"Frankly, this is no excuse. The size, scope, etc. of the game are irrelevant. Those are all Bethesda's call, and if they want to make a big huge game then they are going to be judged by the overall product. And, but for the size of the game, it probably wouldn't have sold as well"
So, despite the fact that the game is massive and you can do almost whatever you want in it, that's irrelevant but you want to judge the game as a whole? You can't eat your cake and have it, too.
To use a comparison, you are saying the equivalent of denouncing Ulcerate's Everything is Fire because Drown Within has one of the worst transitions I've ever heard, never mind the fact that it is one the most ambitious and exciting death metal releases in the last decade (also, that it's really fucking good, too).
If you want the mods, buy the PC version. And, frankly, the only bug I've encountered was one where a plot NPC disappeared into a floor, but a simple reload fixed that. If you are willing to throw down your controller and cry foul over that, then don't play the game.
Skyrim uses the same engine as Bethesda's other games? Why isn't Valve held to same standard, they've used Source in every game they've made with minor alterations. I bet at it's core, Dark Souls and Demon Souls are powered by the same thing.
Dark Souls a superior game? Maybe, I've held off playing Skyrim because of it, but let's face it, Dark Souls isn't accessible. Full stop. Either you're a hardcore gamer and up the challenge or you aren't. It's like death metal, you get it or you don't. There's not much in-between. But Skyrim is accessible. Too hard? Turn the difficulty down. Too easy? Turn it up. And unlike Skyrim, success in Dark Souls is 90% equipment and 10% knowing when to roll or block. Yes, Skyrim grinding Smithing/block/blahblahblah, but raise your hand if you didn't grind for souls once to raise a single stat a little bit in DS. No one? I thought so.
[EDIT] As for bugs in Dark Souls, the Invade/Summon PC multiplayer aspect of it has never worked for me except once when I got a person who was even less prepared for Smough/Ornstein than I. One summon out of more than a hundred I've tried. And every time I've tried to invade another player's world? Nothing. Nothing at all, and that's with using the various invade items except for the Darkwraith one. That's not a minor problem, that's a core aspect of the game broken out of the box.[/EDIT]
Industry awards? Pffft. I could care less what game got Game of the Year or Best Graphics or Best Hidden Sex Scene. I don't take the Grammys, the Oscars, the Tonys or the Emmys seriously, why would I take gaming industry awards seriously.
