Blowfish64

... You know that in the real person you don't magically become stronger just from killing people, right? I mean, I just don't see the problem here: you have the option to roleplay a complete psycho who kills everyone they can (and in fact I still think you're incentivized to do that), but the game doesn't prod you onto that path. How could the lack of kill XP possibly be a roleplaying issue where in the real world every sensible adventurer would want to expose themselves to as little combat as they could while still achieving their goals? ... You know that in the real [world] you don't magically do anything, have wizards, ciphers, rogues, or any aspects of a fantasy game right? So why are you trying to bring the real [world] into the discussion? I think Lephys got my point. Engaging in combat should reward you with improved combat abilities. I'm not someone who wants to kill every last thing in an RPG. In fact, I play RPG's for story, not fighting. But if I'm in a situation where I want to fight certain enemies, I ought to be rewarded for that tedium by improved combat abilities which will make future fights more interesting and less tedious. Since I get NOTHING from fighting in this game, I'm disincentivized to deal with it. Hence, the cheats. If they gave XP, combat abilities, some kind of advancement or whatever, it would be worth it, but as it is now, it's not.

The problem I have with it is that it limits roleplaying and disincentivizes combat rather than incentivizing alternatives. As an example, SPOILER I go to Raederic's castle to kill him off on account of him being a total, raging ****. It's a seriously tough fight (probably because I'm under-leveled). I sneak in, grab the disguise robes, and go about sneaking through the castle, except I realize, 'Hey, all the people in this castle have totally been following that d-bag's orders to hang half the town. They're as guilty as he is. I'm going to slaughter them all.' Once again, it's a pretty tough fight. What would keep me going at it would be getting some experience for it. But I don't. I get basically nothing from it other than useless loot. Meanwhile, I can just sneak around, get to the throneroom without killing anyone, and complete the quest with WAY less hassle. That's the problem with the system. Random, unavoidable but useless wilderness encounters also become nothing but annoyances, because you get nothing from them. The end result? I just turn on a trainer and give myself unlimited health. Which is a shame. They put all this work into the combat system, but if I don't get benefit from the combat itself, then I'm disincentivized to deal with it. Meanwhile lockpicking gives you XP because... stuff. Sneaking gets XP, fighting doesn't. It's a bad system as far as I'm concerned.

I'm in favor of romances in RPGs. I feel like a lot of the arguments here against them are strawmen arguments. Sure, I don't think anyone here wants a half-assed romance the way Bioware does them nowadays where you hit A, B, C and boom, hit the sack regardless of your actions or personality, but as some have said on this thread already, when they are done well, they're some of the most memorable parts of the game and can give it greater gravitas. Aeris in FF7 anyone? Loved Morrigan and Alistair, both times made me choose different endings because of them. SPOILER: The point where Morrigan is basically begging you to dump her because it turns out she's not a total bitch and feels bad knowing what she's going to do to you in the end, that's a scene I still remember from DA:O and I haven't played that game in years. END SPOILER BG2 did them fairly well too, loved VIconia and how her character changed over time. They add plenty of the RP in RPGs when they're done well, much more so I'd dare to say than any other SINGLE aspect of a role-playing game (I'm not saying they should be the overall focus of a game, I'm just saying they have huge potential for developing your character and caring about the people travelling with you). They can also lead to some tough choices. They don't need to be inclusive of EVERYTHING, but a few would be nice. Not to mention, they add a lot of replayability to the game. If that's not what you want, so be it, but personally I feel like there's a whole layer of depth that's just wasted when RPGs don't venture into this area.