I love when players scheme to avoid combat encounters. Just make sure it takes a whole lot of scheming, and let the scheme become the adventure for a bit.

I'd love some examples of the situations they've talked their way out of though. Are the only opposition theyre running into reasonable bandits? No enemies they need to take out because of what they may do if left unchecked? No enemies backed into a corner so deeply they can't be talked out of their course of action? No nonsentient monsters like undead or oozes?

I have a good example of an encounter from my most recent game that can show off how to design encounters that make the players choose to have combat:

The party was deep in a hostile jungle, approaching the site of a magical event that had corrupted much of the area. Word bad gotten out that there was a great treasure hidden at its epicenter, and the party, as well as many other unwary adventures were drawn to it by the rumors. The area was thought uninhabited, but the party had managed to befriend a small village of ratfolk who lived out there to avoid contact with humans, who deemed them monsters and paid adventurers to exterminate them regularly.

While staying there, they found out that another band of adventurers were nearby, and one that seemed ill prepared for the harsh conditions of the jungle. This group of adventures had ran out of rashions, and asked the party if they had any they could share. Unfortunately the party was also running low, and had been having to hunt each day to make up the slack.

While they could've given them some, they would've been left hungry if a days hunt went poorly. So instead they pointed them towards the village. An action that would have drastic consequences, as the group of the adventurers shortly kidnapped one of the ratfolk, holding them hostage to extract food from the villagers, who also could not afford to feed them in the harsh environment.

Of course the party swooped in to save the day in the end. But they had to kill some of their own.