Lockpicking, to be or not to be?

Gameplay
#1

So, I have always enjoyed playing a thief (I spent 15 years in Ultima Online playing a thief as my main character for example). MY hopes are that this game won’t be like Skyrim or most other generic games where you play a thief. Actually, I don’t think I will play this game as a thief (although, stealing something when opportunity knocks is a different thing). What I mean is most games have a thief template that more or less is based on backstabbing damage with a bow, disarming traps and stealth. And some games have bothered putting in a perk called stealing so you can nab a few coins from a NPC. Or, if you bother to master it, you can steal thier armour while they sleep or have the back turned at you. Yey.

And then there is lockpicking with all that comes with that. Some games offer lockpicks, some just offer perks for lockpicking, some offer both. Some games does not have it at all.
But in all games EVERY freaking merchant sell lockpicks. Anyhow. I mean, come on, does all merchants in all worlds support thieves like that? Merchants should be the maintargets for thieves, not the main suppliers of tools to be used by thieves.

I think it would be more realistic if you/I as a thief had to create your own tools since beeing a thief after all is a somewhat shady business? I can agree to someone in a thiefguild or a fence could possibly sell lockpicks, but I would think it’s more rare than common.

I was one of those who actually liked the idea of the lockpicking minigame in Skyrim, although, I must say I prefer the one in Thief for example.

So, my question is, if you by some reason get to pick locks, how is this supposed to work?
And will everyone who sells something sell lockpicks? I hope not.

3 Likes
#2

Well lockpicks should be selled by some outlaw merchants :D.
But creating your own lockpicks sound sooo cool ! If theres cooking, alchemy blacksmithing there could be creating small things like lockpicks, that would be great.
Thievery is a crime, so merchants can’t sell it, atleast I hope that its gonna be like this in the game.

I enjoyed Thief, enjoyed lockpicking, enjoyed stealth…Im actually kinda stealth type, so Im looking forward to stealth mechanics and steathy gameplay.

1 Like
#3

Creating lockpicks sounds like a typical blacksmith or tinker job and I don’t think it’s farfetched to assume that a blacksmith could be able to make lockpicks (specially since I’m quite sure that the blacksmith probably is the one making the locks in the village anyway). I really do hope that none of the merchants you run into sells lockpicks, that is just unrealistic. :slight_smile:

I don’t mind playing stealthy, it’s fun sometimes, but stealth in many games is a sorry mess and nothing else. :frowning:
I saw someone from the staff mentioning that stealth is not crouching in the middle of the town square. :wink:

#4

I choose a warhammer as my lock pick, pow and we are good.

3 Likes
#5

Maybe not the stealthiest way to bypass a lock but it works. I guess it all comes down to when/where and under what circumstances you have to bypass a lock! :wink:

1 Like
#6

You could maybe just go in through the window.

#7

yeah but you would have to open that window too.
no but seriusly lockpicking would be awesome but I think it has to be completly different from games like skyrim, because the locks back in the medieval times were very different from the ones now or in skyrim

#8

Personally I hated Skyrim’s and Thief’s lock picking, it’s not realistic at all, the two I have to enjoy the most would be Oblivion and Sleeping Dogs.

#9

I would love lockpicking in the game. Hopefully something similarly to Maffia 2 where you have to get each pin in the right height. And not something unrealistically as Skyrim. Not saying Maffia 2 is a perfect representation of real life

#10

Yeah I think I would like a similiar system here too. But remember, medieval locks was much simplier than our modern locks. :slight_smile:

#11

I didn’t really think about that. How did they work?

#12

Mostly like normal locks, just not as advanced.
I did a quick picture search at Google and it got some nice examples.
I also think that there might be more advanced locks on more valuable items but door locks and such doesn’t seem to be “rocket sciene” precisely. :slight_smile:

#13

I couldn’t find any good pictures. But I’m not too sure that they work like regular locks. Don’t they work more like those locks with classical keyholes or does those work the same way as the newer locks we have now? Can’t really find anything on google

#14

Oh… Well, they seem to work like the old “classic” keyholes. Like the keyholes you have on your bedroom door for example. Quite simple, most of them. But then, since they wasn’t to precise I would like to think that some kind of force when turning the key would be required because the mechanics wasn’t that great.

For example, my friend got a small farm which was established around 1800. All buildings are original even though some doors and windows have been changed. The doors that have not been changed got quite cranky locks, you need to “work them” a bit before you can actually unlock them (and this is locks that are about 200 years old, so I guess older locks will be harder to unlock).

#15

In my opinion picking locks should be a minigame like in Oblivion or Skyrim.

Skyrim may have not a realistic system but at least is quick and fun so i hope devs will be able to find a system equally good. Anyway i’m not a thief :slight_smile: so i don’t know how picking a lock works in reality but i believe it would be much hard than fun.

I support the idea that lockpicks should not be sold by every merchant, but only from some outlaw characters.

P.s. i strongly believe that the “thiefguild” is more a fantasy thing than a medieval fact.

1 Like
#16

I agree with you, I’d love to see lockpicking as a minigame, but with a little bit more challenge and thought than in Skyrim.

Info about theifguilds: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thieves’_guild

I saw a docu on Youtube some year ago or so about some american guy that is a master pickpocket (as an entertainer) but he had heard of some pickpocket somewhere in Italy I think it was so he went there to meet this guy. After a while he got to meet this guy. He used to hang out at a restaurant with some other pickpockets. They are probably the closest to a thief guild in real life that I’ve heard of. not that I’m an expert though, but still… :slight_smile:

#17

Well, i don’t have problems to believe forms of organized crime in a medieval setting.

I know there were, even if we should remind that the medieval age span for a thousand of years and we must avoid the error of believing that the societies we found at the beginning of it are the same of the ones at the end.
Middle ages are a long and vibrant era.

But when i think of a thieves guild i imagine a building with a sign hanging out which says “Thieves Guild” and that’s seems a bit ridiculous.

Btw, here in Italy our real life thieves guild sits on the parliament, trust me :smile:

1 Like
#19

I think that locks should be a rare thing…castle treasure chests and such…definitely not on every door in a village. Who could afford them or even create them in a small village when most of the local blacksmiths work consists of creating spades, horseshoes and nails? I think a wooden bar would do on most doors and a dagger would probably be more than enough to lift that through a crack in the door. Same goes for windows…who, even today, has a lock on their window?

In case there is a lock on something…chest or door or whatever, I would love to have an option to go through it by force…as I used to in Baldurs Gate, because there is nothing more annoying than a lock you cant get through just because you don´t have a pick on you…

#20

I would like it to be as realistic as possible. If they didn’t use locks at that time or that geographically location so be it. But if they used locks then I would like to see locks in the villages.

#21

Since the main character(Henry right?) is a blacksmith I figured out that he would know his ways around locks since he’s creating them. So you won’t have to learn to lockpicking from some sketchy guy found behind the local tavern. That’s what it would logically be at least.

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