fetch quest
Very CommonA task that sends you to retrieve an item and bring it back, considered the laziest form of game content.
Used broadly outside gaming to describe any tedious errand with no real value or purpose.
Real-world examples4 examples
| # | Example | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 30 hours in and the game is still giving me fetch quests. i thought this was an rpg | The player expected meaningful content but is still getting shallow errand tasks deep into the game. | reddit, 2023 |
| 02 | my manager sent me on a fetch quest today. drive to the other office to get a form that could have been emailed | The speaker was sent on a pointless real-world errand. | x, 2024 |
| 03 | if the main quest is just a chain of fetch quests i'm refunding it | The game's core story has no real design depth, and the player will not tolerate it. | x, 2023 |
| 04 | new player tip: skip the fetch quests in the starting zone. they don't give good xp and they're boring | Practical advice to avoid low-value errand quests early in the game. | reddit, 2023 |
Use it when
- A game sends you to collect an item and return it with no meaningful content attached.
- Criticizing a game or task for being pure errand-running with no substance.
- Describing a real-life task you have been asked to do that feels pointless.
- Calling out a job, project, or errand as hollow busywork.
Do not use it when
- The retrieval task has meaningful story, challenge, or character content.
- You mean a side quest in general.Use “side quest” instead.
Fetch quest vs kill ten rats
fetch quest
Fetch quest is about retrieving and returning an item.
VS
kill-ten-rats
Kill ten rats is about killing a set number of enemies. Both are MMO filler archetypes.
Origin and context
A staple of MMOs and RPGs since the 1990s. The term became a recognized criticism as online games like EverQuest and World of Warcraft popularized quest design that relied heavily on item retrieval.
- First seen
- late-1990s
- Confidence
- medium
Cite this page
Use this stable URL to reference the entry.
https://slang.fyi/fetch-questUpdated: 2026-08-29License: CC BY 4.0