^ This.

Doing that quest bothered me so much I did it just because it was a quest and then never went back when it became a daily. There was a huge discussion in Wowinsider about that quest/daily shortly after Wrath's release.

That the lore surrounding Mara was sketchy didn't bother me that much. So many quest chains in the game have dubious feet in lore or actually don't make a whole bunch of sense when viewed within the context of the world. To me, the best example is the Nesingwary quest chains. Exactly why am I supposed to kill 30 of each of these animals? Ooooh you're giving me a gun so I can kill stuff better. /shrug. Okay.

I think, for major plot points, sending us into Icecrown, there needs to be reasons grounded in the story and the lore. I don't have a problem with there being other places, even large places like Mara that simply exist to be cleared of trash the area locals don't like. These places become a diversion, a respite, from the "must continually kill scourge", of the regular game. We can take a step back, get some loot, and then go back to our primary job of being mindless drones for the good guys. "You want me to kill 15 cultists day after day and you'll give me 10 gold and maybe an extra piece of paper? Sure."