They are a tool - nothing more. And you know what they say about problems when all you have is a hammer...
There are times when having no contest is absolutely appropriate, even if "the hero could lose his life" - Cutting your way through the villain's mooks, or crossing the desert on your way to the place where things *really* happen. Some GMs (I've played with them!) would make you roll every sword stroke or footstep (I literally had a GM brag to me that he made the entire party roll Dex every foot of the distance as they crossed a high ledge - Agh!)
Simple contests are good for everal things: Not-That-Important contests, just to see how well (orl ill) you performed a task, or for things that can't really be "ebb and flow" - a single arrow shot, frex.
Extended contests are good when it is an important event, when you can see the action - in a courtroom or boudoir as much as on the battlefield. Most often we use Action movies or TV shows to describe HQ, but Courtroom dramas, Soaps, Medical Dramas, even, the Reality shows can be just as riveting (not that I watch reality shows or soaps - but they are useful for interactions between people!).
One thing I do when I watch shows is think "How would I do this in a game?" (Another part of my mind is saying "Where can I use this in a game?", another is saying "Wow! look at that! Cool!" and yet another is saying "You should be in bed/working/finishing that other project, you jerk!")
Knowing *when* to use a tool is just as important as being good at using it.
RR
It is by my order and for the good of the state that the bearer of this has
done what he has done.
- Richelieu
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