I don't know who you are or any of your specifics, so I can't tell you what happened.

But the only things that prevent you from getting OXP/EXP are:
- Being a ghost
- Conjurer projection (looking / entering while projected doesn't count)
- Ditto for duo dimension
- Being outside the level range, which almost always does but doesn't necessarily have to match the range listed in AREAS

If I had to guess, I'd say maybe that last point is the case. The min/max level for exploration and the max level for observation are defined on a per room/obj/mob basis in a table and are typically set in accordance with the areas posted level range but the two aren't directly linked.