A quest will drive us to accomplish much beyond our organic destiny. Thirst on the other hand is a tool of organic life used to remind you which part of your organic destiny you should concentrate on next. Don't you think it's time to propagate your species, let's go get some sex. Thirst carries us through life. The quest can bring direction and meaning to a life.
Some games cater to thirst, some games server to quest.
It's not that they are more tolerant than thirst driven players, it just doesn't enter into the equation. In another example, consider Team Fortress. The folks you find playing TF these days find the good ol' Quake I version to be just fine. It's not the game itself that matters, it's what can be done with the game that matters. Okay, maybe Quake I has fewer pixels, planes, clicks, chips or whatever you use to prove Quake III is better than the Quake I. Sure Quake III is bigger, better, and it should have the best babes in the tribe, get the first piece of meat off the downed antelope and have its fleas picked by the losers in the tribe.