Xenovore said,

Yeah, that type of quest is rather lame. (Especially when the reward item is for a completely different profession!) And it makes even less sense when you consider that it’s probably easier for the developer to script it to just give a simple monetary reward, instead of forcing the player through a bunch of hoops to get the cash.

Of course, part of that problem (in MMORPGs at least) is the ubiquitous lameness of the “bind on pick-up” quest reward, leaving the player with no recourse but to sell the item to an NPC vendor, instead of selling or giving it to another player.

Which leads me to another peeve: If 5 seconds ago another player sold a “Super Sharp Sword +5” to a NPC vendor, I should then be able to purchase it from that same vendor! But instead, the sword has vanished into thin air, never to be seen again… =(