Why are random encounters STILL used?

[Peter_20]

I've played lots and lots of RPG's in my life, and I can honestly tell you I'm positively fed up with the random encounters; they really get on my nerves.
Sometimes I've even stopped playing an RPG solely because of the excessive random encounters.

I've only played one single RPG with a perfect battle system: Secret of Mana for the SNES.
In this game you wander around and fight enemies, Zelda-style, the only difference being you get EXP points and whatnot for defeating the enemies.
You can walk past them, you always see them, you can whack them for a while and then run away, and there aren't even any screen changes.
I ended up fighting much MORE in this game just because it was always optional.
It is indeed like a Zelda game.

This is a perfect battle system, and I fail to see why it isn't used in other RPG:s as well.
Nobody likes random encounters (at least nobody I know of) and still they exist.

[Mirage]

Didn't you make the exact same thread a couple of months ago? <,<

I prefer my encounters to not be random, but I can live with them being random too.

[NeoCracker]

Then stop playing Random Encounter games. As long as the rate isn't rediculous, I don't really mind so long as gameplay is fun.

Also, there is more of a difference in Secret of Mana and Zelda then you are making it sound like.

[Mirage]

Yeah, Zelda sucks while Secret of Mana doesn't. ;)

[Bunny]

Hello Peter_20,

My name is Saint Augustine Philip Bartholemew Derigog IV and I would like to state, purely for the record, that I am a fan of the Random Encounter Battle System (REBS) and have been such since the dawn of Time itself. I, as a fan of REBS, do not appreciate your bashings of my beloved battle system. Including in this note are a list of demands that you may or may not wish to take into consideration:

1. I demand that you take my demands into consideration. Regardless of outcome, it would be rather swell of you if you would at least seriously consider them.

2. I demand that you create a thread or make a public apology for your insults towards REBS.

3. I demand Sprite? I could go for some Sprite. I'm really thirsty right now. Totally up to you though, I mean, I don't wanna take your Sprite away from you. Just, you know, if you could spare one it'd be nice. Boy am I parched.

4. I demand that you change your location to read as follows: "Random Battle!" or some such similiar reading.

If these demands are not met, well, that's cool. Long as you considered them.

Sincerely and with much ado about nothing,
Saint Augustine Philip Bartholemew Derigog IV
AKA Bunny

[Yuriev's ghost]

I could care less as to what kind of encounter system games use. Most of them time when a game doesn't use random encounters, it will do something equally stupid like have one enemy on the screen to represent about 4 when you walk up to it. If a game is going to abuse visual representations anyway, being able to see enemies on the screen seems pretty insignificant.

[Grendal]

For me, there's a time and a place for random encounters. Sometimes, I feel like picking up on a game like classic Final Fantasy where random encounters are abundant. Other times, if I get impatient with that, then I may pick up on a game like Zelda where enemies just roam around the screen.

It can get pretty tedious, but I try not to play those type of games non-stop. It just depends on my mood, and what sort of action I'm wanting out of a game.

[JKTrix]

I'm not a big fan of random battles either, particularly tedious ones in games where battle isn't particularly exciting.

The Pokemon handheld RPGs strike a good balance though. If you don't want to fight random battles, don't walk in the grass. 'Course there are some areas where you have to walk through grass or a cave, or a particular trainer that blocks your way and you have to fight them, but in general you can walk for long stretches without worrying about a random battle.

[Peter_20]

Yeah, and concerning the "Random Battles = challenge!", why not adapt the challenge to the optional battles instead?
I mean, kinda like adapting the enemies' HP to fast action RPG:s?

This can be done by making the enemies themselves harder.
And by the way, Bunny, I'm not bashing you or other REB-lovers, but I'm sorry, I have a strong dislike for random encounters; and sure, they can keep existing, but at least we should be able to choose what type of battle system we want to use.

The game developers want to entertain us; therefore I think we, as consumers, should be able to adjust the battles themselves to suit our tastes, making the games more entertaining.

Even I can be fine with REB:s sometimes, but they do tend to drag on forever in some games, e.g. Final Fantasy 9.

