Are Random Encounters Good For Games

[iblamevictoria]

I have a sort of personal vendetta against random encounters in games. I think it's unfortunate that many RPG's (especially JRPGs) use them as a primary source of enemy encounters. To me they are tedious and get in the way of benign, but potentially fun tasks in games. I personally prefer scripted/ storied encounters in the games I design because it allows me to better regulate xp and reduce annoying grinding on the player's part. I just have to make sure that a player receives enough exp/money/whatever to proceed without grinding.I remember some especially frustrating moments in games like the Final Fantasy 's and the Dragon Quest games that burned me so hard with superfluous encounters that I put many of them down without ever picking them back up.

(For some good examples of RPG's that don't use random encounters/do but use them sparingly then check out Live a Live, Chrono Trigger, Kingdom Hearts, LISA the Painful, etc. etc.)

I know that they are a huge staple in RPG Maker games especially, but what do you think about random encounters? Do you use them in your games/like seeing them in games? What can you say in defense of them if you do? I'm definitely willing to be persuaded about the whole thing and would like to stop thinking about it from within a bubble.

 

[MinisterJay]

One reason that I prefer not to use them is that when I use evented encounters, it easy to have the win/lose option instead of game over. I usually do not reward experience points for battles, and other methods for level progression.

 

[Dad3353]

One won't suffer ' Game Over' when losing a Random Encounter, if the command 'BattleManager._canLose = true' is inserted into the Turn 0 Battle Event Page. Just sayin'.
I'm not an expert in Battle Tactics , Player psychology or such; I use Random Encounters with no qualms at all. I also programme Evented Battles, usually Mini-Boss or Boss level. My degree of sophistication is very low; I just make Games to play or have played. It's all good, if used sparingly and/or appropriately, I'd say. (But what would I know..?

)

 

[Essy]

I tend to use ABSs these days....
That said I did play around with transferring the player to a random encounter. Felt a little obnoxious to me.
If I were to do turn based combat again then my go to would probably be along the lines of running into enemies on the field, such as in the Tales series.

 

[sage]

I also find it very tedious to play games with random encounters.
The only games that I enjoy and have random encounters are the Pokemon games, and that's because you're trying to collect creatures.

Random encounters are mostly good for grinding on to get stronger than scripted opponents and to collect stuff.

I think some kind of mix of random and scripted encounters is ideal.
Again, pokemon does it well. You have the random encounters in the tall grass which allow you to grind pokemon nonstop, but you also have the scripted trainer battles which provide the majority of your Exp and all of the money you get.

 

[iblamevictoria]

Again, pokemon does it well. You have the random encounters in the tall grass which allow you to grind pokemon nonstop, but you also have the scripted trainer battles which provide the majority of your Exp and all of the money you get.

Pokemon gets railed on a lot for having bad characterization/plot/repetition, but I think that it handles it's core gameplay super well. It also helps get rid of players getting annoyed by giving them things like escape ropes, repels, etc so that players can just opt out of random encounters. It also constricts them to obvious danger zones, which I like (caves, tall grass, water, stuff like that.). So yeah.random encounters can be fun depending on what gameplay hook a game's got going on.

 

[Jiriki9]

Random ecounters...well I personally thinks there are also some upsides for them. Of course they can be annoying and it is definitely some task to balance them correctly. Make 'em too much and they annoy the hell out of the player, too little and both leveling and some type of collecting tasks may become hell. But they do add...well, a certain randomness to a game. Also, part of me is a traditionalists (meanign I am perfectly fine with the classical, front-view, turn-based rm-battle-system) AND if it is not overdone I am not an enemy of grinding either. Those two are only personal taste, though, I know. And furthermore I must confess I am not an expert in making (and these days (meaning the whole last 3 months) find hardly any time for doing anything in the maker), so I am also not so experienced in DOING battles otherwises. I mean, of course I can call a battle in an event, but I must confess so far I mostly used it for bosses and other battles happening in the story. Random ecounters however give...randomness. And I like it in a game when it is different when played the second time.
What I thought of just recently was if there was a way to make semi-random encounters via partly randomized events. No time to fiddle around with it so far, though.

 

[iblamevictoria]

What I thought of just recently was if there was a way to make semi-random encounters via partly randomized events. No time to fiddle around with it so far, though.

So by semi-random encounters in partly random events do you mean that the events/encounters are set to a time/place/or whatever while the battle has some random variables? Because that could be interesting. Just to add some replay-ability in a linear game.

I was thinking earlier of ways to have it so that I could create some enemy battlers that had some random aspects to their sprites. Like interchangeable clothes and such. Just visual, but maybe an interesting idea. Not sure if it's possible in MV though.

 

[Jiriki9]

So by semi-random encounters in partly random events do you mean that the events/encounters are set to a time/place/or whatever while the battle has some random variables? Because that could be interesting. Just to add some replay-ability in a linear game.

I was thinking earlier of ways to have it so that I could create some enemy battlers that had some random aspects to their sprites. Like interchangeable clothes and such. Just visual, but maybe an interesting idea. Not sure if it's possible in MV though.

The first you mentioned was pretty much the idea. For example you might be in a castle and get attacked by guards but there are several encounters possible. Will you be attacked by two heavily armored Knights with blade and shield? By a large group of mid-armored pikemen? Will there be a crossbowman or two (maybe even acting via battle events shooting you every second turn)? Or has the kennelmaster unleashed the hounds?
...well, I think you get the idea. It might not only enhance replayability. It may also force a more flexible playstile. You never know what to expect!

Your idea sounds quite nice, though it's a different aspect. And I have no idea if it can be done, I must confess.

 

[hbn]

If it is balanced enough then I don't think it detracts, but on the otherhand I've played games where I've not had random encounters. Bravely Default and Bravely Second for example, when I'm done grinding I turn them off (it's nice to give you an option like that). I've also played games such as Grandia, Chrono Trigger or other action RPGs where the enemies are visible on map which gives you the option of running past them if you just CBA. Only downside to that is you might find yourself underlevelled and poor for the next part of the game. Random encounters if done poorly can disrupt flow of the gameplay.

I have moved away from random encounters and into having semi-random ones where the enemy is a visible event moving randomly on the screen which you kill and then it respawns elsewhere.