I think it might actually be favorable to not be like me and try to do every sidequest available. My party reached lvl 30 about 2/3 through the game, and knowing that any experience earned didn't matter made the last third definitely less enjoyable. It's actually my biggest gripe with the game, as much as I liked it otherweise.
As Avadon was my first Spiderweb game I'm very tempted to try out Jeff's other titles, the Geneforge series in particular. Hello everyone, btw!