I agree. I did maybe 15 or so side quests and they were rarely exciting and somewhat the same. Some of the planets were cool like the one where the asteroids are coming in, but otherwise same cargo ships, same structures, same enemies and for what? Marginally better equipment.
So I just went straight into the main quest and was very entertained.
Alot like Oblivion, the random side quests were rarely worth it except for the Dark Brotherhood.