Crime and punishment

Story & Setting
#1

Continuing the discussion from Trial by Combat:

What are devs doing in the crime department. I personally would like to see some crimes punishable by death. Trial by combat could be included for lawsuit type crimes. It would’ve really cool if npcs could get offended or feel victimized (let’s say there’s no witnesses and someone thinks you killed all their cows, or their grandmother, and you actually did both but you say your innocent and the entire town says it a the devil or something), they could challenge you to a duel etc. some might even try to outright murder you (Npc crime would be an epic feature, especially with NPC life cycles etc). Also, to counter the easy way out factor in trial by combat, id like to say hat, if you are arrested, you are brought to trial before the local lord. He, an NPC, will judge you, and you can apply for trial by combat. Some crimes (Another cool thing I thought of) should have trial by ordeal, in which the character has to, say, walk across hot coals etc. this could permanently damage stats (agility- feet hurt from scars and things, for example).
I think you should also be able to be declared an outlaw, with a price on your head. There on, you’d find bounty hunters coming after you, and guards chasing you, and villagers trying to poison you etc. I like these punishment systems as they allow you to be a mass murderer (though I feel taking on multiple opponents could be very difficult in this game) and to face the consequences, not just auto reload.
Also, I personally think all (and I mean all) npcs should be killable with a message popping up to alert you that you’ve missed a quest. In game punishment should be scaled so that more important (politically) npcs should be a worse crime to harm.

2 Likes
#2

Also: when I create knew posts, the only options are “story and setting”, “off-topic”, “Czech”, and “German.” That’s why I didn’t post this in the “gameplay” section, because I don’t appear to have the option to do so…
WHY!!!???
Can I have some help (plus contribution to the above, of course…)

#3

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#4

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#5

I like the trial by combat and ordeal options. It would be cool to be an outlaw, but I think the bounty hunters need to be tough, and rare (not like Skyrim). As for the killing everyone, there’s another thread discussing that, so I’m only going to say that is something they’re looking at (and also the option the forum seems to favour), but for me, I want as few notices as possible; I don’t like to be reminded I’m playing a game.

#6

I like that thought. The fact that if you do things you shouldnt, then you become an outcast. bounty hunters chasing you, very cool but what after that? if you are an outcast and have guards after you every time you enter a city. Some form of disguise or maybe join up with bandits? I saw a gameplay vid of the story, following the soldiers to the farm and then going off by yourself and finding the guys that killed the horses or what ever. At any case what would be cooler, trying to not attract attention from guards or go complete bandit. I prefer the bandit myself.

#7

How would an outlaw serve the king and help in a civil war? Gotta keep in mind there is a story to this game.

Anyways the title of this thread reminded me I should read this soon

#8

its a good idea but i think after say 4 times it will get really annoying having to go through the process of court etc every time you kill some guys cow so the process would have to be kept short .

for example skyrim gives you the three options , ( fight , prison , fine ) maybe have a similar process just teleport you in front of a judge or have to follow the guard there . and give you a few options say a fine and prison as a basic two then add maybe a option to appeal your crime as this would then give the player the option to go into a full process rather than being forced into an hour long process because you accidentally hit some guys cow in the knee with an arrow .

I like the outlaw idea maybe have posters around town with your picture on and a town crier calling for people to look out for you etc .

#9

Skyrim’s system, I gotta say, doesn’t seem to deter criminals. After a certain level I’m not scared of the guards in-game. I really hope WH cracks down hard on crime, perhaps with a whipping for stealing a loaf of bread, damaging your stats for a few days, or hard labour, or a three strikes you’re out system (“out” meaning if the law catches you-execution).

#10

yes but that destroys the fun of the game , who wants a game where you cant break the law more than twice or you’re executed and have to start all over . it isnt about deterring criminals its about having fun . so system that is both realistic and fun is needed , they should have public hangings of criminal NPC yes but not the actual player .

#11

Good point. Perhaps then a heavily enforced justice system that is immersive and fun for the player in its own way. I WANT to be stopped from slaughtering an entire village.

