If you mean an NPC bodyguard, that sounds like a good idea since traders are combat incompetent (sorry ianhanse) but they'd have to be defeatable somehow. And if a trader sicked him/her on us, we should be able to squash you if we won.

:oP Ragran

That would be really really really unfair Gossford. People like me have spent years doing this for a good reason. Taking it away would be off the wall.

:oP Ragran

The magic redesign? I had the same number of ranks after they were done. The system changed but they didn't steal my hard earned skiiiews..

:oP Ragran

Gossford answers Schvartz's question, but many of you seem to be against stealing from you as a part of game mechanics. You are money-centers. Thieves should, with moral authority, pick on you most of the time. Presumeably you aren't the "poor" you are the merchant-class at lowest. That makes you the "rich".

Face it, you are targets and their should be no changes to that dynamic.

Although, I agree, a change to that (more protections for the rich) would be realistic. Bring Bush in to design the new system. He's a real pro.

:oP Ragran

<<The magic redesign? I had the same number of ranks after they were done. The system changed but they didn't steal my hard earned skiiiews..

no you can keep your skills, just if you not a thief you no longer have the access to the steal verb. I still have my magic ranks, they just useless now.

---

"All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others." ~~ G.O.

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>By 40 ranks, you're making decent enough profit to come well ahead even with theft on the trade routes.<


14th circle trader, of late i've actually been loosing money doing routes. I do keep small coin on me and a few small gems in my backpack. <ponder> Need to check if those are gone yet, probably. I was hounded by Setzic one day but never actually saw him in my pocket just felt someone in there and him pointing me out of hiding then hiding himself while stalking etc etc. I hid in the guard house for a while and he went to gobs to hunt or something. It sucks but nothing I could do about it. <shrugs> I know stealing is part of a traders life but it's frustrating to be loosing money from where you started when running the routes.

<<I hid in the guard house for a while and he went to gobs to hunt or something. It sucks but nothing I could do about it. <shrugs> I know stealing is part of a traders life but it's frustrating to be loosing money from where you started when running the routes.>>

This attitude should be framed and posted infront of all traders because it is a healthy perspective. Nothing can be done beyond the individual victims' skill. The poor guy was hiding in a jailhouse... He is worried about theft. That's healthy.

And yet he isn't bemoaning the basic fact that thieves exist in RP worlds.

Cheers
:oP Ragran
P.S. Just work a ranged weapon to 200+ and you will nail thieves right and left...if not me <g>

One difference...magic is an organic ability which you may or may not possess....(according to the Harry Potter books which I DO NOT read!!)

The ability to attempt to shoplift a sack from a store is nothing like magical ability.

Owned! (We both know there is no more convincing argument than this. This was convincing...trust me...seriously....keep your eye on the watch...you are convinced...your eyelids are getting heavier... Im right. K? I really am!)

:oP Ragran

No I am talking hiring anyone to be my bodyguard. I am a trader, I make coin, I have extra coin to hire Joe to be my bodyguard....Joe just happens to practice the stealthy arts because the trader guild makes another agreement with the guild. ;) Joe sees a warmie teef wannabe attempting to steal from me and takes care of my nuisance for me. Joe is handsomely rewarded for his job well done.

Ever wonder why computer secruity companies hire hackers to test their stuff? Ever wonder why "rich" folks hire former "BAD" guys to be thier bodyguards or "contracters"? Cuz those guys know the job.

In real life I am a sales rep. I make a decent living. I know how to change my oil in my car, but I hire someone to do it for me, why, cuz my time is worth more than taking time to change my oil and get dirty. My trader(s) could train stealing (he does juggle a lot) but why? He's got money, why not hire a down on his luck thief or a barbarian or a paladin? Let ME RP my trader that way.

Gonif, you know me and my characters, so you know I what I meant. Gossford came up with some really good ideas to balance it out. But really, unless you are being really dumb or getting picked on, does stealing really balance a trader's earning potential? The balance is IT's MINDNUMBINGLY BORING!!! ;)

---

Some people are like Slinkies. Not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you see one tumble down the stairs.

<<Joe sees a warmie teef wannabe attempting to steal from me and takes care of my nuisance for me. Joe is handsomely rewarded for his job well done.>>

Or Joe gets his face smashed in, ends up dead on the side of the road, and you, standing there bewildered lose all of your coins anyways.

Lets make this happen!

<<my time is worth more than taking time to change my oil and get dirty.>>

...snob

:oP Ragran

I don't think traders should complain about stealing until caught. I understand the ferry situation, and if you can't make it back to land in time to accuse, thats a bit off and needs some GM to make it so.

If a thief steals from you in town - accuse him. That stuff builds up and soon for stealing your 10 silver, he will be getting a 1plat+ fine. Out of town? You can pretty much instantly kill him! Talk about powerful.

