Too bad the koroks were nintendo's idea, and there was no "F*ck, GO BACK!" button for us gamers to press, the koroks were a mistake, just like the windwaker kinda games were.
I didn't hear people complaining about looking for graffities on GTA San Andreas. But they were only a hundred, not a thousand.
Collectable items were a common method to make players explore a level on platform games. If they want to earn a golden turd for the effort I say go for it.