[Roto13]

Yeah, Zelda sucks while Secret of Mana doesn't. ;)
You suck more than either of them. :P

[ljkkjlcm9]

Yeah, and concerning the "Random Battles = challenge!", why not adapt the challenge to the optional battles instead?
I mean, kinda like adapting the enemies' HP to fast action RPG:s?

This can be done by making the enemies themselves harder.
And by the way, Bunny, I'm not bashing you or other REB-lovers, but I'm sorry, I have a strong dislike for random encounters; and sure, they can keep existing, but at least we should be able to choose what type of battle system we want to use.

The game developers want to entertain us; therefore I think we, as consumers, should be able to adjust the battles themselves to suit our tastes, making the games more entertaining.

Even I can be fine with REB:s sometimes, but they do tend to drag on forever in some games, e.g. Final Fantasy 9.
It seems to me with REBS games, more so now, that there are ways to get into less fights later on. Me? I prefer it in an RPG. It makes leveling a lot easier. I use to hate games where I'd go through and kill every enemy then have to leave to get them to come back. Of course, it's also advantageous if you want to explore. I mean I do love Tales of Symphonia, but even that hard random encounters on the World Map. That was a good mix of both I must say.

THE JACKEL

[Madame Adequate]

I don't mind random encounters. Sometimes it works just fine, that particular style of game which has them, it's an integral part of the system. I wouldn't want Star Ocean 2 to be any other way. Same goes for FFVII, for example.

Edit: Much better answer to your question: 'Cause they're cool!

[NINJA_Ryu]

Yeah, Zelda sucks while Secret of Mana doesn't. ;)
You suck more than either of them. :P

How can you be hatin on two of the greatest RPGs ever??

*end joke*

[Bunny]

Yeah, and concerning the "Random Battles = challenge!", why not adapt the challenge to the optional battles instead?
I mean, kinda like adapting the enemies' HP to fast action RPG:s?

This can be done by making the enemies themselves harder.
And by the way, Bunny, I'm not bashing you or other REB-lovers, but I'm sorry, I have a strong dislike for random encounters; and sure, they can keep existing, but at least we should be able to choose what type of battle system we want to use.

The game developers want to entertain us; therefore I think we, as consumers, should be able to adjust the battles themselves to suit our tastes, making the games more entertaining.

Even I can be fine with REB:s sometimes, but they do tend to drag on forever in some games, e.g. Final Fantasy 9.

REBS is a perfectly good system though. The problem usually lies in the encounter rate which is set. Too much of a good thing and all.

...Peter_20... >_>

[Markus. D]

its a nice system if done right.

[Dreddz]

Random encounters help gameplay in the sense that it prevents you from endless wandering. The problem with not having random encounters is that once you clear an area, your left with nothing to fight for several minutes . Sure, its tedious to be constantly stopped in your tracks, but just as tedious to stand there doing nothing. Developers have to come to the decision on which system would come to better use in their game.

And its complete crap to say random encounters are boring, most of the best and most successful RPG's use this system. Which goes to show that if done right, it works out fine.

And the perfect battle system is Grandia's.

[Old Manus]

omgz cant u train hard enouhg to get no encounters noob

[oddler]

My word! Can you not expose yourself to enough training to minimize encounters, noob?

[aquatius]

I heart my random battles ;-;. DON'T STEAL MY BABIES!!!

[Fatal Impurity]

Personally i like the system it makes leveling up ALOT easier plus if some of these REBS games have a option to turn encounters off if you dont want them...(such as FF8 and Diablo's Enc-none) so whats the problem buddy?

[edczxcvbnm]

Random Battles suck one huge cock!

[Dr Aum]

I prefer systems in which enemies are visible on the map, as in random encounter games I always just end up grinding while near an inn and then running from all the enemies I encounter while navigating a dungeon.

[Moon Rabbits]

Yeah, Zelda sucks while Secret of Mana doesn't. ;)

<33~

[Venom]

I didnt realize random encounters were such a problem these days. O_o

[Nominus Experse]

Random Battles suck one huge cock!
http://img169.imageshack.us/img169/9654/untitled1uk5.jpg

[ShunNakamura]

I like Random battles as long as they aren't excessive. Most games I don't feel have too much. However, if you can't even take 4 steps without getting into a fight than that is rediculous. With that sort of encounter rate you could probably clear out the entire population of China before making it to the end of a dungeon :P.

