It feels like Bethesda is creatively bankrupt. But a lot of studios are like that these days. I'm pretty sure with Bethesda, idea pitches probably start with working from previous games' formats and then going from there.

Doing everything they can to say Skyrim but in space without saying Skyrim.

Throw in development times, crunch, and changing ideas, the creativity will be wrung out way before the game hits the shelves.