[Request] Enhancement -Less Extreme Pickpocket/Guard responses
HeroicSpur
Member Posts: 907
I was originally going to give this one the 'multiplayer' tag as well, but it applies equally to single player, and I think it was generally well received over on the reddit.
The game (and multiplayer) is generally less enjoyable when it is very stop/start. This can discourage players from undertaking certain actions. Specifically thieves may be put-off stealing/pickpocketing. I submit that an option (perhaps tied to difficulty) may be useful here. In particular a failed pick-pocket should not turn the target immediately hostile, instead the character should get a warning when caught once, and then turn hostile if they spot a pick-pocket again. Similarly a feature could perhaps be applied to the way guards work (If you try that again I'm calling the guards!). Otherwise we have the situation where a player with a thief constantly turns NPCs hostile/gets the guards summoned, causing substantial annoyance for the player(s), often necessitating a reload.
That's not to mention the realism factor, that an unarmed peasant will attack (and try to kill) a fully armed paladin just because he's had a look in some drawers. It's also equally extreme to imagine pickpockets getting murdered for their efforts trying to take 3gp.
The game (and multiplayer) is generally less enjoyable when it is very stop/start. This can discourage players from undertaking certain actions. Specifically thieves may be put-off stealing/pickpocketing. I submit that an option (perhaps tied to difficulty) may be useful here. In particular a failed pick-pocket should not turn the target immediately hostile, instead the character should get a warning when caught once, and then turn hostile if they spot a pick-pocket again. Similarly a feature could perhaps be applied to the way guards work (If you try that again I'm calling the guards!). Otherwise we have the situation where a player with a thief constantly turns NPCs hostile/gets the guards summoned, causing substantial annoyance for the player(s), often necessitating a reload.
That's not to mention the realism factor, that an unarmed peasant will attack (and try to kill) a fully armed paladin just because he's had a look in some drawers. It's also equally extreme to imagine pickpockets getting murdered for their efforts trying to take 3gp.
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Comments
No, really, I use the Rogue Rebalancing mod that reworks all pickpocketing fails into a system where you get 1 permitted fail + 1 for high CHA, INT, and/or WIS, though the more you fail, the higher an attribute you have to have to avoid the consequence. I think the third fail usually is the last. And then the punishment is a -2 drop to Rep. It's not the best system, but it's better than making marks go ballistic and running about town turning others ballistic as if you'd just revealed you were a xvart needing to be put down or a tanari to flee from. The worst part of RR is that it gives the mark a new dialogue of "I'm not talking to you anymore!" So if you've failed a pickpocket on a merchant, their store is no longer available; if you failed on Drizzt you can't get any of the other dialogue; etc.
As for the failed thievery, it still doesn't make sense for the go-hostile response to happen, but nevertheless I can see the guard(s) coming in after the 3-5 sec or so when you're noticed, even if it seems to imply guards are like everywhere in, say, Beregost whereas they're nowhere on the street. With steal at least you can avoid the problems by being clever, having someone else talk to the townfolk when they wander out of view so that they stay out of view during the theft, stealthing in time, running upstairs, running outside, having another party member by the door so that both will leave simultaneously- lots of exploits for that. Maybe a lot more tricky on multiplayer, but still doable.
More seriously I agree this needs tweaking and I like the way RR handles it.