Poll: Actually, funny RPG question...

[Grouchy Imp_v1legacy]

I quite like the system that games like A.D.O.M and Fallout 2 had, where one of your characters skills is the 'Survival' skill and the higher this is the more likely you are to be able to avoid random ambushes.

So say (for example) a pack of wolves has an 'ambush rating' of 20 then characters with a 'Survival' below 20 will always get ambushed by wolves and characters with a 'Survival' skill above 20 are presented with the option of either engaging the wolf pack or evading it.

 

[wooty]

I'm mixed on this, sometimes you want to avoid battles because your just trying to get somewhere, but I've grown up with random battles. whether it be from Final Fantasy, Zelda 2, pokemon or Panzer Dragoon, they have run features once in battle if you don't feel like it.

But the random battles keep you on your toes I think and mix up the action a bit so you don't wind up only fighting the "easier" enemies, the tougher ones often give better xp anyway

 

[Googenstien]

Being skilled at avoiding a fight when you need/want to is something that has been in RPGs forever.. we used to do it in the 80s all the time in pen and paper D&D. If you had a charismatic character who could talk and swindle his way around it was a neat think to try and do. I dont see why in a modern RPG running or avoiding a fight should be frowned upon. I think if your party/group has a certain bard/rogue type class or even a mental power class... then charm/charasima should be a part of what they do.

So basically you should be able to avoid conflicts.. but it should be a skill that certain classes in the game have much like how rogues can open locks and chests and without one you cant open a number of things in the game.

 

[gopher_666]

Baldur's Gate did it best. If you happen to come across a group of powerful enemies (or you are getting wiped out) your only option is to run away. Sometimes it is a certain distance away from the the enemies original location, sometimes it is to run completely off the map! I found this probably the most frantic part of the game and I'll admit that it didn't always work - God bless the quicksave/quickload function of PC gaming.

 

[shiaramoon]

The same way the Pokemon games have for years: Repel. For those that don't know, when used, repel will keep away all wild pokemon that are of a lower level than the first pokemon in your party. This effect only last for a certain number of steps, but can be used as many times as you like. I does cost a bit of money though, but not too much, if I remember. Also Wild pokemon only appear in grassy areas, water areas where you use surf to ride on your pokemon, and caves.

 

[FalloutJack]

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.

Well, yeah. Sort of the reason I toot the Shadow Madness horn. It's just a button. You duck, and maybe you did it in time or maybe not. You can chose - without effort and without prerequisite - if you're fighting or not.

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.

Which, ironically, reminds me of Persona 3, where the Shadows who are weaker than you are like "HOLY SHIT, IT'S THE GUY WITH THE THING AND I'M OUTTA' HERE!!".

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.

Oh hells yeah! You KNOW I like Fallout's system!

 

[Axolotl]

I wouldn't include random encounters at all. I can't think of a single game I've played where they made it better but I can think of quite a few that made the game worse. They're unrealistic and very annoying.

 

[Zhukov]

Uhh... stealth?

But random encounters are shit anyway. Just remove them.

 

[The Night Shade]

Good idea you should be able to choose when to fight and when not,of course depending on the situation

 

[Bostur]

Your onslaught is greeted with laughter as you face:
1 Brilhasti (80')
4 Dark Guards (80')

Do your stalwart party choose to (R)un or (F)ight?

I hope thats not too much of a spoiler. The above quote is from on of my first experiences with computer RPGs - Bard's Tale III
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bard%27s_Tale_III

Run was a chance based check, probably based on the 'Luck' stat.

Considering that Bard's Tale was a series of games based on mazes, very limited text based combat, and mostly random encounters having a run option probably saved us from insanity. This game could take the most hardcore players years to complete, literally.

In general I think if a game needs to consider the option of running from combat, maybe it should consider less random encounters.


I like how its sometimes done with dialogues before boss fights. Giving the player the option to chicken out in case the party isn't ready or he wants to explore something else first, and simply postponing the fight until later.

 

[Zaik]

I'd handle it like Star Ocean 3/4.

