Most openworld games (unless they're always Online and Massive Multiplayer) never instilled a feeling of containing life to begin with. The vast majority of Console openworlds and even a lot of PC ones lately are just the natural evolution of those old 1980's Point and Clickers that bored housewives play. Yet Comparing them to Myst isn't fair b/c atleast Myst was an Environmental Puzzle game where as all these Openworld games, ...yes latest Elderscrolls included ... are just the Environment and nothing else. Once you've explored that along with all the Skills / Spells ... there's the realization that there was never anything challenging about the environment to begin with unless it had some abnormally well designed jumping puzzle somewhere in it.
Atleast in Online MMO openworlds, your character never has to "Die" so long as it has RARE aesthetics/Loot and taking it out for a spin gets you noticed by newer players. In that regard it can always have as much "life" as other players lend it by being impressed by your accomplishments (until you also get bored of trying to impress people in that universe and a whole new MMO with even more hype is close to releasing the the whole downward spiral can start over again)
Atleast in Online MMO openworlds, your character never has to "Die" so long as it has RARE aesthetics/Loot and taking it out for a spin gets you noticed by newer players. In that regard it can always have as much "life" as other players lend it by being impressed by your accomplishments (until you also get bored of trying to impress people in that universe and a whole new MMO with even more hype is close to releasing the the whole downward spiral can start over again)