100% Pickpocket Chance is Not 100% Success, Back Again

El_Borracho · August 12

Seen this with an NPC in Amenos Station and another NPC inside the Roister's Club. The NPC in Amenos is inside the house to the west of the wayshrine and is described as a "Fighter." The one in the Roister's Club is the only one you can pickpocket on the ground floor. I've had both at 100% and been caught pickpocketing. No other witnesses are around. It doesn't say "Aware" and the eye is closed. Both are on the initial pickpocket. Is this really back again?

Syldras · August 12

For my experiences, it seems to be loading issues or lag which cause this problem. The moment it displays "100%" to you, it's actually already over and back to the lower percentage.

DoofusMax · August 12

I don't know about it being "back" but I do know that it's a thing. I been nabbed a couple of times with my sticky fingers in an NPC's pocket and 100% showing at the time (white, not green). My best guess is that the chance is actually a 5% window (somewhere between what's showing and 5% below that number) rather than being the precise chance of success, so I place more trust the green 100%, especially when I know that the chance is actually higher than 100%.

jle30303 · August 12

My best guess is that there's a bit of lag around, and another NPC exists in the area who hasn't apparently loaded in yet and isn't visible to the player, but can see you, and it's *them* that are catching you.

Happened to me the other day in Vivec City: I pickpocketed a NPC where I have a natural 100% pickpocket chance... the "eye" was fully closed indicating that nobody could see me... but I was caught, not by the person I was pickpocketing, but by a NPC who suddenly appeared behind me. (In this particular case I suspect it was a NPC that was in the process of respawning after having been previously murdered.)

El_Borracho · August 13

@jle30303 It must be the lag because the two I described have no other NPCs around. One is in his house all alone, and the one at the Roister's Club you can kill in plain view of everyone in the room with the Blade of Woe as they are not traditional NPCs. Heck, you can loot the place out of stealth after you kill the one NPC and nothing happens.

And I threw in "again" because this was an issue back in 2018 when the percentages did not mean a thing after an update

vsrs_au · August 13

That's pretty much what I expect on my characters with the pickpocketing skills: nothing's guaranteed when your ping is 390, because there is no WYSIWYG.