Guards appearing at a location (hostile toward you) and never leaving.

[Hormalakh]

In BG2 and possibly some other games, whenever you robbed someone or killed someone, guards would appear out of nowhere, become hostile against you, and if you ran away (maybe to the next map or something) would stay there until the end of the game. Whenever you returned to that area, they would never leave and sometimes that locked out whole areas for you, just because you stabbed a measly pickpocket or stole some coins from a merchant.

 

Can we safely assume that this will not be the case? Guards will disappear after a day or two? Please?

[Kane_Severance]

I don't mind having guards in an area being permanently hostile to you until you do something to make amends such as pay a fine or serve a sentence. If your crime is henious like murder, I don't have a problem with your sentence being death.

 

I do mind endless respawning omniscient omnipresent guardsmen. If there are 20 guardsmen in a town with 10 awake and patrolling at any given time, attacks should taper off after I kill 7 or 8 then stop completely once I kill the rest. Maybe after some time they respawn, or after a few days the local lord sends some of his army into town to keep the peace, but there should not be an endless supply of faceless watchmen.

Edited October 23, 2012 by Kane_Severance

[Grand Heresiarch]

I agree that this implementation is not exactly great, but I like the idea of your choice to stray beyond the constrainsts of law having meaningful and lasting consequences (if you get caught). In larger citites, this sort of notoriety should be somewhat dilluted as it is easier to be another face in crowd, but in small villages etc chosing to rob or engage in vigilantism should have a lasting impact in that community, and effectively bar you from that community.

 

Certainly, getting caught robbing a merchant should make that merchant perpetually hostile to your party. Similarly, guards in a neighborhood where you engaged in your lawbreaking should have a longer memory than just a couple days. Otherwise it simply wouldnt make sense. I agree that they shouldnt simply stay congregated there ready to kill, but I also think that there should be some aspect of you having to tread lightly upon returing to the scene of your crimes. I think the most effective implementation would be for the player to have to avoid their former victims and steer clear of walking directly past guards (unless sneaking or invisible). Obviously the most effective path for any thief should be to avoid getting caught in the first place.

[Hormalakh]

I guess my issue has to do with merchants being hostile, meaning that they attack me and then die. And then I also have to deal with guards. Or if a pickpocket robs me, and then runs away. I should be able to kill him (if I catch him) without insane repercussions (50 guards attacking me? Where were they when the pickpocket was having his way with my gold?)

 

I don't think that everytime I do something the NPCs don't like, they should attack me. If I have an argument with them, fine ignore me. But a merchant should know better than to duke it out with a party of adventurers. This happened quite afew times in BG2.

 

I'd go in and kill the Harpers in their hideout, then the beggar on the side of the street would always be hostile toward me. Really?

Edited October 23, 2012 by Hormalakh

[Kane_Severance]

Yeah, it is annoying how the hostility mechanics sometimes work. This problem exists in modern games too. At least in New Vegas the random NPCs sometimes just ran away frightened instead of going all commando on you. Still, if they ignore you killing someone right in front of them, it'd be a bit odd.

[HansKrSG]

I agree to the OPs post, but in addition I want that when your crime was vitnessed and your face was seen, after a while there will be guards and others trying to catch you because of your crime. Just being able to outrun the police in real life, often don't help in the long run. Of course, I guess that depends on the size of the city and the nature of the crime. Stealing an apple wont get you on wanted posters in a huge metropolis, but stealing a horse in a village would probably get people going after you to give you good lynching. "Wanted: dead or alive, preferably alive, so we can hang 'im"

[Hormalakh]

Yeah, I don't mind if law and order is implemented correctly and somewhat realistically. I just think it should have some sort of internal logic.