Oh, yes, thank you. I was totally in danger of losing track of this conversation.
Point?
And sometimes victory is its own reward.
Progression for the sake of it because sometimes the means by which you progress are inherently rewarding, without the need for a hamfisted pat on the back in the form of XP or *shudder* "Achievements".
That's a problem with encounter design and the currently unbalanced and clunky combat. Adding kill XP would simply be treating the symptoms.
If an encounter serves no purpose, then it should be removed.
I've been playing BG2 too and XP has never been a significant motivation for anything I do in that game. If I found myself checking the XP bar after each encounter that would be a sign that I was bored with it and should be doing something else.
XP is a useful mechanic for controlling the pacing in a non-linear game, but that is all it should be. Linear games like Zelda have absolutely no need for XP because the designers have precise control over the options available to the player at any given point.
If you're making a game and find yourself treating XP like an inherent component of the reward structure, then you're probably designing an MMO or aRPG. Genres known for having one-dimensional reward structures and for being addictive because of it, though personally I just get bored all the faster.
The inability to change one's mind is not a virtue.