For a game to be a "great" RPG, it can't excel in only one of those areas. Morrowind is my favorite game, but it's always been lacking in the C&C department; poor dialog options, shallow characters, and of course the combat was pretty bad. Bethesda fixed the combat to some extent, but they haven't really fixed anything else.
I always hear fans talk about how Bethesda either gutted the franchise or innovated the franchise -- the fact is they've done neither. They make a few tweaks here and there -- the only real change is the setting. Just look at Fallout 4 -- it plays just like TES. The fact is, Bethesda doesn't do big like they use to in the Daggerfall and Morrowind days. They've become successful so now they're playing it safe.
This is why I can't get on the bandwagon of hating on Oblivion or Skyrim. When I play any of their games, it's the same old bullshit. They gutted the leveling system -- good. The shit was trash after Daggerfall anyway. I don't miss it. They got rid of skill based combat -- well you have two choices, make the shit good or get rid of it, don't do half-ass. You can do all the questlines in one go -- the quests aren't that good anyway, maybe we should be complaining about that. The only thing I wish they'd bring back are more guilds, strongholds, and finally make some decent quests with some solid characters that we can all appreciate.
Morrowind is my favorite game to be sure. It's one that I always go back to, but when I think of a really good RPG, I think of a game like Fallout 1 or Wizardry 8.
I suppose there's a point to where you can love the games you love but also have to appreciate that certain games do more, and you may not simply like them as much due to a combination of reasons -- style, atmosphere, setting, ect, but when you play them, you can tell there's a certain quality that's missing in other games, even if this one isn't your favorite. Hope that makes a little sense.