I'll use examples from games to prove my point...
but seemingly pointless missions or levels in games really piss me off; examples, in the first Devil May Cry, there's one mission which is "Get to the Cabin of the Ghost Ship". Problem is, there's no apparent reason WHY you'd want to do that. Also, in Jak 2, there are a few missions where you're racing a little hover car and trying to get in first place. The reason is bogus
Spoiler:, just some stupid ass excuse to make you race. And if you're like me, you crash a lot.
the winner of the "elite" race gets to tour the palace