Can't figure this one out. Might end up loading an old save...as I don't know how to fix it. I was doing the thieves guild quests, and went to the "museum" in Markarth. I only killed the hired guys inside, none of the guards in the first section. Prior to this, I did have ONE guard say "I recognize you" and I paid him off. But immediately after leaving the wizard's place in Markarth, every guard I see "recognizes" me. I've traveled to several towns for this quest, Riften, Winterhold, Solitude, etc and now every single guard recognizes me. I will not go to jail. It ruins the game. But I also can't afford to pay off 30 or 40 guards. I was in Solitude to pick up some more arrows from my "arrow factory" and paid off 4 guards in a row, and eventually just gave up.

What happened? Anyone had this happen before? Being wanted in each of the holds?

you're a vampire.

Check at "active effects" on magic menu.

He's definitely not a vampire. Vampires don't pay off guards.

You simply could have been caught stealing in their holds. Even if you didn't steal in their town.

Eh??

^Not willing to give up stolen loot. Haven't looked into it, but do you lose skills too?

haven't come in contact with any vampires in the last 20 or so hours of gameplay. I doubt that's it.


Just don't get why suddenly, I have a bounty in EVERY hold and town, and have ot pay off EACH and EVERY guard. I assumed paying off 1 was sufficient? Feels like some kind of glitch to me. If I attempt a pickpocket, I save right before trying and reload if I get caught.

Paying off a guard just means they don't arrest you. Not that you get off.

No, there does seem to be a problem with pickpocketting.

I tried play a thief and live with the consequences of my actions. When i got caught I fled and avoided arrest. But forevermore whenever I saw a guard in any town they'd attack me on sight. Decided to scrap that idea and created a new character

If a guard attacks you, sheathe your weapon and they will initiate conversation

They aren't attacking me, but if I get anywhere near them, they say they recognize me. I'm just curious how it happened. And if I can stop it without going to jail.

If all they do is say they recognize you, why do you think you're going to go to jail? Are they trying to arrest you or are they just saying "I recognize you"?

if they just say that you might just have a small bounty in that town where they wont outright try to attack you .

try saving then immediately talk to one to find out you bounty. happened to me and i only had a bounty of 5

You also lose stolen loot when you pay them of as far as I know.
Edit: Or are you by any chance just bribing them instead of paying the fine ? That would of course not remove a bounty.

The guards in Markath said that to me constantly for awhile there. Eventually I just dumped all my stuff in my house and then let them jail me, and it went away.

I've run into this and it was because I had a sizable bounty in that location/city.

1. If you pay them off (not the Thief pay off or regular bounty), only THAT guard will leave you alone.
2. If you're Thane of that particular city, you can get a free pass one time if the bounty is under 1000 gold (or was it 2000?).
3. Once you become fairly high up (guildmaster of the thieves even), you can pay bounties off for half.
4. Or you can just pay the full bounty.

The last two options means they'll take your stolen goods.

I'm unsure how the perk "Bribery" from speechcraft works as I don't have it and I can do all the four above. It may a slightly different version of option 1 above.

Good thing I got access to a fence.

If they say " Hey..I know you" open up a dialog with them. Should say something like "You must be mistaken..." and then they say "There's no mistake...you're a wanted man." You then have some options. If you're speech is high enough and your bounty below 1000 septim you can say "I don't have time for this...do you?" and they'll say "Well...you're bounty is low so I'll let it slide this time. But I'm watching you scum."

Problem solved. I've done that at least a dozen times, in multiple holds, towns. Btw my speech is only at 44 I think

I'll try that approach^. The bounty is only 10, but I've been using bribe to avoid having any stolen property confiscated. Don't even know for sure if I've been carrying stolen property, but didn't want to chance it. I'm in the middle of the thieves guild quests. They don't pursue me, but if I talk to them they tell me I'm wanted.

Yeah, if you keep bribing the guards your bounty will never go away and you'll have to keep on bribing them. Best thing to do would be to dump all your stolen goods into a chest in your home then go pay the bounties you have all off at once... Then you won't get any stolen goods taken from you.

All stolen items are marked as such in your inventory, look in the black box that displays the stats of the item. Also, god forbid it gets taken away, you can EASILY steal it back by finding the 'evidence' chest in the jail you were brought to.

I posted on this just a second ago but it's not showing up... I blame the internet here at work.

Anyway, yeah, you'll remain wanted unless you pay off the actual bounty instead of bribing them. Best thing to do would be to drop everything you have into a chest in your house then fast travel everywhere to pay all of the bounties off. This way you'll keep any of your stolen goods.