I know this question gets banded around alot by new (inexperienced) GMs like myself; but. I'm working through 'Long Arm of the Hutt' and I am awarding 10xp per Act. Is this fair??

10xp/act sounds fine to me (the CRB recommends 10-20 xp per session) and it'll mean you'll end up with 30xp before considering any other modifiers (motivations, excellent RPing, etc.)

IIRC, I've heard of a developer-recommended method of awarding 5 xp/hour played. Plus, I think official adventures have a recommended amount to award, but it's always up to the GM!

I've gone with 5xp/hour and it has worked very well for our group. Published adventures have an amount, and in that instance I would go with their recommendation. If your group takes more than three hours to get through an act, might want to hand out "bonus" xp based on their roleplaying of motivation, etc.

The only thing I'd add is if you happen to have a large group (>6 players) I'd hedge a bit on the lower end, simply because the group as a unit is getting more powerful more quickly.

The only thing I'd add is if you happen to have a large group (>6 players) I'd hedge a bit on the lower end, simply because the group as a unit is getting more powerful more quickly.

If there are more than 4 players the GM should adjust the challenges the PCs face proportionally, rather than reduce XP awards after the fact. This also makes for more enjoyable play. Players may grow bored with romping through scenes in which they easily overpower opponents because they have more numbers/firepower than the module has as written.

Well naturally, one always has to adjust the challenge level based on party size and composition, the same you would between a group of 4 with two gunbunnies vs. a group of 4 with no combat characters. What I was referring to was a feeling we discovered in our game, where the advancement of the group felt unnaturally rapid because while we were all advancing at a normal rate, the challenges the group could take on were accelerating very quickly. So as a group we settled on a fixed 20 per session (6-8 play hours) instead of the 25-45 we would otherwise be getting. Still enough we can buy almost anything after 2 sessions.