Hey guys - since Brian's feeling a little under the weather AND because the discussion of the experience system made such a stir, I decided to follow up with a two part question.

ONE - so what parts of experience systems do you feel are totally played out?  Maybe getting xp for disarming mines (leading one into death-wish jaunts into minefields for a chance at powerleveling)?  Possibly getting more xp for taking the "super good" or "dastardly evil" options instead of favoring a more middle-of-the-road approach?  For a concrete example: Shining Force 2 is one of the old strategy RPGs that I love from back in the day, but the fact that you only really got xp per kill meant that your best characters speedily outpaced everyone else, and you basically had to trap and bleed out monsters so that your weaker units - healers and thieves - could get the killing blow and thus actually level up.  That was some BS.

TWO - what games had xp systems that you thought really broke the mold, and why?  Even if they weren't the most innovative, what about them did you like, and do you think made them work out so well?  The job system in Final Fantasy Tactics, for example, gave experience for every successful skill use - be it offensive, healing, buffing, or debuffing - and allowed for a surprising combination of skills and tactics from previously mastered jobs.

Discuss!
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