Poll: Actually, funny RPG question...

[FalloutJack]

So, as I was making mention of Shadow Madness in another post, a funny thought came to me. You see, Shadow Madness (for those who never played it) was an RPG which had random battles, but you could avoid them with a press of a button...if you were quick enough. You hear a howl and you duck, avoiding combat if you so desire.

The funny thought is this... Not everybody likes a grind, and people get tired of random battles, so why wouldn't more games have something like this?

True, some games have on-site representations of battles you can run away from and avoid ever coming in contact with, but that's not the same and not always as easy. If I don't feel like fighting, it shouldn't be a trial, right? Knowing me, I've maxed everybody out because I DO tend to grind every now and then. So, why hand me more of these things if I don't have to go after then?

What are yout thoughts on the matter, folks?

 

[Bon_Clay]

Hmm that's a pretty cool idea. They really should have more run away features in games that are turn based or just involve those random battles. I didn't like the way Pokemon did it as it had nothing to do with your ability to run away from stuff as a character or person (I think it was based on the pokemons' speed difference? or maybe it was just random).

Something based on either your character's speed attribute or your own reaction time definitely make the most sense. When running away from stuff in real life you'd either need to get away quick before they can chase you, or just be able to outrun them if they did.

 

[Mangod]

I agree, some system for avoiding fights you don't want/need to go through for story/exp reasons should be skippable.

 

[Ariella Reinders]

Well, I think Amnesia Dark Descent did a very good job at combat avoidance mainly because you couldn't fight.
You had to hide in a closet instead and hope the scary monsters did not look behind the table you were hiding at.

In the spirit of random combat, kinda like every pokemon-game part that involved grass or water, I prefer the item feature.
The "flee" option isn't bad, but if you're too much of a wuss to fight a pokemon, what's the sense in becoming a pokemom trainer?

I probably prefer the "run the ruck away!!" option in 'regular' action adventure games,
unlike those rpgs that you bomb you with battles where ever you go or breathe on, but that wasn't your question.

I like the items, but I shall go for "some other unlisted method" and get your character to sneak past a dozen of monsters stacked on top of each other waiting to get their hands/claws/spoon/sporks or whatever they'd use for hands on your character.

Yes, that's my final answer, if you don't want to fight sneak past them.

 

[darth.pixie]

That is pretty cool.

Maybe in order for it to be more RPGish, to have it based on a stat of the character - Perception or Intelligence or something to see if he can detect and ambush/attack. That or always have a rogue detecting for them. I like grinding within some measures but some random fights are ridiculous. You just finished one and you're attacked again.

 

[Saelune]

Im content with the run feature in Pokemon. Might be better just to do that more.

 

[.No.]

Does this include talking at them untilt they go away of stop fighting? Because that's what I would choose. Or just stealth.

 

[FalloutJack]

Does this include talking at them untilt they go away of stop fighting? Because that's what I would choose. Or just stealth.

Actually, I can't believe I forgot that one. That was something which had been done for the first couple Persona games and I completely forgot about it. Of course, by then you're still IN the battle, but I didn't specify on combat avoidance...

We'll call that an 'other'.

 

[EHKOS]

We needed this in Skies of Arcadia. Badly. Infact after emerging from a huge boss battle I got rando'ed and had to do it all over again...not that I did, I sold it and have since rebought, but not played the game again. Yet. I make confusing run on sentences

 

[kingcom]

Does this include talking at them untilt they go away of stop fighting? Because that's what I would choose. Or just stealth.

Actually, I can't believe I forgot that one. That was something which had been done for the first couple Persona games and I completely forgot about it. Of course, by then you're still IN the battle, but I didn't specify on combat avoidance...

We'll call that an 'other'.

Persona had diplomacy? New to me but its something which has existed far before they existing

 

[Broderick]

Hm..I kinda liked the "paper mario" version, where enemys were on screen and if you avoided them, you wouldnt go into combat(or if u wanted to, you could attack the enemy before they got to you and you would get a first strike at the begining of the battle).

 

[FalloutJack]

Does this include talking at them untilt they go away of stop fighting? Because that's what I would choose. Or just stealth.

Actually, I can't believe I forgot that one. That was something which had been done for the first couple Persona games and I completely forgot about it. Of course, by then you're still IN the battle, but I didn't specify on combat avoidance...

