So it's been confirmed that vampires in Stage 4 will be considered "criminals" once the Justice System is implemented. This, of course, means they will be accosted by guards. Now, there are various levels of criminality within the Justice System. If you're a petty thief who has only pilfered some radishes before getting caught you can pay a small fine and be sent on your merry way. However, it is my understanding that once you become a certain level of criminal and have added things like murder to your crimes, not only will your bounty become astronomical, there will come a point where the only thing that will happen is that the guards will try to kill you, period.
So, enter the Stage 4 vampire. What "level" of criminal are they? Why should they even be considered a criminal at all since, hey, their advanced condition PROVES they aren't feeding on anybody and are probably "harmless?" Heck, what if they haven't committed ANY crimes and are upstanding citizens who always pay for their radishes and onions? Can they just pay a small fine to a guard after being unfairly hassled for their unfortunate skin condition and be on their way?
Here's where we come to the problem of what Stage 4 is SUPPOSED to represent. This is a STARVING VAMPIRE, one step away from being a mindless bloodfiend about to go on a killing frenzy. This is not SUPPOSED to be a mild mannered creature that loves people so much it would rather starve itself than feed on them...and can actually do so with no ill effects outside of looking like your worst nightmare. IF that were supposed to be the lore-supported case vampires would not have the bad rap they do and no one would be unduly afraid of them.
What Stage 4 is SUPPOSED to represent is the monster unmasked, the killer among mortals, the pinnacle of the food chain who can, and might, snatch up anyone and end their lives to feed their endless and evil hunger. This is a creature that can NEVER be trusted. So the only logical thing to do when confronted by the presence of one is to do your utmost to kill it. So I don't think paying a small fine and going on about your business at the bank and the various crafting tables is going to be an option. Nothing short of total KOS makes any logical sense. I would, however, like confirmation from the Devs on this if at all possible. So...
@ZOS_GinaBruno ,
@ZOS_AlanG ,
@ZOS_JasonLeavey , et all?
But regardless of the "level" of criminality ZOS decides to assign Stage 4 the fact is that players of vampires are going to have to deal with it. As we should. Despite vampires having been repeatedly nerfed into the ground we're SUPPOSEDLY "stronger" than "mere mortals." Traditionally, there's supposed to be a tradeoff with that, to balance things out. But until the Justice System arrives, there's no such tradeoff for vampires as they are currently implemented.
Predictably, this news (even though we don't know the specifics of how it will be implemented and how "severe" the penalties for being a Stage 4 vampire will be) has already resulted in those who PvP with vampires complaining that they do not wish to be "forced" to leave Stage 4 (and its obvious benefits that are not offset by any meaningful deficits) in order to "conduct business" in town. They do not want to have to wait the hour and a half Stage 3 lasts before returning to Cyrodil. They do not WANT there to be any incentive to feed and visit the other Stages, regardless of what was intended by ZOS when they (badly and supposedly grudgingly) added vampires to the game. They are already saying that the whole idea of guards reacting to them at all negatively for "just" being a Stage 4 vampire is unfair. Demands for a "vampires only" city where Stage 4 vampires can conduct all their business without being bothered are already being seen here in the forums. Others have suggested that there be some sort of disguise that vampires can wear that will hide their Stage 4 vampirism so that they can enter cities and conduct their business unmolested.
I would really like to know ZOS's reaction to that. Devs?
Here is where I will enter my own humble potential solution. Many of us (those who play vampires) have never been happy with the length of the various stages. MOST RPers (tiny, insignificant clan that we supposedly are) and many PvEers have advocated that EACH Stage should last a full 6 hour game day. Quite simply because that would be more realistic than the current situation that would force you to feed 12 times a day (every half hour) just to maintain Stage 1 and look at least passably "normal" to other mortals. However, I don't see most PvPers being in support of that notion since they'd "lose" an entire game day from being "optimal" in Cyrodil every time they want to go to the bank or visit a crafting station or the marketplace.
So, if we are indeed truly stuck with all the Stages cycling through each 6 hour game day, it would simply make much more sense to swap out the Stage 1 and Stage 3 timers. Have Stage 1 last an hour and a half and Stage 3 last only 30 minutes. Logically, it just makes more sense for Stage 1 to be the longest of the 3 initial stages. A freshly fed vampire SHOULD maintain their more normalized appearance and vitality longer than they should maintain the stage that immediately proceeds total starvation. This solution should please both camps as it would offer RPers/PvEers a longer time in which to be passably "normal" (rather than looking like a walking corpse) and PvPers could get their "business" out of the way in a half hour and get back to Cyrodil as Stage 4 with nary a pause. And if they need to be in town longer they always have the option of feeding up to Stage 2, which would still last the hour that it does now, giving them an hour and a half to take care of things before returning to the frontlines as a bad@$$ Stage 4 vampire.
What do you think O my fellow forum dwellers and vampire fans?
UPDATE FOR FULL DISCLOSURE:
Further down you'll see the following Dev comment:
So it's been confirmed that vampires in Stage 4 will be considered "criminals" once the Justice System is implemented.
Confirmed where? And when? We're still working out the details of how the Justice System will impact werewolf and vampire players.
After a preliminary search I was unable to find the second mention of Stage 4 vampires being affected by the Justice System that I thought I had come across in the most recent Livestream. So I may be wrong and we may still only have Paul Sage saying that guards "would not like" vampires in Stage 4 (which I have linked again in the comments below).
What I am happy about though is that Jessica did at least confirm that they are working out the details of HOW vampires and werewolves will be affected by the Justice System, so at least we know they WILL be affected by it. That coupled with Paul Sage's earlier comments at least cements that vamps and weres WILL be affected by the Justice System and that this will PROBABLY involve a negative reaction to Stage 4 vampires.