#12

yes but youre only one audience , the game needs to appeal to other people too , i for example someday’s enjoy being a bit sad and living a regular medieval life then other days i like too behead every single person and burn their houses down . i should be able to do both without having my entire game ruined or having then too sit for hours going through a legal system it should be a choice . for example you could be given the option to pay a fine and go or if a case is more serious , plead guilty or not guilty if you plead guilty you’re put in prison (have a realistic prison with a quest you must complete and have a number of quests that contribute to a year served so say i dont know for a simple example mine 600 rock once you complete it go to bed and you wake up a year later and so on until your sentence is served and when you come out the world has changed in some way to represent a year passed .

or plead not guilty and if youre good at persuading people you may be able to talk your way out of a crime you committed and if youre not actually guilty you can present some sort of evidence or just out right buy the judge .

this way the player has options on how immersive he is feeling that particular day

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#13

I really think you should get away with some smaller crimes at least if youre careful (no one sees you, you don’t make loud noises etc.). Even if you kill someone it shouldnt mean that you automatically get punished cause when you’re careful and nobody sees you, no one knows who killed that guy.

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#14

i agree that did annoy me on skyrim , you murder someone in the middle of no where with no one around and yet you still get a bounty .
should have a system where nearby people will run too report the crime and you can bribe them to keep quit or something

#15

yah: I liked the thing in Skyrim where you could kill all the witnesses, pity it never worked. Perhaps this game could mark who was a “witness” so you could go about murdering them before they tell anyone…

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#16

I think you are wrong here, if you want to run amok on a killing spree there is nothing stopping you regardless of the punishment system in place, you can just reload to a previous pre-crime save if needs be. Personally I think the idea of genuine consequence to your actions is a good one. Crime should be punished in game, as it was back then all the way up to be hung, drawn and quartered if caught committing treason! If you want to run around killing all you see, you are probably backing the wrong game. If Skyrim is the bench mark against which we are measuring (and I love Skyrim, I have put in 250+ hours on PS3 and a further 50-60 hours more recently on PC) then I would expect a minimum of fight, bribe or jail. Skyrim has a poor system though, fighting should be almost un-winnable, jail should be almost un-survivable and bribes should bankrupt you!

If you were sent to jail and all of the survival/crafting/fighting skills could be put to use somehow, to make the jail sentence and enjoyable aspect of the game it could be quite interesting. Have the jail as it’s own sandbox, craft weapons like shivs, trap food such as rats and fight with other inmates. It should be difficult though, so people think twice before intentionally breaking the law.

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#17

people would slate the game if they did that because you’re then forced on to the straight and narrow and forced to just do the story . anything else ends in death and reload or complete ruin …that isnt fun .

if someone wants to butcher a village they should be allowed to do it without having to lose their entire unsaved progress or all their money . yes their should be a justice system but if you make it too strict you ruin the game for a huge audience . which is why war horse wouldn’t do your idea no matter how great you painted up a justice system that strict because they would lose ALOT of money in sales the moment they announced that feature .
its about creating a game where a player can do whatever he likes when ever where ever he wants .

#18

I didn’t mean make it impossible. If you could make serving the sentence fun and an integral part of the game I don’t see that it would matter. It’s just that in Skyrim your actions come with no real consequence… The guards should strike fear into you regardless of your level. If the crime system is realistic (I’ll admit I know very little about medieval law enforcement here though) I would expect that unless you are caught in the act, have left live witnesses or become an infamous, well known highwayman the likelihood of you being punished is slim. I’m going to go away and research crime and punishment in the 1400s, just so I can find put forward a reasonable argument (not that it really matters).

I know what you are saying though, have to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. It’s much like Dayz and Breaking Point I suppose… The majority want to camp on the coast killing new spawns, whereas I like to try and help. Invariably somebody shoots me for my efforts.

#19

it appears many people got away with crime back then.

#20

http://www.humanities360.com/index.php/enforcing-the-law-in-medieval-europe-6930/

It appears you were likely to get away with crime. They could turn it into a mini game if caught. Having to use persuasion/speechcraft whatever else to persuade a jury that you are innocent. Or if you do enough bad things have a vigilante group coming after you!

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