WHAT GAMEPLAY DOES ACCURACY AND EVASION PROVIDE?

author=LouisCyphre
Which is the whole point of having inaccurate actions in the player's arsenal. It's a drawback you can assign to a skill that, often, doesn't even occur. By introducing this drawback, you can add other forms of power to the action in question. It's another axis of advantage or drawback you can use to create interesting sets of options for your players. Surely more diverse forms of power can help craft compelling gameplay.

When you select a skill with say, >75% chance of hitting, you do so, assuming it'll hit. Even a skill with only 50%, you might still use with that assumption in mind. So when it doesn't hit, you feel slighted, even though it's working correctly.

On the other hand, select a skill with <25% chance? You never select that unless it's by mistake, or as a last-ditch effort. Yes, there's a chance it'll hit, but people automatically assume it won't, because the chances are so atrocious in their minds.

People are inherently risk-averse. If you want to make a game that encourages rolling dice, you have to make it worth the while. The most obvious way I can think of is to increase the rewards exponential to the risk involved. 100% acc for 1x dmg, or 50% acc for 2.5x dmg, or 25% acc for 6x dmg, etc.

Another way, is to give some kind of return even if you fail. Example being FF6 Setzer's Lagomorph when you fail his slots roll. That said, whenever I roll his slots, I do mostly assuming Lagomorph will be the result, and that's pretty much what most people will assume: the worst case possible outcome on low odds, and the best case possible outcome on high odds.

The third, and one you mentioned, is forcing taking the risk. If you don't play, you lose, because your 100% acc 1x dmg attack won't let you live long enough to get very far. I suppose it's an interesting concept. Most people prefer to be in control of their fates, so it'll push many of them out of their comfort zones.

Fourth? Give players the ability to 'rig the slots'. Press Z rapidly, and that 50% chance goes up >80%. Again, most people prefer to be in control of their fates.

Games that do the concept of acc and eva well? Honestly can't think of any. Even chance-heavy Fire Emblem uses something called true hit mechanics, where acc rates are scaled so that an 80% dodge rate is basically 100%. Nobody likes being screwed over by chance, no matter how small or insignificant, or how vast the pay-off might be.