I suppose the problem is that it seems like Bethesda is more interested in creating a sandbox then having a story that fits that sandbox. Going back to Morrowind doesn't accomplish that necessarily.
On the story front I think what it did well was have the lore tie into weird things about the game world. The sand storm, the blight, the floating rock are things that dagoth did on purpose. Likewise, vivec and company are "Gods", that you can meet, but they're also Dunmer who used artifacts to become immortal who knew you in a past life. The visuals are more tangible because the story is integrated into what you see.
Morrowind has a some interesting lore but is the textbook definition of a 'fetch quest' game. I'm not sure I can even remember the plot of any of the missions. Their modern games, while often hackneyed in the writing dept are at least diverting to your attention. "Wouldn't it be cool if a mage dropped from the sky" is probably the high bar of Morrowind narrative chops.
Bethesda is culturally a "level design developer" imo. Kind of like Valve in that regard. They have a technical idea of what they want the player to experience, not a strong narrative one. New Vegas is so interesting because Obsidian clearly do not have the same culture, it was ALL traditional RPG storytelling (and some okayish levels) in the same Bethesda framework.
On the story front I think what it did well was have the lore tie into weird things about the game world. The sand storm, the blight, the floating rock are things that dagoth did on purpose. Likewise, vivec and company are "Gods", that you can meet, but they're also Dunmer who used artifacts to become immortal who knew you in a past life. The visuals are more tangible because the story is integrated into what you see.