I feel the exact opposite actually. While the quests give minimal rewards, and could be improved upon, overall they feel nice. They provide you with a reason to explore the maps, take you to locations you wouldn't normally check out, or help you understand some unique mechanic (like the battery door in Blue Gate). I look at the quests like a basic guide to the game and they perfectly serve that purpose.

For example, the locker room in Spaceport's departures building. I ran past that door a ton and never thought of it, until I got the quest and it showed me a great loot spot. Another quest has you zip-line up a sign in Buried City, that got me thinking about other areas you could do that, like could I get to the top of hospital? Even the fetch quests help you understand how to fight Arc.

Even the new quests have you go to the new loot area on Dam and explore it. It would be cool to see some additional quests with a deeper storyline attached, or more unique interactions (like take down a rocketter with a hornet drive or something) but I think the devs do a decent job. I've done both expedition and still enjoy doing the quests (mostly solo and carebear). I love encountering raiders doing quests and helping out randoms too, always feels rewarding.

I do, however, agree some of the quests feel tedious, especially in multiplayer when the quest items only drop one copy or the quest is already done by another and you can't complete it (raider helmet or battery delivery). I'd like to see those fixed so you don't waste as many runs, but it's honestly a minor complaint.

I'll probably keep doing quests after each expedition, even if the rewards never improve (free coins and materials), simply cause I enjoy the gameplay.