Arguably one could say you might die and die and die on a single kobold, thus that's about skill. But on observation your chance of death come from multiple encounters in a row, so really if you can beat one you will eventually get the whole ten.
But NOT if your quest count resets on death. Maybe your not good enough to do ten in a row?
Or atleast there's more tension there as you get to the end, rather than the usual feeling of 'Almost done with this crap'. Or atleast that's what I feel.
And here's an interesting side thought - what if A: if you get the ten and die before turning it in, your count doesn't reset Vs B: If you get the ten and die before turning it in, your count does reset.
I think they both say very different things about play. With A you've just got to beat the ten. Turning it in is just paper work, so to speak. While with B getting back to the quest giver is vital - though with the traditional mmorpg model, it's typically an anti climax as there is very little conflict on the way back. It'd be like beating a big bad ogre...but then you have to step on a half dead gobo to get the treasure - and stepping on him takes several minutes.
Anyway, I think a reset would add more tension to play. It'd probably also alienate people who want mmorpg 'play' to be like work, boring and predictable reward to look forward to. But I don't like to encourage that anyway.
