Dont like em. Prefer monsters appearing near you and having the option to engage them or not. Hate having to waste time on battles with weak enemies with low rewards or going through battles when you just want to run quickly through a level. Games like pokemon do it well however with repel.

Playing the xenosaga games for PlayStation 2 made me realize that you definitely didn't need Random Encounters in an RPG.

I found them a nuisance, I always love finding the ring or items that let you avoid confrontation by choice

I think random encounters can work really well, Pokemon is probably the best example, as they only occur in the grass yet can be avoided. In Pokemon the 'random' element is a big part of what makes it exciting when a new Pokemon crops up, as you don't know what you'll get.

I like options in games ,If I can play it that way is a plus.

I don't mind random encounters at all.

I like random encounters for one reason: if you have them you can have a bigger game. Showing all monsters at all times can be devastating to the memory on a disc, so if you hid them and created a battlefield and some random encounters, it doesn't have to have all of them loaded at once and can keep the game running smoothly and costing less disc space.

I mean, it's not like they're perfect, they do come with some setbacks, but if I got a game that had random encounters, but by doing so made it an even larger game, I'd probably enjoy it quite a bit as well.