I'm more annoyed by the fact that my characters will often run back into formation when combat starts, which can sometimes make things awkward. This notably occurs when I'm trying to backstab an opponent - my stealthed rogue will attack the enemy, combat will start, and then the majority of the time he'll automatically race across the map to rejoin the rest of my party two screens away.
Not really a big deal, but definitely odd. I don't see why your characters can't remain in their current positions when combat is triggered, to make the pre-battle set-up a bit more meaningful.
