Kill xp overinflates the value of making violent decisions, essentially forbidding one to make non-combat choices because you get more xp by killing with no greater negative consequences.
It doesn't forbid anything, unless combat is the only way to earn xp.
You're looking at the tree while missing the forest. Taking away XP for kills is the same thing as giving XP for every action, including XP for kills.
Giving XP for every action would be an alternative too. One where the quest don't dictate so strictly your advancement rhythm.
It forbids the player from advancing in power through any way but the planned quest line.
This is such an odd fucking argument that contradicts itself. Combat XP forbids the player from advancing in power through any way but the creatures put in the game.
Again, only if combat is the only way to earn xp.
Have enough side quests and the two are more or less identical. Give quest XP for mini encounters not quest related, and the "problem" becomes even more non-existant.
Sure, and have these mini-encounters mean any combat or NPC interaction, and the problem disappears completely.
I feel my answers here are a bit all over the place, so let me try to go over what I am trying to say:
1) While having xp tied to quests don't necessarily lead to a game where XP is tightly controlled over its extent, I feel that from the design philosophy Obsidian is following, that this will be the case. They have commented how characters can't focus on non combat skills at the expense of combat ones, how they think combat xp is a nightmare to balance and how main quest encounters will be scaled so people who do few of no side quests may progress through the game as well. This is not the worst thing that could happen to PE, but I feel this is a step in the wrong direction because:
2) I think that by not having a tight control over how a player advance, a game becomes more open and interesting. The player, might, for example, beat up the giant guarding the passage instead of going through the long chain of sidequests for him. I do realize this requires a little more care when making the game as if you script it too much, the player might end up breaking the scripts, or forced to lose/surrender to/go through stuff that doesn't really make sense. But I think the extra complexity is well worth the price and I think games like Fallout and Arcanum are good examples of this. I know PE is supposed to be less open than these, but it could still try to strike a better balance I think.
3) I am afraid, for the reasons mentioned in 1, that xp will effectively be a "story marker". That is, how much xp you have is directly proportional to where in the game you are. Quest XP will possibly make a difference, but scaled main quest challenges sound like they might make even that worthless. I think a much better use for xp would be if it actually rewarded the player for stuff he does (clever thinking, achieving objectives with real chance of failure, finding out secret stuff, etc). In this way of looking at things, the extra xp would eventually enable the player to do things in the gameworld he wouldn't otherwise be able to do. Another options would be if xp was an actual resource. That is, if the greatest amount of xp wasn't always the most desirable option because of other costs, and certain playstyles actually require you to rush and fall behind the xp you would otherwise have. If F:NV is anything to go by, I think the game might accomplish to make XP a real reward sometimes, but not as much as we would otherwise get.
4) Combat xp may keep the designer from controlling the xp too tightly, but it is far from the only way, or even the best way, to do this. I mentioned a few other ways they could do it in an earlier post, and they could have it even with quest only xp. Also, like Grunker mentioned, by having a character system like Bloodlines, the player would also have a lot of freedom, because the different choices are not in the least comparable.
5) That said, I feel combat xp get unmerited flak around here. It my not be the best way to do things, but it hardly breaks a game by itself. While the game relying on combat XP for most of its rewards will, indeed, end up combat focused, that isn't the only option and the game doesn't need to reward combat alone. At any rate, Fallout had combat XP, and it hardly hampered it.
6) Sawyer mentioned xp metagaming, how the combat xp made people play the game in a way that they didn't necessarily enjoy. He mentioned similar things about resting, how people would always rest before each fight so they could break the game's design. This talk about metagame seems a bit silly to me. Because I think it would be much more interesting and useful to focus on making sure that playing the game in a way that makes sense is rewarding than making sure playing the game in a broken way is impossible. I mean, I understand not wanting to leave design holes in the game so the players can't fall in them. But if you see the player digging his own hole, you don't need to go there and take his shovel away either.
7) It is better to come up with appropriate costs for certain behaviors (such as farming xp instead of interacting with the main quest, or resting everywhere so you always have your spells ready) than it is to forbid them.
8) Also, all this talk about metagame, combatroles, balance and what not, coupled with te talk about mage spells interfering with the shtick of other classes (like the thief), makes me a little afraid this gae will have most or all of its rules driven by "design" rather than "fluff". Like how they make the barbarian be what they need, instead of making the combat fit the concept of barbarian.
9) All that said, I am not saying PE will be a bad game. It is too early for that, and even if I am not an Obsidian fanboy, I do think they have made good games in the past. I do worry these, coupled wih stuff we can't yet see or infer may mean this game might not be as good as it could otherwise. And I do realize it is probably too late to change this stuff too, but I like to discuss.
I hope this makes things a little more clear. Sorry if my comments seemed all over the place.
