My two copper pieces:

I as well belong to the group of people who prefer an objective metric for mechanical rewards. I also prefer systems that require minimal book-keeping and ones that encourage teamwork over individual goals.

Let's take a look at some different XP systems to make it clearer:
* Classic D&D: awarded for accumulating treaure and killing monsters. Nice, objective, and easy to account for.
* Rolemaster: awarded for various activities; too much book-keeping.
* Mazes & Minotaurs: awarded for different activities based on class; favours individual goals and accomplishments too much, although it may be used quite reliably.
* WH40k Deathwatch: awarded for accomplishing goals of a given mission; works nice and easy for other mission-based games, as well.
* Call of Cthulhu: skills increase when they are successfully used in certain situations; rather individualistic, and it sometimes may require too much GM decision.

Now, AS&SH awards XP for a number of reasons; let's take a look at those:
* accumulating treasure: requires virtually no extra book-keeping (I mean, players would keep a record of their wealth, anyway) and is quite objective (given the GM uses the treasure tables); it also drives interesting play.
* defeating monsters: a classic that requires minimal book-keeping; it could be more objective if there were reliable encounter tables or at least better guidelines for monster placement; it drives an interesting play only if one's interested in the tactivócal nature of combat, otherwise it may spur unnecessary violence.
* accomplishing major goals: not much book-keeping and can drive very interesting play (if the goals themselves are complex); objective only if the goals and their expected rewards are player-facing.
* clever use of ability: very subjective; fortunately, the suggested reward is sparse so it doesn't turn the game into a fest of "who can figure out the craziest use of this ability?".
* participation: reliable, objective, and requires almost no book-keeping; nevertheless, it sounds lame (but I guess it would be interesting if it were getting harder and harder to survive despite character level, like in certain reflex-based video games).

XP is really the measure of how well one plays the game (like points or goals in sports). Awarding it for mere participation is similar to awarding points for someone merely participating in a sport event; participation in itself should not be rewarded for it provides opportunities to earn points/XP anyhow.

As for the Drunken Debauchery-related proposal, it depends on how the use of that table is integrated into the framework of gameplay. Say, the players haul a treasure of 5,000 gp. Are they allowed to spend whatever amount they choose so before they roll on the table or only after? In the second case, there would be no difference between the original system and the proposed one. In the first case, however, it would present an additional choice ("Do I buy cool stuff or earn XP, risking that I may not have enough gold to buy that new thing I want?").

Ghul wrote:

I actually got the idea from Gary. It's something he added to CZ: Yggsburgh before I was part of the project. It's a small bonus, the participation XP, and it's benefits are best realized when we, as adults, have other things going on in RL, and can't make it to the game. Another player runs the missing player's character, but that character does not receive the participation XP. I realize it has that sort of "just sign you name on the SAT" but I've grown to rather like it.

Precisely how I feel. That Gygax, he had some ideas!

And as the recipient of the Charlie Hustle Award three years running on my HS baseball team, I can tell you that sometimes getting a bonus for showing up is a pretty cool thing. I mean, we did it for Cal Ripken Jr.