This is just some ideas that have been bouncing around my head.

NPC Observation and Interaction - NPCs and Guards should have to interact for a crime to be reported. Simple enough. The instantaneous and omniscient Guards destroys a layer of immersion and prevents the player at times from making a 'get away'. By making it so that the NPCs have to report the player it gives the player the opportunity to "silence" the NPC or run. Giving the NPCs a choice of Flight/Fight/Report, this simple mechanic suddenly creates a layer of immersion while keeping things simple and creating the illusion of being comprehensive. More so, the farther out from a city or location of a Guard a crime is committed. The less likely it is to be reported. If I attack and kill some guy in his house in the middle of nowhere in Stonefalls....How does a Guard in Daggerfall know about it?

Guards shouldnt be Omniscient and Crimes shouldnt be known the world over[/] - This is an extension of the one above but Id like to better explain it here. A Guard in the Rift shouldnt instantly know youre wanted for a crime in Auridon. Why would the Guards in Riften even care if you killed a chicken in Vulkhel Guard? A Bounty should be localized to the region that it was earned. What this means is, if you commit a crime in Shadowfen. Youre wanted in Shadowfen and no where else. I think the only exception of this might be reported murder. And even then, possibly keeping that localized to the nearby zones would be more preferential than all of Tamriel as a whole. Its understandable that Eastmarch and the Rift exchange information about wanted felons and such...It makes no sense that the Pact would share that information with the Dominion. Are there Justicars and Town Guard Captains from both sides meeting somewhere in Cyrodiil to exchange their top wanted lists?

All Crimes arent created equal - Why does theft equal that of murder? Granted you can rack up a hell of a bounty by just theft alone. It still makes no sense that there doesnt appear to be a difference between one crime and another.



Tiered Levels of Crime - A crime should fall within a category of crimes/punishment. Each category or tier will determine the bounty (earning enough of a bounty will still tilt a crime over into a higher tier) but the punishment for each tier will be severely different from the others.


Tier III Crimes - A Tier 3 crime is the lowest category for crimes and punishment. Crimes falling within Tier 3 are petty and result in the least harsh of punishments. The crimes that would fall within this tier are theft and trespassing. The punishment would be the payment of said bounty. Guards will stop players on site and demand the bounty be paid and stolen items returned. No violence need occur unless the player has earned a high enough bounty that it be bumped up to a Tier 2 Crime (Petty Theft vs Felony Theft).

Tier II Crimes - Tier 2 crimes are the second category and would be the middle ground for both crimes and punishment. The crimes would be running from a Guard (refusing to pay bounty), assault on an NPC, felony theft, destruction of property (killing chickens/ox etc). The reason killing livestock falls here is because in real life as recent as the Wild West you could be hanged for the theft of a horse. The reason for this was because livestock was considered a persons livelihood. They were expensive and almost always provided a means for a person to survive (milk/eggs/protein/labor). So to steal an animal/harm one owned by someone was considered damn well close to trying to kill the person or doing serious financial damage to them which could result in killing them. But this is a video game and most people would never be able to connect the dots to why the death of a chicken should mean their death. This crime falling into a less violent end for the player makes more sense. The punishment here would be that of Guards knocking the player unconscious (drinking mead in Eastmarch and passing out) and having the bounty and stolen goods confiscated. The player would "wake up" with a little less gold, the stolen goods removed and no damage caused to their gear.

Tier I Crimes - Tier 3 would be the most severe of crimes and result in the most severe of punishment. Crimes would include murder of an NPC, assault on a Guard and an unreasonably high bounty. The murder of an NPC is self explanatory but the assault on the Guard is simply self defense on the part of a Guard. If youre willing to attack a Guard...Youre probably of the most violent type. The unreasonably high bounty is due to the fact that if youre continuously committing crimes to the point that a bounty should raise itself to a Tier 1 status. Youre just plain asking for it.

- Healing a player that is attempting to escape the guards should set the Bounty status of the escaping player on the Healing player. So if the Escapee has a Tier 2 Bounty, the player attempting to heal the Escapee will gain a Tier 2 Bounty as a result.


Add your own ideas and thoughts below.