The only side/fetch quests I particularly dislike are ones that involve grinding. Like when it's not good enough to get one of an item, but you need to repeatedly do the same thing over and over until you've saved up 5 or 10 or what have you.

Beyond that, I don't think fetch quests have changed much. I can think of tons of fetch quests in classic games where you have to travel back and forth across the world just to talk to NPCs or pick up an item from one to bring to another. From RPGs like the Lufia games and Breath of Fire, to adventure games like Link's Awakening, to even platformers like Donkey Kong Country 3. Plenty of old school games have busywork fetch quests that just extend playtime rather than involving new content in the game.