The enemies are all clearly displayed, you run into them if you want a fight, and away if you don't.

You can't *always* get away, but generally you can.

 

[Crazed_Puppeteer]

If I had to create my own system, it would go something like this.

1) Enemies outranking you (5 or more levels) can surprise attack you.
2) Enemies equal to you (plus or minus 4 levels) can be seen, but stand their ground.
3) Enemies beneath you (5 or fewer levels) can be ambushed.

Adds fear to the surprise, honor to the equals, and fun for the ambushes.

Does any game use this system?

 

[Cheesepower5]

Wild Arms 3 had the same thing you were describing, OP. You'd get a brief chance before battle to press square and avoid it completely.

 

[Spectrum_Prez]

Bethesda games handle this the best.

If you want to fight, man up and fight. If you don't, you can GTFO if you have the resources, the speed, and the right tactics up your sleeve. Or, you can run towards a town, drag the random horde with you, and have the NPCs cut them down for you. Or get a whole town of NPCs slaughtered as the case may be. Or, like in Morrowind, Recall the hell out of there (which I miss so freakin' much). Cast a spell (slap on a stealthboy) and become invisible, knowing you're using up a possibly limited resource you might need soon.

It's totally organic.

The only downside is that they don't yet have a good dialogue system for combat avoidance. I remember one of their games supposedly had a 'peace' mechanic where you sheathed/put away your weapon and tried to engage in dialogue. Never worked once for me though.

 

[FalloutJack]

If I had to create my own system, it would go something like this.

1) Enemies outranking you (5 or more levels) can surprise attack you.
2) Enemies equal to you (plus or minus 4 levels) can be seen, but stand their ground.
3) Enemies beneath you (5 or fewer levels) can be ambushed.

Adds fear to the surprise, honor to the equals, and fun for the ambushes.

Does any game use this system?

I'm not sure if there are any like this, however...I'm not sure I'd want it exactly like it. I attack stronger enemies to level up, get stronger. If this is a random encounter system where the battle comes out of nowhere and my rank determines possibility of ambush, I could be seeing ALOT of ambushes causing me undue stress. Why, even with the SMT: Nocturne radar that blinks red when I have a high probability of getting attacked in the next few steps, we're still holding up the chance that they get the drop on me no matter what. I could be fully prepared and still have to slog it. I'd rather it be either a random thing where you surprise or get ambushed, or have it so my approach of the enemy causes surprise.

And if it's at random, do the Shadow Madness again.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Yeah, I gotta go with the avoid the enemy on the map option.

What I would do, though, is make that easier to do so. In some games (I'm looking at you, Grandia 3) the game makes it impossible to dodge certain enemies, and nearly impossible to catch others. That was really, REALLY annoying. I far preferred Persona 3 and 4 where I could run past enemies fairly easily (they'd chase me, but so long as I didn't get stuck in a dead end, I could generally avoid them).

Seriously, though, don't drop super speedy enemies on me from unpredictable directions. If I'm in a hurry to get somewhere, I don't want to be messed with.

 

[Crazed_Puppeteer]

Introduces own system -snip

...I'm not sure I'd want it exactly like it. I attack stronger enemies to level up, get stronger. If this is a random encounter system where the battle comes out of nowhere and my rank determines possibility of ambush, I could be seeing ALOT of ambushes causing me undue stress...

I can see where you are coming from with this. An "inspiration" for this system was Pokemon, which has ALL random battles and desensitized me to the random encounter. Another was the feeling of undue stress. If I was a random RPG character, and I was "ambushed" by an enemy, I would probably be shocked by the encounter; yet heroes in most games can handle a random encounter as if it was bump on the road to victory.

The system could be played with (i.e. the levels could be increased to promote level growth, the ratio of random encounters to even match-ups could heavily favor the match-ups, the random encounters could give you a ton of experience points, etc.), but battles where you are the unexpected underdog going against the giant SHOULD be stressful. Plus, this undue stress makes the battles all the more fun (in a cathartic sense) when you have leveled up to a point where you can ambush the same creature later on in the game.