Is D&D too hard?

[Calthropstu]

It is about the same as if they killed every monster in the dungeon.

See, in a sandbox world or even overland this doesn't work. Because ALL of the players I have ever had try to squeeze out extra coinage, extra xp, extra npc favors etc.

But I like the plot driven levels rather than xp driven. It allows me to throw higher level monsters that actually challenge the party without forcing me to hasten their xp growth.