Opinion: Skyrim's main quest is better than most of its sidequests. There was an intense contrast between how fun Oblivion's Thieves Guild, Dark Brotherhood, and Daedric Prince sidequests were and how boring its main questline was. Even the Fighter's Guild had some twists. I think that experience must have traumatized a generation of players, because I can't think of any other reason why people say the same thing about Skyrim.
In Skyrim, the Thieves Guild are a pack of losers and to get anywhere with their story you have to level them up by doing procedurally generated filler jobs. The Dark Brotherhood quests have little of the Hitman flair of Oblivion's, and mostly just end with you killing targets the same way you'd murder a bandit. Rare highlights like A Night to Remember aside, Skyrim's sidequests are nothing special.
But its main quest has you fighting dragons, climbing mountains, and travelling to the land of the dead. It's full of spectacle and also Paarthurnax, one of the few memorable NPCs in the entire game. Best of all, it doesn't demand you run a single Oblivion Gate.
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