When Bastian reached 1,500/5,500 rapport and we gain access to the "Things Lost, Things Found" quest, the mission icon appears not only over my comanion's head, but over every player's companion's head.
Further, when arriving at the Rosy Lion in Daggerfall there were 2 sets of Bastian and 2 Questleys in the room even with no other players present.
I'm 40+ and have been gaming since the 1980s and have owned machines like the ZX Spectrum, Atari ST, NES & PS1 - which involved loading 8/16-bit games off unreliable cassette tapes, floppy disks, CDs and giant cartridges with no "save game" ability - I don't like meta, I don't like memes, I don't like being rushed, I don't like the modern gaming industry - and you definitely won't change my mind just because it doesn't align with yours - it's a generational hazard!