I prefer to avoid the main quest just because the dragons make the game less fun for me. They were cool on the first playthrough, but after seeing them so much, I never touch the main quest once I am instructed to go talk to the Whiterun Jarl.

I just up the difficulty when I see a dragon flying my way.

I just wish we had to use varying tactics to fight dragons. As range, all you do is line of sight the breath and shoot the dragon until it dies. If you are melee, well until you get Clear Skies shout, you have to widdle it down with piddly ranged weapons OR goad it to land and whack it and run away. Bosses don't feel like bosses in Skyrim, just NPCs with higher health that can do a finisher on you from full health. Killing a dragon should be a production. Each class of dragon and tier should be entirely different.

I agree, but during Thieves Guild main quest when I went to Nightingale Base, was attacked by this green dragon, the thing almost killed me -- might have even killed me once, had to use nearly all my potions and everything I could think of, with help from Bryj and the Dark Elf chick. Toughest dragon fight yet. Strangely before that toughest dragon fight wasn't the dragon, it was one of it's bloody priests.

I think they just need to make the dragon's much more powerful and use many more shouts. I never understood why there are certain shouts such as Disarm and Whirlwind Sprint to be used for Dragons. I would like to see the dragons much more powerful and using more shouts other than fire or ice over and over and over and over.

On my first playtrough, I had the same problem; there were simply too many of them!
Now, on my 5th playthrough, they actually come in just the right amount.
I guess it simply depends on your luck.
Still, there are two problems they had on each and every playtrough...
First, they are not that strong imo, but that's fine since I'm playing just on expert, so I guess it will be fine when I rise it up to master (I hope).
Second (and even worse), they are boring!
They are boring because they are all practically the same!
I mean, check out Big Daddies from Bioshock 1 & 2 (have made a thread about it http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1344681-big-daddiesbig-sisters-or-dragonsdragon-priests/page__fromsearch__1).
Big Daddies are simply so much... more!

I don't dread them nearly as much as Oblivion gates, but they do get tedious after awhile. Sometimes I just try to hide, hoping it won't find me and will just leave, but they seem to have very keen eyes/ears/noses. I think there should have been more diverse types. Give me one that rarely flies, but has powerful jaws and more physical moves, ones that use other shouts than fire and ice. This was the problem with Oblivion gates, they were all the same for the most part, and its the same for dragons.

Also, there are few locations that truly offer the potential for an epic fight from a dragon. I think the spawning could have been better, planning where and how often they appear.

I only read the title of the thread since these seem to appear every 72 hours I’ll just give an advice and vanish.

If you are using a PC

Set timescale to 5 + Dragon souls to perks mod

You will never see many dragons nor will you ever be unhappy to see them.

That's what's just so absurd. There is a dragon roost with a sarcophagus right next to it. I killed the dragon easily, and when I approached the wall a dragon priest popped out of the sarcophagus. It killed me easily... about four times. I finally killed it when it fell off a ledge and I was able to kill it with a bow while it just sort of stood there looking up at me.

It was the priests who worshipped the dragons, right? Not the other way around? So why is the dragon so pathetically weak in comparison?

The thing that makes them irritating to the point I made a new character and not pursue the MQ so they do not show up is that even after the MQ they NEVER end. You killed Alduin there should be some decrease on dragons but no they just keep coming and coming. In Oblivion the gates were annoying but you could close them making them go away dragons are just as annoying yet don't have that option.

To be honest not having dragons and unable to use dragon shouts is fine neither are ground breaking features to begin with let alone having to deal with a endless armont of dragons.