I think it would be cool if you steal too much from a shop, the shopkeeper says something along the lines of ''sorry, due to loss of goods due to thievery i am regrettably having to increase prices''. Not by much, maybe 20 coins.

i think this would increase immersion and make it more realistic.Plus it would make us thieves pick our targets carefully.

I think that if you steal from a place too much, they will try to investigate or tell the guards about it and make it harder to steal from their again

yeah that would be good as well.

I prefer the idea of increasing the security of a shop when it gets stolen from too much because I'll still end up hitting the jewellery store over and over again.

sweet thought

it adds a little more challenge for me, even though I will be invisible

Good idea! They also need the store merchant to look sad when people steal. Nobody likes getting their stuff stolen.

Increasing security only really makes sense if stores replenish their case stock rather than just the Merchant's inventory stock. So here's to hoping that happens, too.

We can only hope :mellow:

With that said hopefully we can gain access to the inventory so it doesent seam like a armor merchant has 12 full sets of leather, steel, and fur armor in their back pocket and that they are, in fact, in stock somewhere and that maybe when you buy something they themself go odd and grab what you bought or have a helper bring it to the counter and give it to you. Or pull a zelda and you end up looking at the items and when you scroll through the items you look around at them so when you buy something it will dissapear and go into your inventory unless they have more then one of it. If you buy something out they may replace that item spot with something els. Thoughts? lol

with that they would have to make a little more complicated because you are going to want to steal something from him when he is not looking. Do what they did with the vampires in Oblivion, you know, give you option to svck their blood or steal from them

Thats why I said or a helper and then I mentioned the whole way Zelda does shops which honestly I would feel would be nice since it does away with the normal menu, keeps you in first person and allows you to look around at the items there could be a piece of paper by the items that tell you the basic info that you would want to know about the item. It could make it feel more organic.

With how they have changed up how talking with people I figured they may have made the whole concept of buying things more natural as well.

it would go well with the new economy system in the game

I'd also like to see that - I never felt the slightest remorse at robbing a shop in Oblivion. If I was to see the shop keeper in the bar that evening, sitting glumly and sobbing into a large drink, I might feel; as if I'd actually done something wrong.

I remember reading about the prices of flour going up if you burn the villages mill, so it would make sense if the prices also increase if lots are stolen.

That would be great. And like Glorious said, if I saw the barkeep actually sad, I would be better inclined not to steal. Yes, I'm one of those people who can't bring themselves to play the bad guy, even in an rpg.

I am with you brother, I actually feel bad being a bad guy in a game

Yeah, thieving could use a revamp. Obviously thieving needs downside, but I hated the "hot item" crap in Oblivion. Im sure something is planned, but I'd hope it goes something like this

Should "ideally" go:

Steal once:

-lose disposition from the shopkeeper, as he suspects it's you/he's in a bad mood.

Steal twice:

-guard comes in to watch the store during the day, and for a portion of the night

Steal three times

-prices raise
-store keeper has less to sell
-shopkeeper becomes glum

Steal four times (with the equivalent of 4000 gold worth of goods)

-shopkeeper goes out of business.


Of course, there should probably be a cooloff timer if you haven't hit #4, maybe after a few weeks the shopkeeper would go back to normal This could stop you from simply "farming" goods out of stores.

I hope that the prices go up and down with how much they have.

Well, it's known that there will be economies. There wouldn't be much of a point to them if they didn't affect prices. Nor would there be much of a point if we couldn't affect them .

There should definitely be a reaction to thievery, but I'd prefer a more generic approach. Something like a "you steal from him, so his prices go up" scripted event seems too stiff to me, and it is not suitable for NPCs who aren't merchants.
I think a system where each NPC acted accordingly to how much was stolen in comparison to how much he owns would be good. A poor man will be used to petty crimes, but still devastated when he finds out all his pewter dishes have been stolen (and maybe a bit surprised), whereas a rich merchant will be annoyed/offended by any sort of burglary, simply because it's a matter of pride - but if something really valuable is stolen, he will take actions.

Ah well. I don't think they've put any thought into a complex reaction system of that type. And if they actually did, I just hope it doesn't come out weird... if they had a reaction-to-thievery system in Oblivion, it would probably result in random dialogues between perfect strangers on the streets along the lines of "Damn burglars. They've broken into our house last night. We should get a better lock." - "These are dark times indeed." - "Goodbye." - "Go bother someone else!"

I don't llike your 1st and 4th penalties at all. If the shopkeeper saw you, he should call the guards. If he didn't then he shouldn't know. I don't trust Bethesda to walk the line between the shopkeepers holding a small grudge against anyone who shopped the day items were stolen and the shop keepers having psychic powers that tell when you stole from them and magically tell/convince every other merchant throughout Skyrim.

I like the idea of guards staying around, or the merchant getting a better lock for his door. Maybe some excentric potion maker could put traps in his store at night.

Instead of making the store close at the 4th offense, I'd much rather just see the merchant lock all his goods in a cellar/attic/closet at night and start sleeping in a chair infront of the door. But closing the store down for doing what some people have their entire character geared to do? To harsh.

Thanks, people im glad you agree the thought came to me while robbing the weapons shop in bravil, and the next morning even though i had stolen every weapon item, including the key to the building(habit even though i have the skeleton key) he seemed cheerful and still had the same stock and pricing.

I would love to see many of things mentioned in this thread.

NPCs are prominent in the game world, so for the sake of immersion, I hope the next step is taken in AI development.... awareness.

I will steal till I fill my basemant to the brim with stolen goods if it means I can put some npc I hate out of business.

i think when a store gets robbed they need to resupply visible items, and put out items that are actually semi - valuable at your current level