Probably because the entire Fallout plot was synth-lovers vs synth-haters, and all you can really do is shoot things. I found the power fantasy a little too easy to acheive as well; you got power armor pretty early into the game, and became the General of the MInutemen not long after that....
In Skyrim there was the College of Winterhold, the Blades, the Imperials vs the Stormcloaks, the Thieves Guild, the Dark Brotherhood, and the really cool sidequests from the different towns. The murder mystery in Morthal, the mining prison in Markarth, the really cool ruins all over the place in which you could learn new dragon shouts, all the different races and their conflicts (including the Falmer, Dwemer and Thalmor) etc.








