21st September 2005, 7:35 PM
Quote:I think they should just take out battles in RPGs completely. That way there's no annoyance at all!
These are called "adventure games", GR. And they're great. :)
Quote:Ahem. Anyhow, I think we've beaten this horse enough, don't you? Let's drop this, already. I feel like OB1 never left.
Isn't it much more intresting around here with a good debate about games going on, though? I like debating about games...
Quote:Although I did spend a fair (i.e. lengthy) amount of time hunting for fiends in FFX, I never had trouble finding many of them. For one thing, the arena owner breaks it down into where fiends are. Then, all you need to do is fly from location to location, walk around a bit, and before long you're bound to find at least one of each, with a few exceptions.
This doesn't change the fact that DJ is absolutely right. Not one bit.
Quote:You see, I actually debated this with ABF some time ago, but was forced to acknowledge the reality that any problems would be player created, in the same way that running from every battle would be if it was random based.
As you say, random is a way to avoid having to think of a better way to do things...
Quote:Random battles in and of themselves have never really annoyed me (except in some rare instances), but I can say this. They lead to other random elements. For example, what I do get annoyed with is things like having to seek OUT a random encounter, because it's random. I've ranted about randomness as a "feature" in gameplay before, even though I never actually mentioned random battles, I did mention something like a rare encounter pokemon you end up spending hours to find. Sure there's the rush of success, but when you realize that success was only due to patience and nothing in means of skill, and when you realize that if you screwed up, there was no telling when you would get another chance, that feeling is all too fleeting, giving way to the thought of "bad game design".
Yes.
Quote:In general, I will say that every single instance of a random element such as that would be far more fun if it was instead a designed puzzle. For example, instead of a rare random encounter, hide the creature in some part of the field that takes a long series of events to get to. There could easily be challenge in doing this, but the knowledge that your success will PROMISE you a prize, as opposed to a more "eh, maaayyybe" gameplay mechanic, is something a lot better. I always prefer my skill to earn me my prize than just luck.
"Hmm, wouldn't it be a good idea to have some special desert maps in Fire Emblem (& FE: The Sacred Stones) which have hidden treasures in them?" "Good idea... hmm... let's see. How about we have hidden squares on this level, and within each area you can find one of the treasures if you go to that square?" "Hmm... nah. Too easy." "Okay, I got it then! How about we make it zones, like 3x3 or 2x4 or whatever regions of tiles, and there's a random chance (higher for thieves, lower for others, probably) in each square on each turn of finding the treasure?" "Ooh... that's a good one! Makes it more ... fun ... for the player ... yeah... :evil:"
"How about the clue, then?" "I know... let's have someone in a village say generally 'This map has hidden treasures that are very valuable', and that's it!" "Great one! :evilcube:"
So annoying...