Anyone else annoyed by not getting any exp for killing stuff, unless it is related to a quest?

I spent a long time doing an epic battle with a huge ass bear and zero exp for it.... really removing the fun factor of going off the beaten path imo..

Fells like the lazy and really annoying way to control how much exp you get throughout the game (how powerful you get).

I think it's nice so i don't have to go through annoying grinding etc. Though i have to admit that they could put some extra xp for exploring to make Deus Ex like.

I don´t see how killing 1 huge bear counts as grinding while clearing a place of power, I admit I am not far into the game and I do not know if animals respawn (Wolves and stuff) but so far I have not seen enough stuff to kill to be anywhere near the numbers needed to count as grinding.

For me this makes combat a huge waste of time(Like that bear fight and the drowners I encountered so far), might as well just run past them. I personally like the option to go on a killing spree to gain levels from time to time.

I'm thinking that's exactly what they were trying to prevent.

Yeah might be, kinda suck in my book. I do so enjoy building up the characters in my RPGs and as soon as there are to many limitations like this I find it kinda pointless and boring.

It's odd, but I'm just thinking of grinding now as a way to get money and materials for crafting. It definitely makes exploring become more of a priority to get quests unlocked, and the maps are so large, I don't see any way I'd ever finish this game if killing random enemies gave xp since I'd probably stop to fight everything.

Why bother, just do some quests for money and buy the materials or loot them from containers on your way. You get plenty of both that way. I have not had to do any exploring yet to find any quest related stuff, I did alot of exploring to begin with, before I knew there was no exp for killing non quest monsters/animals, now it is just pointless. Now I just open the map, find the question marks, run there and use the place of power thingies for skill points and then keep on moving, if there is something else there then there is little reason to stop.

For me, like it is now the main goal will just be to rush through the game to see the story hoping I won´t get bored with it before the end, and then uninstall it because there is no reason to play it again since you seen the sights.

Do we get XP for clearing the question marks on the map though? Like if I clear a "Bandit Camp", I obviously don't get XP for killing each of the bandits but do I get XP for clearing the bandit camp?

Actually, you guys get exp for killing monsters and humans. In fact, there are trophies that make you earn more experience doing so. But, as in the previous games, the amount of exp you get by killing them is minimal. The best way to level up is doing quests and contracts.

yes agreed i just killed a lvl 1 wild dog and i got 2 XP for my troubles ;)

at least i got something!

Eh, different strokes. I'm not trying to rush through since I know I'll be replaying the game for the different endings and I want to take my time on the first playthrough. Not to mention I'm playing on the hardest combat mode, which I usually don't do, so it helps a bit to get some practice with the combat.

Yup.. I am the same... it's not about purposefully grinding or trying to get through faster or making quests easier through levelling up on mobs. For me it's simply about being rewarded for playing the game how I enjoy to play it. Exploration and through exploration, combat.. getting such small amounts of XP from hard encounters is quite discouraging in terms of exploration satisfaction..

Well indeed and the bear OP was talking about is just a pussy.

Not if you compare him to wolves and stuff like that, if I am not mistaken it was level 6 while I was level 1.

Thematically, Geralt isn't really out to kill every hapless woodland animal he encounters, so it's reasonable that doing so isn't particularly rewarding.

In the bear's case... you don't even need to kill it. Both times I've visited the place (because the game chose to crash shortly after the first visit), the bear took off a bit after being hit a few times. Maybe it was just pathing weirdness, but it was long enough to nip in and use the shrine in the meantime.