This is completely out of left field, and it super weird, since # of XP points and # of milestones are the same thing on different scales, like fahrenheit and celcius.
Agreed -- leveling up solely based on XP from defeated enemies is already pretty 'video-gamey' as it is, especially when you can describe the quest-givers in any given module as having an exclamation point floating over their heads and everyone at the table knows what you mean.
I wlll say, though, that Faenor's point speaks directly to my main point in this discussion -- if players basically see AL modules at 'kill the monsters to get loot and go up in level', then they'll build characters to kill monsters, not to participate in a shared storytelling experience. I'm willing to accept that there will be some portion of the player-base who will look to make their characters more effective at completing adventures, regardless of the route taken, so in that sense, adding more non-combat challenge isn't automatically going to discourage min-maxing; it'll simply shift the min-maxing from combat to things like getting a 20+ Passive Perception at 1st level.
The point is that players who otherwise might not participate in min-maxing see that the current structure of AL modules rewards that behavior, and so are incentivized to participate, increasing the frequency of a behavior that is known to be harmful to the health of an organized play campaign (see LFR, etc.) In that sense, I'm encouraged by the success of the first Suits session I ran with my modified scenarios, as the 'MVP' of the session succeeded despite rolling against his dump stat as opposed to anything he was actively trying to exploit, which clearly sends the message that, even if you're not optimized, you can not only succeed in the adventure but be vitally important to that success.
I think that direction, the 'you can be awesome even if you're not a munchkin' direction, is the best one for AL to pursue. I'll agree that it's not always easy to accomplish, but the benefits to the campaign are worth the effort.
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Pauper