[quote=The Nexerus]
It's even worse in games that aren't post-apocalyptic. There's less of an excuse, then.

How many named NPC's were in Whiterun, Skyrim's largest city? Maybe thirty?
[/quote]

That's a long-standing tradition in the Elder Scrolls games and has something to do with Bethesda's game design philosophy. They want every character in their towns to feel memorable or be distinctive in some way, and that means there's a limit to how many they can feasibly create.