quite small, and I believe you are imagining a lot of it.
But there's an element of truth there, too.NWN is our pinnacle, and one this community will always measure against. So there's a losing comparison there already.
DA Origins is an excellent game, and in many ways superior to most other competitors. Skyrim, though, while a decent game, is one of the less strong Elder Scrolls games.Try some of the other new games... Wildstar, STO, Dark Souls II, etc. Different games will focus on different areas of character build and/or interface. There's a rough standard that'll always follow (characters will be "fighter", "rogue", "mage"; interface will be point-and-click with quickslots, etc.)
Making it simpler and lowering the learning curve allows the developer to put more effort into aspects that'll hook their playerbase. With today's move towards pay-per-play and/or microtransactions, they want people to join early and stay a long time. So, they focus on content... quests/missions, items, graphics, multiplayer mode, etc.