Some people are your friends. You helped your friend. So they'll gladly help you.

It's odd to assume that all things not yours are things you're not allowed to take. As said, this only occurs if you're friends with an NPC, and friends let friends borrow their stuff. Okay, maybe not their broadsword, but it's a nice implementation.

Well, I forgot to check last night, was playing some ESO. Anyway, I can see where some inventory would be sourced from the Merchant Chests that are usually hidden as that would facilitate leveled inventory for the shopkeeper to sell. But every game Bethesda has put out has some shopkeeper inventory on display, not all, but some items. I don't know if they are replaced as the game goes on, I have not paid that much attention other than noticing things not being on the shelf after I bought them.

I find it immersion breaking when there are fresh foods in a ruin that's been sealed for hundreds of years. Sure, take everything not bolted to the walls, no problem there. After all, you are a Tomb Raider.

The point I was making was asking why thieving non-marked items was considered bad for immersion when the person had no intention of stealing to begin with.

I will say one thing: that damned Golden Claw is poorly placed. I can't count how many times I've accidentally stole the stupid thing trying to talk to whats-his-face.

I saved the entire world of tamriel,but steal ONE sweetroll and suddenly I'm satan

When you're in the supermarket and you want to buy something, do you

a) pick up an item off the shelf, leave the money for that item on the shelf where you picked it up, and walk out; or

take the item to a checkout and pay for it there?

I don't really see the problem with having to talk to a shopkeeper about the item you're buying, wherever it is in the shop. I can see the annoyance if they then don't have it in stock, mind, but there are plenty of reasons why that might be, RP-wise.

Yeah, fifty years or so ago, before supermarkets were really a thing, you would generally speak to the grocer (or whoever) and he'd bag stuff up for you and take your money. They had stuff on display, but it wasn't for the customers to just grab and pay for. Heck, I remember shops where the shopkeeper would be really annoyed if you touched anything, and I'm... well, quite a bit younger than 50.

If you go to a shop that isn't a supermarket, I believe human interaction is still required now

Heh, well, yes, but most of them don't object to you picking up items and bringing them to the counter, unless they're like, Tiffany's or something. Or a Proper Old Sweet Shop.

You've now given me an image of having to use a shopping basket in Skyrim, carefully move objects in a store without actually picking them up, dropping them into the basket and taking them to the storekeeper...

If only I could mod, it might be the most fiendish challenge yet... And I'm not talking about creating the mod, I mean doing your shopping.

Lol. Best to stick with the old storekeepers. Besides, without storekeepers, there would be no Two Ronnies sketches...

QUEST: Buy four candles from the Riverwood Trader.

@ Bigredpanda, since I can't seem to quote, I see your point. I guess for me, being old, for what ever reason, I remember in Arena the First TES game, that you clicked on the shelf to buy or steal items. I would think after 20 years we would have better game play than what was in Morrowind.

I guess what I am disappointed is, Bethesda makes the stores look really nice, take the time to lay out the store, but I just end up ignoring it all because it serves no purpose because I just go to the Merchant and get my stuff from there. Seems like wasted resources and time doing that for not making the gaming experience more pleasurable.

No, it has nothing to do with whether or not the items are for sale. There's a gold value limit, I think 50. Items below that value can be taken if you are "friends" with the owner; items above that value you always need to steal.

This isn't 100% true. If your rep is high enough with the merchant (or whoever) you can pretty much take everything from their house. One example is Arcadia's Cauldron, where Arcadia is a quest giver as well. You can take everything in the building except for a couple of potions and one or two ingredients after you do her quests. I have seen a limit, however, where if you get any sort of bounty in Whiterun, you will lose that option and everything will turn red again.

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Arcadia%27s_Cauldron

I was mildly confused if the value limit was 25 or 50. The answer is...depends on exactly how much they like you:

http://www.uesp.net/wiki/Skyrim:Disposition

Gotcha. I see that point about not 'browsing' when you just go straight to the shopkeeper. I'm not sure Arena's was the optimal system either, though, RP-wise.

(Btw, if you can't quote, it might be your compatibility settings - if you list Bethesda as a compatible site in your browser settings, you can usually quote again).