We'll call that an 'other'.

Persona had diplomacy? New to me but its something which has existed far before they existing

Well, the first and seconds did. You could appeal to the nature of the demons in order to win favors, scare them off, piss them off, confuse them, and what-have-you. (The reason I assume this wouldn't work on P3 and P4 is due to Shadows usually lacking a personality, and even the smart ones are just unreasonable.) Actually, the notion was certainly present in SMT: Nocturne as well, so I assume others in the series had this before it too. Again, that was still IN the fight-screen.

 

[kingcom]

Well, the first and seconds did. You could appeal to the nature of the demons in order to win favors, scare them off, piss them off, confuse them, and what-have-you. (The reason I assume this wouldn't work on P3 and P4 is due to Shadows usually lacking a personality, and even the smart ones are just unreasonable.) Actually, the notion was certainly present in SMT: Nocturne as well, so I assume others in the series had this before it too. Again, that was still IN the fight-screen.

Interesting, would have made the games a lot more appealing but regardless, charisma, perception, stealth, survival instincts etc etc. Hundreds of different ways to avoid combat. The real problem is, if a game is making you want to avoid one of its features, you should be looking at that. I know every rpg I ever play involves me first trying to talk my way out of situation so it can definitely be a personal thing, which unfortunately doesnt have a lot to do with rpgs these days.

 

[hypovolemia]

Hm..I kinda liked the "paper mario" version, where enemys were on screen and if you avoided them, you wouldnt go into combat(or if u wanted to, you could attack the enemy before they got to you and you would get a first strike at the begining of the battle).

I prefer Earthbound's system, which was very similar. If you were stronger than the enemies, they would run away from you and even if you run into one they just die without even entering the fight-screen.

The diplomacy option in SMT games is very useful, but if you really just want to get somewhere quickly it can still be annoying. Talking your way out is not much faster (though a lot safer) than fighting.

 

[Frotality]

if players could just chose to avoid whatever challenge they pleased, there wouldnt be much challenge left. granted, implementing ways to escape or avoid fights that you get by leveling, money, or whatever are just fine as long as their implemented into the challange of the game; it really depends on how important random battles are to the game. in FF8 (yeah it sucks, bear with me) you got an ability pretty early on to halve or eliminate random battles, since they really only served as a grind; something like that is fine, but straight up just chosing whether you want to participate whether or not to take part in a basic challenge of the game is stupid. if you could do that, either the battles serve so little of a pupose that they dont really have in business being in the game, or your cheating yourself out of a standard challenge of the game out of laziness.

all the arbitrary fights and restrictions that everyone seems to hate in games are there to present something to be overcome; you dont know how many people have been driven to beat a shitty, frustrating game just because it got them that worked up (me, AVGN, countless NES and 90s adventure game players). done right, things like random battles drive you to get further in the game without actually annoying you; of course its often done wrong and annoys the hell out of you, but the alternative is having nothing we are 'forced' to overcome, which makes things boring alot faster. random battles and their ilk are a necessary evil; without them, RPGS would be half as long, you would level half as much, and the ending would be half as satisfying because you did half the work to get to it.

 

[cgentero]

I like how Fallout did it(it was based on the outdoorsman skill), sometimes it would ask whether you wanna have an encounter and sometimes it wouldn't, even then if you felt like running you could do so manually.

 

[Quassimodo]

i loved the pokémons REPEL items. ooh a sheit load of grass i want to pass but dont want to fight anything
-BAG-
-ITEM POCKET-
-USE: REPEL-
-CLOSE BAG-
and just keep walking

 

[King of the Sandbox]

I actually loved FF XIIs combat system. You set up your tactics and just wander. I hardly ever had to take control, my character just did what I preset him to do and I just had to steer.

Wow. Sounds like loads of fun.

As for combat avoidance, as others have mentioned, I like Earthbound and Fallout's methods of either flat out going "YOU WIN!" when you face a far weaker foe or allowing you to choose whether or not to fight them.

But yeah, I think someone's idea about having a thief/rogue character in a fantasy party-based rpg having an ability to scout and help you avoid encounters sound pretty k-rad. It'd give them something more to do than hide on the back row and steal.