Random encounter cooldown

I agree having a cooldown... for now. I'd like to see Random Encounters as an elementary part of the gaming experience... in my dreams in the final version of SotA, we complain because we don't get enough random encounters and they're as meaningful, diverse and interesting as the ones in Fallout 1 (i'll never forget the feeling when i found the Elvis picture)

That is soooo cooool. I think Random encounters have an enormous potential, and they're just pushed over because other major elements of the game needs work, and linking them to skills could be a good idea. Not only this Outdoorsman (which i prefer to call Survival or Exploring) skill with the uses you suggested (and maybe more!) but also to other skills, and objects, and so on. We should be able to interact with the world from the overland map, and the best way is through some particular "not so random encounters"

For example, currently all random encounters happen in the same scene which has some of everything... that's dull (but also the only reason which i stay in them). I think it could be nice to have an even high tier innate in each gathering skill which increases the chance of getting pulled into a random encounter which is only a zone which resource nodes related to that skill. Of course chance should be linked with the kind of terrain (mining nodes will be more likely if you're walking over hills or mountains, wood in forest, cotton in plains, an each kind of hunt in their biome.

Other thing that may be related to "Random encounters" are treasure maps! once implemented, having a treasure map may pull you into some encounters if you find the specific spot in the overland map to find the clue that will tell you where to look next. Made them lootable in PVP and it could be awesome.

Hey, he's not random! he has a name! he is... hm... i think it starts with S... or it was a C? Anyway his surname was... well he has a horse!

 

I don't think that's ever going to be universally true. Sometimes you just want to get back to the shop and go to bed. Sometimes, after zoning has been taken out, you'll want to attend a player event at a set time and place.

I tried talking to the horse but it declined to comment when I asked it its name.

 

Double high five on Bubonic's reference to Wasteland 2 as that feature is fantastic. Not sure there is a skill in the mix that would match up as well as Outdoorsman, but that is an excellent way to handle overland map encounters.

 

I agree with much of what has been said. Some kind of outdoor (survival) skill to avoid encounters (or find them) would be nice.

Honestly, I don't see a switch as a bad idea. First, the dialog says, "Something along the road has caught your attention." News flash, when it's 2am and my inventory is full a herd of cows does not in fact, catch my attention. It annoys me. Being attacked by intelligent MoBs (elves?) is one thing. Stopping for sheep is another.

My final peeve on the subject is scaling. Shrews don't attack lions. Ah, but the argument goes, how does the MoB know what level you are? Well, the north american badger has not evolved to know what tigers are, but they won't attack one. (And if you want to get specific, random animals almost never attack trained active military personnel. I doubt they recognize a machine gun, but whether it's the walk, or smell or whatever, there are some things you just don't pick fights with.) So, no I don't think it's off base to turn a switch off that keeps level 50 characters in full plate from being attacked by the lowest level of wolves that can't even hit.

So, +1 for cooldown
+1 for skill avoidance/finding
+1 for switch
and +1 for scaling.

 

if you have the skill to avoid a scene and you choose to enter it anyway, you should spawn at an edge so you can investigate, not in the middle of the action.