Encounter Control

[Chaos Avian]

For those using a random battle encounter game or those who play them, how would you feel about freely controlling the encounter rate? Like turning it on and off whenever you feel it necessary. I got this idea because it was the same thing you could do in Bravely Default.

How do you guys feel this could change your experience in RPGs?

 

[Kes]

It's an option I'm giving players in my present project.  Obviously, therefore, I'm comfortable with it.

EDIT

Not quite "on and off" but the option to significantly change the encounter rate.  At any time.

 

[amerk]

I thought about it myself, but probably won't for my current game, since I'm already allowing "save anywhere" features and am using a script that has a minimum number of steps before calculating for the next random encounter.

Although once I'm closer to finishing my game, I may still decide to do just that. Heck, I could even offer it as a sort of super side quest item.

The problem you'll have is that such a thing is more for the grinder. Those who sit around and level up enough early on can afford to skip random encounters later on. But those who don't build up their levels and fly through the game may find themselves in a world of hurt if they also turn off the encounters and fight hardly anything at all. Not that it's anything you should do to fix it, but players need to be aware... if they're choosing not to level up by any means, they're going to lose.

 

[Uzuki]

I thought about it myself, but probably won't for my current game, since I'm already allowing "save anywhere" features and am using a script that has a minimum number of steps before calculating for the next random encounter.

Although once I'm closer to finishing my game, I may still decide to do just that. Heck, I could even offer it as a sort of super side quest item.

The problem you'll have is that such a thing is more for the grinder. Those who sit around and level up enough early on can afford to skip random encounters later on. But those who don't build up their levels and fly through the game may find themselves in a world of hurt if they also turn off the encounters and fight hardly anything at all. Not that it's anything you should do to fix it, but players need to be aware... if they're choosing not to level up by any means, they're going to lose.

Well if they're choosing to go a large portion of a RPG without leveling up, isn't that their problem? That's one of the main staples of an RPG: Level up and good things happen.

Anywho, I've added a disable and enable encounter option in my game. Plus I've added "Grinding Spots" so when the player class changes, then they can beef up a character if they feel under leveled. I think it worked best in Bravely Default. If you just wanted to focus on the story or wanted to speed through a dungeon.

 

[Chaos Avian]

One of the benefits I see of it is let's say your trudging through a dungeon levelling up, but you're battered up and not fit for the boss you can turn off encounters, run back to town and heal, run back to the boss to fight it at full strength. Then turn it back on.

 

[whitesphere]

The way I'm doing it, once you reach certain key points, your party can teleport to key locations, pretty much at will (i.e. not in a battle).  For example, one of the party members is an incarnation of the element of fire.  When on her plane, when she reaches her full potential (i.e. the party finds a MacGuffin)  she can teleport to certain locations basically at will with no MP cost.  

Also, a simple way in-game to do it is how Dragon Quest does it.  There is an item called Magic (or Holy) Water that keeps away weaker monsters.  

Personally, I like having the ability to bypass random encounters, once your party is strong enough.  But, I think it's important that the party grinds enough to become strong enough to progress through the game.  

 

[Zakreyus]

@Chaos Avian

With no risk, there is no danger.

Danger is the flavour of these games. Allowing saves anywhere, and giving the option to SKIP DANGER - to me at least - takes the fun out of it. If I could go into a dungeon and just fight the boss, that's probably all I would do. Turn off the encounters, go after chests, etc etc. Giving the player the power to turn encounters on or off is giving the player too much power.

Hey yeah, maybe its a nice option for your game, but you have to consider that the player now has the option to abuse it to get all of a dungeons treasure, then turn encounters back on to get the experience. Whether he does or not is a matter of balance - if the option is there, you have to assume the player will take advantage of it.

If you were to use that method ( and I'm talking about the on/off switch not the DQ holy water) you would have to do something like set event monster guards to all of the chests. The way I do it, is set all of the monsters as roaming events, that are avoidable.

 

[whitesphere]

@Chaos Avian

There are other ways to grant that type of in-game mercy without also allowing for too much abuse:

1. Some bosses are honorable, such as Rubicante from FFIV.  He would always completely heal the party, then say "Face me at your full strength."

2. You could have healing springs/wells/safe spots where your party could heal up before a major battle.  In FFIV, that was one of the indirect indicators that a boss was near.  This works well with the tent mechanic --- the ability to heal away from a town, at least in safe places.

3. If it makes sense in your plot, perhaps a brief cutscene that implies a lot of time passed --- after which, the party is healed.

You could also use a Phoenix style mechanic --- allowing one player in battle to die, to fully revive everyone else.

Of course, the "turn off encounters" mechanic might be a nice little boost in a New Game Plus (i.e. player wins the game and can replay).

 

[Engr. Adiktuzmiko]

Personally, I find it illogical to be able to do that... But all those aside, since it's a choice I guess it's fine... Now let's all hope your players do know that they take responsibility for whatever choice they make.

 

[Probotector 200X]

Being able to adjust the encounter rate seems nice, especially if it's just from the menu, but it's...strange, very very strange. Talk about a massive disconnect of gameplay. If you can create a good way to have it "make sense", then that could be cool, but, eh.

But, it does defeat part of the purpose of the game.

"Random battles are annoying. "

-Boss fights can be annoying too! Why can't you skip those too!?

-Walking around the map is annoying, teleport anywhere from the menu!

-Going through towns is annoying, how about a menu that has each shop or inn?

-Oh, so there's hidden items in the town? Eh, just have a menu that lets you select each item and receive it, after all, exploring looking for items is annoying too, right?

-Shops are annoying too. You have to pick items and compare them to what you have. Also, they cost money. Why aren't they all free?

-Story is annoying, cutscene skip isn't good enough, I just wanna see the ending NOW.

Some exaggerations of course, but my point is that it's "dangerous" to start taking core elements of a game and letting the player do whatever they want with them. Using these creatively? That would be awesome.

-Maybe you have a character with overpowered attacks that come at a great cost (think Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter, or heck, even Spawn!) so you can bypass some bosses, but it's very costly, as in costs something you can't recover.

-Teleporting is fine, it cheapens the exploration a little, but eh. Just try to make it seem impressive, not just some random ability you learn for no reason.

-Having a tour guide in each town or something that quickly takes you to each building of interest? Why not!

-Maybe you can pay someone, like at a thieves guild or something, to scour a city and bring you back anything of interest without you having to search for it.

-Want to shop for free or something? Maybe you can buy a store, and just take whatever you want after that.

-Going with the uber-boss slayer skills, what about a character that can bend time and reality to instantly clear the story? I don't know.

And finally, for avoiding battles...maybe a monster charmer or beast tamer has skills that alter the encounter rate. There's items too of course.

I just don't like how features are just flavorless menu options, and people seem to want that. It's like the menu having a few leftover debug features.

 

[Kyutaru]

Final Fantasy has had this feature for god knows how long.  Half Encounter and No Encounter abilities are pretty common in RPGs already, with some having items that can temporarily disable encounters.  If you level up Diabolos in Final Fantasy 8, you can go the rest of the game with no encounters at all.