With my shift of emphasis to storytelling in my games I am re-looking at how I handle various elements of the rules. In the earliest days of my games I tried to make the rules more realistic. But after endless research I discovered that the more you tried to "fix" the rules the more they didn't work. Reciently I began taking the rules as they are and no longer think of them as broken or unrealistic, they are just the rules. That approach has been quantified as the D&D Is Always Right school of thought in various other blogs. Now comfortable with my style I am looking at a few things that are not so defined and can easily be changed to suit.
Like experience. XP for gold is easy and the first system in place but it feels like you're buying levels. That can be too much like online games for me. On the other hand XP for killing monsters can turn most parties into roving bands of murderus hunters. The rules mainly are for fighting and your level is mostly measuring combat ability. So the second option fits best. However there will be rewards in game that have nothing to do with levels or XP. Story rewards can take many forms and as long as there are means to advance the players might go for them. Hopefully the players can be fullfilled by more than just upping their levels.
We've moved to "you show up, you level up" for our game. Since we don't get together very often (once a month at most) this is better for us. It also encourages the player activity I want to see the most: attendance. :D
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