Do racial XP rates matter at all?

[Aquillion]

They feel like a relic of another era, when monster scaling and the XP curve weren't as steep or somesuch. They don't seem to have any impact at all that I can see, now.

In fact, even the stat differences of each race barely seems to make an impact. The important part is the racial talents, which is kind of a trap for new players (since you can see the XP rate and racial stats on the race screen, so new players will pick races based on that; but you can't see racial talents, which is the actually important decision you're making.)

[greycat]

The XP modifier matters, because you have a finite number of monsters to fight, except for the adventurer parties. If you run out of safe dungeons you'll have to start entering the more dangerous dungeons (or face the even more dangerous adventurer parties) at a lower XP level.

[Frumple]

Which... even on the most XP gimped races, doesn't really happen any more.

It does make a little bit of difference, but not nearly as much as it used to. I tend to be a few (2-3) levels behind as an undead compared to one of the lesser penalized races hitting places like Daikara, but by that point, two or three levels doesn't really make too much of a difference, honestly.

Important parts of a race, at th'mo, are definitely talents first, followed by hp gain, which can have long term effects that can be mitigated, then trailed by stats, which can have early game effects, but quickly lose import. The XP rate is largely ignorable.

Edit: That said, the XP rates are kinda' thematic and effect the game little enough that their presence or lack thereof doesn't really matter. I kinda' like 'em, sorta' like a nice picture hanging on a wall. Doesn't do much for the function of the wall, usually, but it's likable anyway.

[Final Master]

The xp penalty doesn't matter, no. The only games where that matters are games where it's more along the lines of 50%+ and fast leveling is an almost necessity.

The finite mines of xp though, that does matter.

Surprisingly enough though, I say that these two things do not go hand in hand.

[tiger_eye]

I agree that XP penalty typically isn't a key factor when choosing a race. It does, however, affect the progression of the game. If you gain XP easily, like a yeek, then you will gain class and generic points faster than other races. This can actually be useful for classes that are difficult at low level.

For example, all else being equal, a level 20 yeek has the same XP as a level 15 undead, and a level 30 yeek has the same XP as a level 23 undead. Once a yeek reaches level 50, an undead would only be level 39.

These comparisons ignore the fact that zones scale with the player to an extent, so yeeks would probably gain even more XP by virtue of being a higher level. By the end of the game, most characters will be level 50 anyway, at which point the XP penalty becomes irrelevant. Personally, I think XP gained could be nerfed a little, so that the XP penalties might actually mean something later in the game. Heh, I just tried to win the game below clvl 50 with an undead, but I couldn't do it: I gained too much experience even though I skipped a bunch of zones.