I don't see any immediate problems with the reward pool suggestion.
You may still have people who argue that killing an NPC outside of a quest should still give them experience for the fight they just took part in.
But I think a change to a reward pool system would allow more control from a balance perspective and result in a greater number of happy players.
As for loot, I'd like it if a character's loot was generated when they spawn. (either when you enter the zone or when they appear in an ambush)
So that theif players could steal anything that NPC could drop. Maybe allow a theif who has either a high enough level or the required talent, to be able to steal equipped items.
But that's slightly off topic.
