They can be grindy, but I think it's inaccurate to say they don't connect to the environment and game features. Various quests tie into the trading system, exortion by deserters reflects low security (and thus usually pops up when a fief changes hands), others link to the bandit bashing grind that inevitably exists (and make it a little easier or profitable). The rewards likewise connect to other game features, but could be ignored by a player who's happy to recruit T1s and level them chasing bandits...
Lore, maybe. But the quests reflect the reality that people in towns and villages have ordinary stuff they need to do, whoever's ruling Calradia.
Yes, quests make use of some of the game features, it's fair to point that out. The important factor here is that there is no connection between what you are doing in quests and your character progression besides each quest individually contributing to other objectives not related to quests. This meaning that quests inherently don't have any purpose or value besides something to mindlessly grind over and over so you can win some money... What could be done, and should be done imo, is having quests with several steps towards a more vague objective (e.g.:multiple outcomes), something between the main quest and the ones we have in place, not too long, not too short, something that has value besides quantitative assets like money, resources or influence. Quests with qualitative value produced as you progress and not just as an ultimate objective, where you wouldn't start it because it's beneficial to become rich or conquer things but you get into them because it involves family, loved ones, friends, enemies, your home and all you care for has a human. Quests also need to connect to each other, having some sense of memory storage in a way that it correlates with past quests and world events,
an example would be:
- Your family is living in a village, that village is being raided or, as a quest, you are informed that bandits are about to raid that village, then you choose to act on it, as an option you pick up your family and leave to some town, later, that town is besieged and you are confronted with ways to try to save your family, for example, you and some of your troops infiltrate the settlement, you manage to find them, but you found that your mother is very sick and cannot escape again, you must fight. Along with the garrison you, your troops and your father, who is a blacksmith, fight off the invaders. The outcome determines their survival or death, if you win and you are praised for your help and get good relations and other benefits with the town and faction, but you still have the quest to find the medicine for your mother; Your father can also die or survive the battle; If you loose, your mother ends up dying and your father gets captured or dies, you also get imprisoned (quests can be made involving escape), eventually you manage to escape but you still have the task to rescue your father (other quest), after that your father can join your party as both a companion and a personal blacksmith that repairs equipment... (if such thing is implemented)... endless possibilities