I'm back with another nooby thread about arena!
when i commit a crime and the guards come after me, if i kill the guards, is it like the crime never happened? i see people walking around and they dont treat me any differently than before, are there any penalties for breaking the law? other than a couple guards of course

Pretty sure there's no crime system in Arena. You get caught doing something, a few guards try to chop you up, you kill them, it's like nothing ever happened.

There is no reputation system in Arena, so crime has no consequence as lons as you can survive the guards.

Note that this only applies to Arena. Subsequent games changed that.

indeed, the punishment for any crime is death by the "Halt!" squad. luckily they all tend to be a bit ADD and forget quite quickly.

All the guards you fight in Arena must be new recruits as well, as they don't seem to know the layout of the city very well. Sometimes they will spawn inside buildings or behind hedges and never be able to reach you.