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.
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.