10 Annoying Video Game Mechanics That Need To Die
5. Fetch Quests
What is perhaps worse than a fetch quest, is a poorly hidden fetch quest. Dolling it up with fancy words doesn't change the fact that you are going to a place and getting something.
Now, there is nothing wrong with the basic quest framework of going and getting something. But it is just that: a framework. You are supposed to build characters, add a story and offer something unique about it. The maguffin that you pick up shouldn't be the most notable and interesting aspect of the quest.
It shouldn't be, 'oh, that's the quest where you get the stone of useless filler' and instead should be 'oh, that's the quest that stands up on it's own, has some unique people to meet and talk to, and has basic gameplay and story-telling necessities framed around the simple task of getting something'