I am incredibly disappointed with the decision to not have xp for killing monsters. Think about it like this...If we take the sport of wrestling or mixed martial arts or the war in iraq ...every single battle you fight in you gain experience, you become stronger, wiser, more versatile against future foes. It is this system that is the basis of Dungeons and Dragons, Baldurs Gate, Icewind Dale, and almost every other rpg we have come to love over the years. The reason we like the system is that it mirrors real life, rpg's should mirror real life and not have some arbitrary "quest xp" gain. If it doesn't, its not really an rpg in the truest sense. The reason we like rpg's is that they have the element of knowing that if I work at something in an rpg setting over and over I will get better at that thing, just as in real life. I am really stunned that Obsidian has decided to go this route, and hesitant to spread the word about this game any further....unless of course they can somehow reinstitute this vital component into the final product.
