How come merchants know my ordinary steel sword is stolen?

Post » Wed Jun 06, 2012 6:34 am

Yeah, the bucket exploit. They must have had fun doing that.
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matt
 
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Post » Wed Jun 06, 2012 9:15 am

It should've followed the same system as a crime. If you steal something within hold A, you cannot sell that item within hold A, but you can sell it in hold B or C. It makes sense that someone would report an item stolen and merchants nearby would be notified of what to look for.
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Evaa
 
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Post » Wed Jun 06, 2012 9:30 am

If you steal more than one thing, they'll react. There seems to be a bit of leeway. That said, it is relatively easy to sneak around them or put something on their head so they can't see anything. It's not that hard to steal a bunch of stuff overall.
Yeah, the bucket exploit. They must have had fun doing that.

Bucket Exploit? You *must* be joking, surely. I think i have to try this...
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Laura Shipley
 
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Post » Tue Jun 05, 2012 8:35 pm

Because these red letters appear on your forehead that say "item is stolen". Only merchants can see it, and they can see through helmets so don't even try to hide it.
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Lexy Dick
 
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Post » Wed Jun 06, 2012 7:07 am

Bucket Exploit? You *must* be joking, surely. I think i have to try this...
Nope. And it's quite frankly hilarious :laugh:
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Gracie Dugdale
 
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Post » Tue Jun 05, 2012 7:59 pm

Ah, the everyone knows everything is stolen thing again.

just another one to add to the Mod list...
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JeSsy ArEllano
 
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Post » Tue Jun 05, 2012 10:56 pm

By the way, how is it that all NPCs seems to know when some of my stuff is stolen? If it's not unique and nobody saw me stealing it, there shouldn't realy be any chance that the merchants knew of the origin, right? Unless I told them...
You know, computer games have limited resources, with limited resources comes abstractions.

You say the sword isn't unique. From the computer point of view, yeah, that Steel sword is just the same as any other you can find in the Skyrim, from Solitude down to the oldest nord barrow.

But just because the game doesn't care to make every single steel sword look different doesn't mean you should consider them all to be perfect carbon copy replicas of each other. Such mass production capabilities don't exist in the game universe.


So yeah, the sword you stole IS unique, even if nothing in the game shows it :)
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Melissa De Thomasis
 
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Post » Wed Jun 06, 2012 12:08 am

Blacksmiths leavin their marks.

Cheers
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Channing
 
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Post » Wed Jun 06, 2012 10:20 am

Bucket Exploit? You *must* be joking, surely. I think i have to try this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccBQZVpVvAE

You know, computer games have limited resources, with limited resources comes abstractions.

You say the sword isn't unique. From the computer point of view, yeah, that Steel sword is just the same as any other you can find in the Skyrim, from Solitude down to the oldest nord barrow.

But just because the game doesn't care to make every single steel sword look different doesn't mean you should consider them all to be perfect carbon copy replicas of each other. Such mass production capabilities don't exist in the game universe.


So yeah, the sword you stole IS unique, even if nothing in the game shows it :smile:

Good point. Problem is that it only makes any sense if all the merchants in Skyrim have expert knowledge of all equipment in all the houses.

EDIT: And have heard the rumours of the theft. Sure, you know its a sword made by The Angry Blacksmith. But you could have bought it there and try to sell it here. There isn't any law against that.

I think. Maybe there is. Maybe that's the thing...
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Big mike
 
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Post » Tue Jun 05, 2012 11:42 pm

If they know it is stolen why don't they report you to the guards? And alternatively if they won't report you to the guards, why won't they buy the item, failure to inform the law of criminal behavior is a crime itself isn't it?
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Nick Swan
 
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Post » Wed Jun 06, 2012 10:40 am

In reality, swords were often sold and traded no matter who made them. Y`know people got killed in lots of wars, leaving lots of armour and swords to be taken and sold. they all had smithy marks, so too did gold.

The only sword that might be refused would have to have an extremely well know mark (like the King`s smithy) to be refused and probably would not be if sold out of province, perhaps earning an even bigger profit.

The sword mark thing really holds very little water.
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electro_fantics
 
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Post » Wed Jun 06, 2012 12:44 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccBQZVpVvAE

I have never tried that priceless.
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Stephanie Valentine
 
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Post » Wed Jun 06, 2012 6:00 am

In 'olden' times, craftsmen would often leave telltale signs of their creation's creator. E.g. they'd carve their initials into the thing. So it's kind of explainable.

This is what I'm going with - No such thing as an "ordinary" steel sword - Unfortunately, game developers do not see the benefit of procedurally-generated meshes and textures, so that every item CAN be unique.
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k a t e
 
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Post » Tue Jun 05, 2012 9:33 pm

There's that cute animation on YouTube where the guy's asking the guard how he knew his sword was stolen. "It's just a steel sword. There are hundreds just like it."

Better yet, how do *I* know? I can take about 80% of a merchant's goods. How do I know I can grab one bottle but not the one next to it?
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HARDHEAD
 
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Post » Tue Jun 05, 2012 9:48 pm

I have no problem selling stolen goods? My question is when you place something you found in a quest (like a staff) in a dresser in, let's say Dragonsreach, does it show up as red?
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Ladymorphine
 
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Post » Wed Jun 06, 2012 2:54 am

What I find crazy is not only are the merchants aware of your stolen goods, but if you get the perk in the Speech Tree you can make any merchant a fence.

