If i can take it and not get caught it gets nicked. No consequences? No worries.

Then again I'm not an RPer so all i want is loot/cash.

The worst part about stealing in prior games (including TES) is getting nailed for stealing from dead people. If someone is dead (whether you did it or not) should it really be stealing to take their stuff? Several places in Skyrim had this problem, though I assume they were bugs.

Take Anise in Skyrim for example. I may not kill her. But I may or may not have intentionally led a cave bear to her house. She'll fight the bear and die. I'll kill the bear. I can loot her body fine, but everything in her house is still coded to be stolen if I take it. Stolen from whom? A corpse?

Depends, but there is a chance i may steal less.

All that being said none of it is real anyway so it doesnt matter if an AI is programmed to show emotion or not.

This. And in the case of "owned" skill books in Fallout 3/NV, I just used the console to remove ownership and use the book right away, reasoning that in reality, it wouldn't be stealing to read the book and put it down again when I'm done. In reality, the book wouldn't disintegrate immediately after reading it.

It's an interesting dilemma in FO4 as we're now playing a character who grew up in the pre-apocalypse, where people were probably more conscientious about other people's belongings. Can we break out of that 1950s mindset and became a post-apocalyptic kleptomaniac? Sure, but it would definitely take some role playing on my behalf. If you maintain the mindset of 1950s that you know, then I'd say stealing is out of the question for me. However, in FONV, for instance, we're a post-apocalypse kid who knows nothing but the wasteland and the rules of that place, which would be a different situation.

Typically, I go by "stealing is wrong", but I also have to take what I need. Same goes for killing, but I'm also guilty of shooting first without asking questions later. Sure, they were raiders, but does that give me the right to kill them when it's not in self defense. In Fallout (and games in general) baddies will attack on sight. A few give you a warning first, though, but typically you're better off shooting first.

It's funny, but my ES characters are always kleptomaniacs, no exception, while my Fallout characters steal only Skill Books.

Oh, and in NV I have occasionally looted the hell out of the Silver Rush. Because they're so bad. And stupid and unobservant.

Making theft in Fallout actually mean something would be a welcome addition. If you're in the wasteland, and you steal somebody's gun...or his ammo...or his food/water...you're basically helping to kill him. Stealing certain items should be a way bigger deal than what it currently is.

To be honest, I seriously doubt that loot or essential supplies will be so scarce in Fallout 4 that I'll even be tempted to steal them.

I usually don't steal unless I'm in dire straits. I've always been good at making enough money to support myself in video games, a skill that I wish would have transferred to real life. But if I see a high valued, rare, or unique item.

Nuuuoooope....

NPC's have no use for such items, I DO

Usually yes, it's not like they'll actually need the caps, gun, ammo or crafting materials. On later playthroughs I do this less often though because at that point I'm familiar enough with the progression curve to know when it's pointless to loot some things.

This I agree with. That -karma message does nothing to me, I don't care about good-evil meters unless they actually have mechanics that make sense in the game world (Star Wars or Fable to give 2 examples), but tell me that me stealing all this ammo from thiese people makes this settlement easy pickings for a raider party and I'll definitely think it over, I might even try to help them out instead. Choice and consequence.

Two words: Uncle Leo.

He broke me from shooting first unless I ~knew~ they were bad guys. Just because you see a lone Super Mutant doesn't mean you ~should~ open fire. Usually, yes. But he made me re-think my shoot-first policy (at least for a little while --- as a sneaky sniper, I pretty much ~have~ to shoot first).

RE: the 1950s transition to post-apoc... I was thinking that perhaps my 1950s-style housewife was actually a secret kleptomaniac who stole from her society friends for the thrill of it but even in that case, I think she would be able to suppress her klepto urges to some degree when faced with the prospect of stealing the one beat-up hunting rifle that Pa uses to keep his children fed....

