Don't make excuses for big corporations. They can hire anyone they want, the modding scene for bethesda games is huge, all of them would likely want to work there at some point. If they needed more people, they could hire them. That is, if more people would save it. We all know the 'Mythical Man Month' from mr. Brooks, don't we?
Others did too, and didn't suffer from it. They made a decision which had its side effects, as in: lower quality assets and the like. Nothing wrong with that in theory, but they shouldn't sell it as an AAA title with a premium price.
What I always wondered is why they didn't move the subsystems that make the RPG into another 3D engine. Apparently they think it's not worth it. Which is precisely why we shouldn't make excuses for them.
Oh well... in the end it will likely turn out well, but the beginning (read: right after launch) it will likely be a tough nuclear winter.