I thought it a little unusual that there's no death penalty to be had in Skyrim; I don't mean in the introduction or at Roggvir's execution, but for the player character. Is it not a tad unusual how you're eligible to be executed for being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but not for murdering every non - essential NPC in the game world?

I could kill an entire town and then just sleep a few days/weeks away in jail, whilst Sinding is going to be killed for killing just one girl.

Of course, being given the death penalty shouldn't be the be all and end all - you should still be able to escape prison, or during the execution.

I know there are probably a whole load of issues that would come with introducing it ("how do I get rid of a death penalty, I can't just never visit a hold again", etc etc), I just thought it might make for a cool addition.

Also, on another vaguely related note, the Hold - specific crime system is very good, but crimes such as murder, or a whole load of assaults, should make you universally wanted.

I wouldn't mind this idea, much more entertaining than the futile KoS orders I get.

Also you get off crimes waay too easy.
Murder 5 or so guards? Spend a week in jail. Reasonaly you should be killed or at least given a decade or so jail sentence.

I must admit, I try to keep my character quite lawful, (which is why I wasn't keen on the Thieves Guild or Dark Brotherhood quests), but it's so easy to avoid jail in Skyrim that it does lend itself to crime.

In a single-player game such as Skyrim I think most players like to have as much control over what happens in their games as possible. They want to be the one to decide when to "retire" a character. I don't think most gamers would be comfortable with the idea that the game is able to kill off their characters.

Morrowind had the death penalty after a bounty of 5,000 gold. The only way to remove it, if I recall correctly, is to get the Thieves' Guild to help you.

That sounds good. Was there anyway to escape it? (Apart from not get arrested.)

Profound......

Not true. You always have assassins that try to kill you even if you don't see/talk to any NPC and/or live in the wilderness alone. I'm sure that people want control of the game but not too much (or full control of the game) as then the game gets too predictable and boring.

That only applies if you get caught, though.

In my opinion, the money cost for crimes should have had a base minimum value, that scaled based on player level and total acquired money. At the same time, committing enough crimes in a given hold should eventually mark the player as unable to enter without a disguise, and unable to interact with certain observant people, or get close to any guards.

After a certain point, they shouldn't care how much you offer to pay, they don't want you there any more if you've committed enough heavy crimes.

On the other hand, the 1000g fine for murder could be thought of as the wergeld.

What I find odd is how people question the realism in a fantasy video game. Dragons flying around, makes sense, a society that has low fines for crime, pure madness.

Totally irrelevant.

I was thinking something similar.

Actually comaring things in Skryim to real life is irrelevant because Skryim is on NIrn not earth. So if the developers decide something then that is the way it is on Nirn. Comparing it to how things are on earth is irrelevant.

I paid 1 gold to a guard to pay off My bounty was High speech perk is nice.

Though given the chance, I would kill anyone who tried to take me away for excecution. Why stop doing bad deeds when caught?

Ok, so weapon and armor design comparisons are irrelevant? because the Blades armor looks a lot like samurai armor.

agree basicly TES doesn't put enough time on another of things like this.

Difference between realism and verisimilitude. Dragons make sense on Nirn, a fine only system for the rest of the game doesn't make much sense when there are executions, and one of them is yours.

I'd argue that it's completely understandable.

When it comes to crafting a fantasy world, one of the most important aspects is that the world is believable. Only if the world is believable will the audience be willing to suspend their disbelieve and become immersed in that world. When it comes to believability, the only point of reference we have is the real world.

Now, you're probably saying that dragons aren't real, so how can they be made believable? True, they aren't, but people are able to surmise how they would fit into a world. It's all about how the dragon fits into the world, how it interacts, how others respond to it, etc. If all those aspects jive with each other, then the dragons become believable. And people that have a hard time doing it generally don't like fantasy or science fiction. For the most part, in Skyrim, they've done it well.

The same thing applies to systems of law. The difference, here, is that there is a real world counterpart to compare it to. As a result, people can be a bit more critical about this sort of thing. They look at the value of the fine and the value of the money within the game, then they look at the value of a human life. If they don't jive, it becomes difficult to integrate that into the world. It becomes a stumbling block in suspending their disbelief.

wait NPC's can be given the death penalty, thats awsome

Even fantasy must follow its own logic, have a credibility according its own laws, even if those laws are made up by the authors. Ask any fantasy writer.