We’ve all completed at least one “fetch quest” when playing games and it was enough to understand they’re boring. Luckily, every once in a while a game that doesn’t care about those quests appears—like Baldur’s Gate 3.
On Oct. 9, a player on Reddit came out to appreciate the quest design in Baldur’s Gate 3. They wrote about how it doesn’t have meaningless filler and repeatable quests that are meant to be grindy, like “collect five of this” or “defeat that guy 10 times.”
The player mentioned how “each quest is unique and added something to the overall experience. I’m gonna scream inside the next time I see a fetch quest in another game.” Unfortunately, almost every game has these types of quests one way or another.
Many players agreed and pointed out the Dribbles the Clown quest. Technically, it’s a fetch quest where you have to collect parts. But that quest had a lot of effort put into it like unique dialogue for every companion when picking up parts.
That’s the thing with filler quests—they’re easy to develop, and they inflate the playtime of the game. What’s there not to like if you’re scrambling to release a game?
From the games I’ve played in recent months, almost every one of them had meaningless quests that I did just to fight someone or get loot. Assassin’s Creed Origins, which I played the other day, has quite a few side quests but I never felt invested in any of them.
Even some of the most fun games I played like Cyberpunk 2077 or Marvel’s Spider-Man have quests that I know I will only finish if I accidentally stumble upon the thing I need. Do I look like I want to catch multiple pigeons across NYC?
I’m sure these quests will not go away anytime soon, but it’s great to see some developers acknowledge they are pointless and focus their efforts elsewhere.