So basically...

Merchant: Sorry those potatoes are stolen I cannot purchase them from you.

Player: But I have the ability now to sell them to you.

Merchant: Hmm, OK, then.


Seriously?!!? :ohmy:
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Tom
 
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Post » Tue Jun 05, 2012 6:49 pm

It's one of the many silly things about Skyrim. (and Oblivion before it, too). Another one: why do Imperial Soldiers/Stormcloaks just stand there and fight against dragons and giants? Surely the average guard would just run like hell? And why can't followers jump up a hill about a foot high, yet can easily sprint a mile around an alternative flat pathway to follow you? Why can't I freaking drop quest items? Grr.

Everytime i fight a Giant and there are guards arround they just stand and say something about this gona be fun, but do nothing... i also have seen them run many many times when they see one of the guards killed.
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Lindsay Dunn
 
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Post » Wed Jun 06, 2012 1:04 am

yet taking things from people you killed is not stealing and the items are not stolen..

i remember the morrowind days.. where nearly everything that i owned was stolen before i got to a certain level where the percentage wasn't so big.

Plus- why do merchants have lots of dwemer/ glass/ orcish items to sell yet you can never find it near them? stupid scaling...
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Annika Marziniak
 
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Post » Tue Jun 05, 2012 10:29 pm

In reality, swords were often sold and traded no matter who made them. Y`know people got killed in lots of wars, leaving lots of armour and swords to be taken and sold. they all had smithy marks, so too did gold.

[...]

The sword mark thing really holds very little water.

I don't think many people during that time period had 'proper' weapons. They may have fashioned something themselves, but a well-crafted sword?

No, markings don't entirely explain it away, but they go some way toward justifying refusal of some stolen goods.

And yes, mods will fix this.

What I find crazy is not only are the merchants aware of your stolen goods, but if you get the perk in the Speech Tree you can make any merchant a fence.

It makes sense. If you're charming enough, you can convince a lot of people to do a lot of things that they wouldn't normally- all because they like you so darn much. :D

This is what I'm going with - No such thing as an "ordinary" steel sword - Unfortunately, game developers do not see the benefit of procedurally-generated meshes and textures, so that every item CAN be unique.

Maybe TES:VI has this. :P
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Juliet
 
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Post » Tue Jun 05, 2012 9:21 pm

yet taking things from people you killed is not stealing and the items are not stolen..

i remember the morrowind days.. where nearly everything that i owned was stolen before i got to a certain level where the percentage wasn't so big.

Plus- why do merchants have lots of dwemer/ glass/ orcish items to sell yet you can never find it near them? stupid scaling...


I dunno I have killed NPCs for a quest and there stuff was marked "Steal." I cannot remember which quest it was but my husband killed I believe it was a vampire and there stuff was marked this.
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Undisclosed Desires
 
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Post » Wed Jun 06, 2012 6:48 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccBQZVpVvAE

Thanks for the link. It's a fun little gimmick, but it also raises a few concerns...

Somebody at Beth actually thought of this and implemented it. It wasn't an accident. Yet the mechanics of stealing and stolen item detection in general are fundamentally flawed. It is realistic to steal an item while a character isn't looking at it, but even if you do, they know you stole it. It is unrealistic to put a bucket on someone's head to negate their line of sight, yet doing so leads to a more realistic outcome for stolen item detection.

Something real is unreal and something unreal is real.

People have been complaining about the thief mechanics in TES for a BLOODY LONG TIME. Instead of fixing it, we get a gimmick.

Beth are just taking the pi$$. :down:
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priscillaaa
 
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Post » Wed Jun 06, 2012 8:09 am

I don't think many people during that time period had 'proper' weapons. They may have fashioned something themselves, but a well-crafted sword?

No, markings don't entirely explain it away, but they go some way toward justifying refusal of some stolen goods.

And yes, mods will fix this.


Depends where in history you look. Peasant types and common soldiery, no, but from Greek times to Medieval Knights or Japanese samurai times you had plenty of warriors, knights and samurai who fought and died and had their marked equipment stolen, kept or sold. Often noticable markings would be scratched off. Only a King`s blade and armour would avoid being sold about.
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JaNnatul Naimah
 
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Post » Tue Jun 05, 2012 11:00 pm

Criminal Scum.

STOP RIGHT THERE!!
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pinar
 
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Post » Tue Jun 05, 2012 7:45 pm

Better yet, how do *I* know? I can take about 80% of a merchant's goods. How do I know I can grab one bottle but not the one next to it?
Because of the color of course. Which is an abstraction on friendship level. If I had someone around that I barely knew, I wouldn't care at all if that person grabbed some of my milk from the fridge, or a couple of beers. But you'd have to be a pretty close friend to close in on the liquor cabinet without me fetching a gun. Get the idea? And I think what you can take and what you can't take without causing this theft in the game, depends on your standing with them.

For but bucket exploit, frigging hilarious. But it's gotta go - it's an exploit the AI can't cope with. A GM would figure out a way to deal with it. That said, it's at least an exploit you have to work to achieve any effects, it's not an exploit you get simply by playing the game when you're trying NOT to exploit anything but it still happens - those are much more severe.
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Rachyroo
 
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