How long has it been since there has been a game that has made it fun to be a thief again? Are there so few of us that get our kicks from trespassing, eavesdropping and back-stabbing that game features for thieves always seem to take a back seat to mages and warriors? Other then picking locks. Seems to be the only work for a thief recently is as a wholesale locksmith. Does anyone remember the Thief series? Putting out torches and candles, hiding bodies, being able to knock-out unsuspecting guards so as not to leave a tell-tale bloody-mess? Guard A.I. that would be alerted by finding said bloody-mess? In Oblivion, what with the interior cells loading only upon entering a house, you would pick a lock, not at all knowing if people are even in there, or asleep, or standing there staring at you as you enter! For many character-types, this isn't a problem, but it sure is for a thief! This is just an appeal, to all forum members, to consider how you would tackle ANY situation in game from all thee primary arch-types; fighter, magic-user, and thief. Not just the one you enjoy playing.

Completely agree - if Skyrim could resemble the game "Theif" it would truely standout above the rest. Lock picking, staying in the shadows, removing said bodies from rooms, attempting no to kill everyone only your desired target - or even no killing at all just looting.

Hmm, I don't know, I thought Oblivions handling of thieves wasn't too bad, but there is always room for improvement.

I would love to see hiding bodies, smarter NPC AI in regards to crime, and perhaps knocking people out, all make an appearance in Skyrim.

For picking locks on closed doors, what sort of system would you like to see in place to know if there are people inside, if they're sleeping, etc? I mean, a closed door is a closed door, maybe if windows allowed you to peak in, but then what if they all have curtains? Maybe a skill that allows you to put your ear to the door and listen for sounds? Guards should probably be more suspicious and react accordingly when they see someone putting their ear to a door, or even just hanging out by a private residence. They should keep their eye on you or something and your reputation and fame should play a role in their decisions as well.

Overall, I'd most love to see big AI improvements in Skyrim, but the other feature suggestions are also good and feel like they'd fit in TES universe just fine.

It's always a good thing to have good stealth. The problem is that a game so huge as Skyrim can't focus in one single aspect, while a game like "Thief" can, because it is supposed to be about that.

Anyway, I would expect at least a more than decent stealth (for what we have heard, ir is improved).

So the thing with the house and interior cells well I have this idea, right.

Now, I don't make video games, so I wouldn't know all the technical ins and outs, but it seems to me, that since you would be loading the interior of one building at a time, even allowing a normal load to do so, you then have a building, with windows, doors, and contents that is "realtime" with the player. There is a load in all previous games as it dumps the city and loads the much smaller interior. This would just load the single extra interior into the existing loaded city. And, as the player walks away from the single loaded interior, I don't know if a load would be required to "dump" those assets. But if the interior can be dumped on the fly, as you walk away from the building, the windows just "re-opaque" at a certain distance.

And, of course, they can't simply have every interior load as you near it; running along the street storefronts would load interior after interior, which would be a lot different then loading "one" interior.

BUT, if the player is initiating entering a building, load that one building to the existing surroundings, meaning after the load, the player is standing outside the unopened door of a now live interior; the door could be opened as any interior door normally opens, and windows could potentially be spied through, or even entered!

The other great thing this system would accomplish is if you are in a house, you can see out!

The only downside for non-stealth characters is the load would occur, just like always, but now you would still have the door to open, which would just open like an interior door now. Also with this system, a locked wooden door could be "bashed" open by those who have no use for subtlety.

Is there some technical reason this couldn't happen, for instance, if there is an issue with "dumping" the assets as the player leaves the building? Remember that an interior would only load to the existing exterior as a player was near enough to enter it, so no more then one interior would ever need be loaded at one time.