Speaking for myself, I didn't even know that the 'smelly X' subquest existed.
I only found the scarf, boots, and panties. The panties I dismissed as a weird easter egg. The boots and scarf I didn't particularly care about. They didn't stand out enough for me to remember where I picked them up (unlike the panties, which give a stat boost), and I never talked to jake's dog after digging up the coffin anyway.
HOWEVER, that doesn't mean I think there's something wrong with the game. In lots of games, especially older games, you would find things without really knowing what they meant. You would then discover what they meant by testing them out in various ways. I never bothered to do that with the smelly set, but that's my fault - not the game's.
