Solasta's weakness is using the same few maps for random encounters over and over again. Maps like that should be very generic without notable buildings or landmarks so the repetition isn't as noticeable.
BG3 has much larger areas though. I'd like BG3 to have a system that would (re-)populate the existing map with monsters and encounters. After clearing the Blighted Village new goblins should come from the Goblin Fort eventually to investigate. Wolves and other beasts should smell blood where a battle took place and come for dinner. You should always be on your toes in the Underdark, never knowing when a drow or duergar patrol or a hook horror shows up. It's things like this that make the world feel real and alive i.e. immersive. BG3's world is static, scripted and lifeless. The missing day/night cycle is already very bad and the lifeless maps are the final blow.
The free magical teleportation from anywhere system would make random encounters largely pointless in BG3 of course. I would also like that system to be redesigned into one where the party actually travels from A to B by foot, just much faster. Solasta beats BG3 here as well with their fast travel system that moves the party on a map with the possibility of being interrupted by hostiles. I really dislike BG3's fast travel system both thematically and mechanically. Portals like that only the player can use don't make sense in Faerûn or any credible RPG setting, and mechanically they are just so convenient that they destroy any feeling of epic adventure, travel or distance. It's a gamey gimmick made real in Forgotten Realms and it sucks.
If done right, random encounters would be a great system to discourage Long Rest spam in BG3. There could be some amount of guaranteed safety if you rest sparingly, but once you start spamming rests the enemies should also become more and more likely to find you. There really needs to be an incentive to play well and manage your resources efficiently rather than just smashing the Long Rest button whenever you've spent a spell slot. A good (not frustrating) random encounter system would go a long way to fix that.
It would also give scouting, fleeing or otherwise avoiding combat a real purpose. If you don't have to go through them or kill them, you could avoid a random encounter and save your strength. Would give Rogues and Rangers a purpose. Perhaps talk your way out of it.
Last edited by 1varangian; 18/01/22 07:14 PM.