[black orb]

>>> Programmers are just lazy..

[Zeromus_X]

I guess you'll miss out on alot of RPGs then.

Anyway, to give the answer I gave in your other thread, I don't really care one way or another whether an RPG uses random encounters or not. RPGs started off with random encounters, so it makes sense that yeah, some RPGs may shockingly still use this system.

[Eiko Guy]

Random encounters help gameplay in the sense that it prevents you from endless wandering. The problem with not having random encounters is that once you clear an area, your left with nothing to fight for several minutes . Sure, its tedious to be constantly stopped in your tracks, but just as tedious to stand there doing nothing. Developers have to come to the decision on which system would come to better use in their game.

And its complete crap to say random encounters are boring, most of the best and most successful RPG's use this system. Which goes to show that if done right, it works out fine.

And the perfect battle system is Grandia's.
QF(undeniable) truth heheh i love those games.

[Ashley Schovitz]

I'm not a big fan of random battles either, particularly tedious ones in games where battle isn't particularly exciting.

The Pokemon handheld RPGs strike a good balance though. If you don't want to fight random battles, don't walk in the grass. 'Course there are some areas where you have to walk through grass or a cave, or a particular trainer that blocks your way and you have to fight them, but in general you can walk for long stretches without worrying about a random battle.

You can also by repel to ward off enemy encounters, why don't many games have that, that would be useful if you have a critical-state party, back to topic though. I'm okay with random encounters just as not if they're too frequent. FFIV had that problem would one call Crono Trigeer's random encounter too?

[Skyblade]

I'm not a big fan of random battles either, particularly tedious ones in games where battle isn't particularly exciting.

The Pokemon handheld RPGs strike a good balance though. If you don't want to fight random battles, don't walk in the grass. 'Course there are some areas where you have to walk through grass or a cave, or a particular trainer that blocks your way and you have to fight them, but in general you can walk for long stretches without worrying about a random battle.

You can also by repel to ward off enemy encounters, why don't many games have that, that would be useful if you have a critical-state party, back to topic though. I'm okay with random encounters just as not if they're too frequent. FFIV had that problem would one call Crono Trigeer's random encounter too?

No, Chrono Trigger had set battles. The occasional rare powerful enemy, yes, but the battles were set once you entered an area.

I've liked most of the battle styles I've played. Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger, or random encounters. Different games, different styles, all fun. I probably like random battles the most though. Makes grinding easier.

[Cruise Control]

I don't mind random encounters, but they tend to get mind-numbingly boring. In a lot of RPGs, I got fed up and held A. Regardless of wether it was a mage or not, just to get through the battle. I think an idea would be changing the style. Instead of making random battles cannon fodder to power you up to kill a boss, why not make random battles challenging. Make each random encounter require a strategy, so its more in depth.

My other peeve with them is when the majority of the game is spent fighting random battles. An example: FF4. In Scott's FF4 challenge, you don't fight any random battles. When you don't fight a single one, FF4's length is cut to about 5.5-6 hours. As opposed to a 10-20 hour game. Random battles should not be a means to increase your games longevity.

[MJN SEIFER]

Because there cool?

[Remedy]

I'm ok with Random Encounter Battle System !
as long as the game play is GR8.

[MJN SEIFER]

Well said.

[sockmonkey]

I don't mind them as long as they aren't excessive. Breath Of Fire overdid it so much it killed the rythmn of the game.
CT was nice in that once you cleared an area you could look around freely.
What I think would be a good change is for your level to affect your encounters. Say that as you advance lower-level enemies start avoiding you. The higher you go the stronger the level of the foes that avoid you. This would be nice because we wouldn't have to bother stopping to fight enemies whose XP and GP are no longer significant enough to be worth fighting when we need to pass through low-level areas from the beginning of the game on our way to somewhere else.
This already exists in some form in various games in that lower enemies will try and run from battle with you when you're at a high level.
If done in moderation it could improve gameplay.