Nothing can stop the LAW!

Okay, so I don't know how it works because I try not to get caught, but I did get attacked in an inn once and I could open the door. I can also go inside Outlaw Refuges. If this is related to the in combat status, is it possible that if you aren't attacked directly - if you outrun the guard and they can't hit you, only their ranged attacks can reach - that you can interact with the environment then?

It is possible to escape.

I managed to escape from the Belkarth inn. I lured the guard upstairs, cc'd him and fell off the balcony. I reached the door and managed to activate it. If the interior is big enough, you could also use a similar method to hide, then sneak out. I think you CAN use doors while in combat if you haven't taken damage for a few seconds, but someone would need to test that.

b_archaonpreeb18_ESO wrote: »

It is possible to escape.

I managed to escape from the Belkarth inn. I lured the guard upstairs, cc'd him and fell off the balcony. I reached the door and managed to activate it. If the interior is big enough, you could also use a similar method to hide, then sneak out. I think you CAN use doors while in combat if you haven't taken damage for a few seconds, but someone would need to test that.

Ha this is my exact tactic for getting away without killing someone ive aggro'd

Yeah, I gotta say this is just ridiculous. I don't think twice about getting caught, attacked and killed, but there's no actual reason as to why you can't leave while being chased by a guard. If the guard was between me and the door I could justify it saying he locked the door or is blocking me from exiting.
It's like the thing I hate so much in games, the invisible wall. No reason whatsoever that you can't keep going other than the game won't allow. Jump in the water and swim where the game doesn't want you, you get eaten by fish which is totally cool with me because it's a reason you can't go there.
Honestly, not being able to leave isn't what really bothers me, it's the fact that there's no reason for it.

It's not just guards either, regular citizen NPCs will "lock" you inside as well if they catch you stealing in their house. It's...kind of dumb, really. Someone is trying to kill me so I magically forget how to open a door?

And everyone going "lol l2p" can tout that "don't get caught" bull as much as they want, there is such a thing as lag and latency. On top of that some things require a very specific amount of targeting before you can interact with them, which sometimes causes you to pick up something nearby that's not as hard to interact with. Accidents happen, and when picking up a piece of cheese or a loaf of bread smacks you with a random fine, it's not exactly the fault of the player. Yes, you can pay a small fine, but if you've got stolen stuff you were hanging onto (I, for one, don't like messing with the Refuge for one or two things) to launder later, it gets taken.

If anything it should be like in Skyrim; lower bounties mean guards won't automatically try to apprehend you if you don't linger or interact with them. It would also be nice to be able to "pay off" guards (you pay them X amount to clear your bounty and you keep your stolen stuff), but I imagine that might be introduced with Thieves Guild and the Dark Brotherhood. True, we can pay off our fines in the Refuge, but it would be nice not to have to go to one every time we need to get the heat off us.