Five years of build up and hype from Oblivion has really set the fanbase aflame, myself included. It's my GOTY purely for being another Elder Scrolls title. As much as I loved Portal 2 and as much as I'm loving Arkham City and Uncharted 3 The Elder Scrolls is just a whole different league.
If Skyrim lasts half as long as Oblivion does I'll be happy with the state of gaming for a few years. Just let the people vent, give it a week or two and it'll finally cool off (only to flare up again at Christmas no doubt when a lot of people will likely recieve it as a gift!).