Because you need to make those goals for yourself. That's the beauty of these games. If you're expecting the games to spoonfeed these germane "quests of note" to you, well, guess what, you're going to feel the way you do.

Case-in-point : I wanted a castle in Morrowind. Since the game possesses no economy to contend with this sort of scenario, I took it upon myself to locate one in an area close to where I travel (same as purchasing a house in reality), went in and slaughtered everyone inside (could work in reality but probably this isn't the usual way houses are "obtained"), and claimed it for myself. It was quite the epic battle and I'm sure I've rendered the main quest uncompletable, but fuck it, it's my god-damned game.

Later I made quests for myself to go claim some uber-powerful items in the game world including Umbra and Azura's Star. These quests can take entire nights to complete. Going after Daedric armor is also a quest to behold. Not easy to find *at all*. The fact that I can bestow these quests upon myself and go achieve them is noteworthy, and, in my mind, one of the high-points of the game.

Yeah, but MMO's are full of idiots and assholes...

*Notes the irony of posting this in a gamer forum*

I agree wholeheartedly.
There are so many ways to set your own goals. A few examples:
- Become the boss of a guild or, in Morrowind, of one of the big Houses (or of several guilds or Houses)
- Play a role, specialise: Don't use spells, or don't use weapons and / or armour, don't fight at all (there are invisibility spells etc)
- Amass a certain amount of money (in unmodded Morrowind, the issue might be find someone who is able to pay for your loot)
- Play the game as a vampire or werewolf.
- In Morrowind, obtain the Master Index, complete the Pilgrim's Path quest.
Just a small selection.

People who find the Elder Scrolls games boring and dull, as the OP obviously does, should play other games.

The Elder Scrolls games are not perfect and will not provide answers to the the meaning of life or fulfill your purpose in life; but they will provide endless hours of enjoyable play to those who are able to accept them for what they are. For those who are looking to criticise they will find much to fixate on and spoil the fun.

[url=http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Creeper]Creeper in Caldera[/url] has made my character a very wealthy man. But, even more than just acquiring wealth for its own sake, use it to have the mage's guild enchant your loot until your character is a force to be reckoned with. Use that money. [url=http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Umbra_%28quest%29]Getting Umbra[/url] and [url=http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Morrowind:Azura%27s_Quest]Azura's Star[/url] allows me to soultrap high-level Daedra at will, and store their souls in a reusable soul gem, and enchant to whatever my wealth can contend with.

Overrated? Hard to quantify.

If you're talking within the confines of a game, perhaps. But, however, if you're talking about the workings of a toy, then not at all.

After all, a game has a finite set of rules that must be adhered to. A toy...you can play with it any way you want to. And not all of them will be what the manufacturer thought of.

Bethesda has given us a toy.

Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim are just one toy. It can be modified beyond recognition. In many ways, it's like the 'Sims'. Also, a toy.

So, again: overrated game? Can't be! It's a toy!!!

I know Creeper :-). What I had in mind was an amount which is hard to achieve even using Creeper (seven or eight digits?). Or, in role-playing terms: Try to play Scrooge McDuck :-)!
Not that this is a goal I would set for myself. On one of my first playthroughs of Morrowind (if I remember correctly), I think I noticed that i had an incredible amount of money and even more value in the form of loot, and that I would never be able to spend this money. And I thought "accumulating money is such a waste of time in Morrowind". One of the design weaknesses of Morrowind (broken economy).
I myself tend to play without using shops (or trainers). Can be hard in the beginning, or if you play an Atronach character, as you have to build up skills helping you survive without buying anything, but sooner or later, it's not an issue anymore.

:-)
Should be possible - replace water by coins perhaps? Animation effects? Depends how water is implemented in the Construction Set.
Unfortunately, I'm not a modder myself.

I finally managed to "unlock" the true main quest.
After Vivec Informants quest I finally got a lot actually fun quests where I can follow the main story.
Reach this was a pain, but now I feel like I can actually complete Morrowind and I finally can understand many of the mechanisms of the gameplay.
Actually I really like "Boots of blinding speed" with a 100% magic restistance magic... Also I found that if I use a temple effect in Vivec I can recharge magicka without any potions (with these informations I can actually forget many of the problems I got in the first place).
And with a levitation magic I can actually travel really fast.

I can only say that I like Seyda Neen start and quests after Vivec Informants... The only real problem of this game is the quests in between (and all the secondary quests that I got).

I still think this game is a little overrated (beside some really boring quests, there are few boring ost and a lot of grinding)... but it is not bad like I first thought. And I still like the world.

Now I'm at Redoran Hortator quest, and I think I will finish it soon.

EDIT. I almost finish main quest of Tribunal... it is hard but really good. I really prefer the sandbox level and the story is really good.
In the end I think the main plots of morrowind are good, but I think there are still lots of boring quest on the go.

Are they overrated? That's a subjective term. Skyrim is a little over-hyped, but I have fun playing it. Isn't that the whole point of playing games?