Thinking about Experience

In Pursuit of Experience Points
The game is really about having fun with friends. Other than fun the goal of White Box seems to be to gain experience in terms of points earned from winning gold and defeating monsters. Experience points allow one to eventually advance their character's abilities so that they are able to take on greater challenges, win more gold and defeat more powerful monsters. Simple, yes, but worth taking a closer look at I think.
Playing a character that can improve is a big jump forward in 1974. It is nothing new for a wargamer to play the in-game part of Napoleon or some other general, or even the part of Conan or some other hero. Those "roles" are usually static however, Napoleon doesn't improve over time, his abilities or rank as a general is usually a given stat in whatever rules are being used. The idea that a character in a game improves with play adds considerably to the player's ownership of the character. It readily becomes my fighter or my knight who has gained a couple levels of experience.
In White Box experience determines level. A given amount of experience points is needed to advance from level to level. The amount varies according to character class and this is one way to "balance" the different abilities of the classes. Experience is awarded in terms of points, one point per gold recovered and brought back home and for defeating monsters (not necessarily killing them). The chief benefit one seems to gain from having a high attribute score is with the prime attribute. In White Box each of the three character classes has its own prime attribute, Strength for Fighting Men, Wisdom for Clerics and Intelligence for Magic Users. A score of 13 or 14 gains a 5% increase to earned experience and a score of 15 or higher entitles the PC to 10% increase in experience, thereby allowing the character to advance more quickly.
Advancing to the next level is chiefly how PCs become more powerful.  A new level adds hit points to one's total and they directly determine how long the PC can hang in, adventure and fight on! Saving Throws are another way PCs improve their ability to survive and Saves increase as the PC gains levels as well. New levels can add additional spells for Clerics (and undead turning ability) and for Magic Users and can increase one's ability to hit monsters.
Experience points determine level and in White Box each level has a named rank associated with it until one reaches the top ranks known as Lord for Fighting Men, Wizard for Magic Users and Patriarch for Clerics. A lord holds a higher rank than a Superhero, who in turn holds a higher rank than a Hero. The titles such as Lord, imply a certain social status which goes with the rank or level. In feudal society a Lord is a landholder who is above ordinary folk and is in fact part of the nobility of a realm. The game holds true to this concept by entitling the Lord to build a castle, recruit followers and become ennobled. The Wizard and Patriarch enjoy similar status.
Experience points and their relationship to gold is an abstract game concept based loosely on the observation that human experience generally results in improvement. The more experienced we are, the better we are able to perform, understand, anticipate, respond appropriately and succeed. It is why experience is often linked to salary in the real world. Acquiring gold in the game represents success in a number of possible ways, being observant, clever, careful, crafty, persuasive, sneaky, forceful, and just lucky in play. Experience is reinforcement for players and what ever the referee awards experience for is going to shape the player's in game choices. Experience points motivate.