<<you can easily avoid thugging.>>

not so easily, at least if you want to play the game and do other things.

i once waited around 2 hours in hiding, saw the group of tough guys walk past over 50 times.

i finally logged on my empath to the same room i was hiding in, and got the thugging over with.




"Word on the street is, ya been lookin' out for the best interests of the Guild."

<<That stuff builds up and soon for stealing your 10 silver, he will be getting a 1plat+ fine.>>

...try over 10 plat.

:oP Ragran

yea yea you owned me...BLEH!

:oP Ragran

Damn it! I am not cooperative! I am not affable! I think that coin was poisoned...

:oP Ragran

On that note:

Even after WARNing me about interacting with her in the future she has repeatedly attempted to interact with me - which is bizarre. However, I agree she is sweet. Just a big baby at the same time.

(YOU: Probably on the ferry)
Yea, i agree thievery is charming at first. So much fun! So new, novel! Wow, that was fun...

(out NE gate)
Wait...yer gonna steal from me again? This is less fun! But still a little charming.

(next ferry ride)
OMG! Not again! This isnt fun! This is crime! What da hell you doin? Dose my coins! Give em back!

(In shard?)
Okay I dont like crime. I dont like having my coins taken. Im going to the boards!

(On boards)
WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ME:
"IF" caught I dont steal from that person till I see em again. Thats my rule. So thats settled. When I see them again, I probably will tear through they pockets because ive either forgotten who you are, and/or probably dont care anyway.

Again, the routes are dangerous. Ferries, barges, piers, docks, city gates are classic places for thieves to be - they just havent been for years and years here. Im bringing back the tradition of fearing thievery when travelling. You know Im prolly there. What you gonna do? THATS an RP game...or part of it.

I do everything possible to RP it out. If its the ferry and people go ferry then hide: I have 10 scripts that RP an explanation that you are about to be mugged (which is why i am pointing you out, and I change them every 2 weeks) and 20 scripts that react to you if im caught (and sometimes if im not caught). There isnt time to use them in every single situation, but 99% of the time you'll see me RP the theft as best I can with the time given me (remember I have to survive the encounter).

Im sure that the amount of giggling and snuggling and foraging and massive amounts of mounting that you do never ever gets boring. It does for me.

:oP Ragran

i would hope that they wouldnt do the petition.

because

1. stealing is limited as it is. the whole coin/gem thing.

2. stealing is meant as a danger to trading, just as dying to critters is a danger in hunting. games gotta have checks and balances.



"Word on the street is, ya been lookin' out for the best interests of the Guild."

<<Hmm..so the whole stealing system was created to counterbalance the creation of the Trader guild?

I seriously hope you don't think this.

Traders make a great target because, on the whole as a guild, they are the most likely to be walking around with a bag full of coin and not paying as much attention to it.


Trebber

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Your mech lore ranks could care less if the paper is blue or plain.

GM XXXXXX "Well, we can't please everyone."

You say, "True, but that is no reason not to try."

>Just to edify, a "stealer" will not successfully procure coin from a "target" for some time after they are caught.

Um, actually, not that I've seen working with my own thief. If I sit there and have him steal over and over and over again from one of my other characters to teach the other chara perception, my thief will continue to get coin. I rarely do it like this, because it doesn't effectively teach stealing, but he will get coin.

>I might as well lay off because you will catch me over and over and over from then on,

Getting caught doesn't matter whether or not you get coin. The former is based perception, the latter is based on stealing. The annoying thieves are the ones who don't care if they get caught and the only way to stop them in an enclosed space like the ferry is to log. I really don't like doing that.

>unless I take a long break from you.

60 seconds isn't that long.

>I stop and start stealing from someone else.

You might, but 99.9% don't. They just laugh and say, "Make me." and keep doing it. That is what I hate. They aren't getting anywhere really other than irritating other players.

>Its just annoying from then on.

Yup, which is why I wish there were a way to make idiots who do it stop other than logging out of the game. Ok, if they're lower circle, you can report. That's even more wimpy than logging. If they have 20 or more circles on the trader, there's no reason to even bother a GM with it. That's an obvious NoGM situation. So what can you do? Either put up with it or log? Great. That's a lot of fun, well, it is for the thief.

I guess I just don't like being harassed. To me being stolen from with no recourse or even way to stop it isn't fun, any more than having someone chase one of my characters around to kill them, just get in their way or otherwise be an annoying nuisance. Yes, you have your right to have fun and I have no right to say anything about it, but it gets old after a while. Especially when its so OOC as the ferry situation. You'd think we, the traders that is, could at least gang up on a thief and throw his sorry rear into the river.