I've been playing some morrowind and looking at the development of skywind, which is a remake of morrowind in the skyrim engine (all by contributors).
please just take a look at this vid and let it sink in that bethesda actually wanted something so beautiful in their game. for 2002 they did an amazing job on the game imo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLZITGaA_wU
there is so much detail in the game itself and the contributors are putting even more in to make it even more alive. I absolutely love this and I wish the finished version will come soon