Although it never comes up in game (justifying to someone why you stole from them, that is --- they don't care, they just shoot you or call guards)... in my mind my character would be extremely embarrassed and apologetic, trying to plead that she couldn't help herself and she didn't mean any harm. Although I am not a kleptomaniac in real life (honest!) in games where there are no repercussions I can certainly see the thrill aspect of taking something and not getting caught. Even if I run no risk of getting caught, or facing consequences, though, if the ~game~ warned me about consequences I would be more inclined to avoid stealing SOME things.

I can usually sate my urge to nick things by stealing from raiders or abandoned homes/bases/ruins and so on. It's rare that I find something to steal from someone that would be hurt by that theft. If I were faced with a single father who had a sweet, unique weapon but also had kids to take care of, I might try to barter for the weapon or trade him one of my own (generic) weapons for it.... but I would like to think I would not steal it.

Depends on how much I can carry, they can keep their filfthy food but if I see ammo/guns/armor which is an upgrade or worth a lot it will be mine, also if it is an unique item, I like to collect things.

Good old Darwin's survival of the fittest.

My need is greater than yours. I'm the hero in this game after all.

I usually only steal stimpaks, so I can grind the game out finding everything else I need.

Khajiit never steal!...

Yeaaah...about that...lol

It's just selfishness on the part of the NPCs, letting their goods sit around. They should be putting the value of their goods into circulation in the economy, where it can multiply and benefit everyone.

I see that as my role: I am turning the crank of the economic engine, and thus benefitting society as a whole.

They should erect a statue to me, and stop shooting at me.

This.

I remember a line from a movie (Burglar with Whoopie Goldberg) where she says, "It's not what you steal, it's who you steal it from"

If its a wasteland settler and they are scraping by and trying to live their life, I leave their stuff alone. A rich guy or a mob boss or someone like that, I figure it's a candy store and I have a sweet tooth.

I'm not saying I'd kill an NPC for their boots, but if my char likes those boots, they will have them.

This presents an interesting thought thread.

Many of us only abstain from stealing for the consequences it invokes or because we are roleplaying a certain type of person.

In essence the well being and mental state of these cardboard cutouts around us are inconsequential and meaningless. The only factor that plays into our decision is our own benefit and the facade that we wish to put forth in roleplaying.

Which seems to suggest we are playing the part of a sociopath in a significant way.

Even by roleplaying a good guy we are simply calculating what a good person would do and mimicking that. That doesn't necessarily make you good though. It just makes you a wolf in sheep's clothing, a predator in the herd perhaps even acting in the way you do for the purpose of benefiting from the herd.

In the game world we are sociopaths. Because it is just a game.

Which puts real life sociopath's motivations in focus a bit.

Unless they make a point to tie emotions to the items themselves (saying "man my son is so sick but I love him, you know" while standing next to doctor's bags, for example) I don't have much problem stealing them.

That isn't because I don't care about the people themselves so much as that I know they don't use them, will not use them, do not touch them. They can't even claim the title 'ornament' because they don't even LOOK at those items, and never will.

If I value them, or can trade them for something I do value, I don't have a problem with taking them. With the exception of highlighted items, they never notice or care.

I don't think it is about sociopathy so much as the expectations of a computer system - games have taught us for years to grab every single thing lying around in case it's needed for a puzzle or am easter egg later. Until they start bringing more awareness into the system - in this case, characters aware of key items missing - I wouldn't expect change.

Maybe just adding a murmur to self: "I'm sure I still had one somewhere..." or "Where did that go? Did someone take it?" to the random lines for a few days whenever you steal from someone could tether the items to the person (or really, the 'faction') that owns them.

That said, the economy in Bethesda's TES/BE games tends to be frustratingly wack. For the first few hours, you can't buy a loaf of bread or a single Rad-Away. Fast-forward a day and no one has enough septims/caps to buy your enchanted daedric greatsword/anti-material rifle - you finally have currency, but don't need to buy anything they have to offer, so you just hold your thousands and thousands of money-units indefinitely.

I'm stealing everyone in Fallout 2 LOL
In Fallout 3 / New Vegas was not as useful...

What you say is so true in so many ways.

Games has thaught us to take everything.