No please, steal from me a fifth time.

[Anonymous]

Serious.  Its totally awesome that you keep stealing.

I'm playing the dumb target and deliberately not firing off a scan.  Please, keep stealing from me even though I'm emoting clutching the coins in my hand and arguing with the shopkeeper NPC claiming that they ripped me off.

Your ability to type 'steal man' is fucking awesome.

[Dracul]

Your ability to type 'steal man' is fucking awesome.

I sense the sarcasm dripping off this....

[Carnage]

Something that pisses me off is if you're chasing after/looking directly at someone, they'll either sneak away or hide. Nice one.

[Dracul]

Well in a crowded area...that's easy to do, you quickly duck behind some people and slip into a crowd. Thats what the sneaking and hiding -are-.


This bitching threads have already been done, this should just be closed. Seriously.

[Carnage]

Alleyways aren't generally very crowded.

[FiveDisgruntledMonkeysWit]

Yes, but they are dark, filled with crates, branch off into smaller alleys, are filled with sewer grates...

Seriously, I wish people would stop whining about theives on the GDB. If someone is being a abusive, email the MUD with a log, or even better, just make up and IC excuse to get the hell out of there so the twink doesn't gouge you more. Steal from me once, shame on you. Steal from me -FIVE TIMES- shame on me for not packing up and getting out of there.

[Anonymous]

Steal from me once, shame on you. Steal from me -FIVE TIMES- shame on me for not packing up and getting out of there.

Its the other way around.  I should be able to roleplay clutching the newly received coinage in my hand and expect others to respect that.

I don't have a problem being stolen from, especially considering that each time I've ever realized I've been stolen from I've made a deliberate effort not to jump out of my chair and spam scan since it wouldn't have made sense.

Emailing the staff only addresses one person's behaviour (Either poor play on someone else's part or bad perception on my part) whereas posting on the GDB makes more people aware of what sort of play people expect, regardless of whether I'm wrong to be bitching or the other player was wrong for their actions.

[JollyGreenGiant]

Hmm.  Why not simply leave the coins where they can't be stolen and simply rp out clutching them in your hand?  Similar things are done in other situations where the code simply doesn't conform to the way the situation is being played out.  For example, in order to pack/unpack/rest a mount, you have to be mounted on it.  So if an elf mounts a kank to pack or unpack something, or to rest the kank, I'd ignore it - it's a quirk of the code and it doesn't fit the way the situation would be played out.  

So instead of getting yet another handful of coins from whatever container you're retrieving them from, just emote pulling out a clenched fistful of coins.  The obvious downside to this solution is that it eliminates interesting possibilities, like "The very tall figure in a hooded cloak stumbles into you, violently jostling your elbow." followed by a theft.  I'm sure a number of people would also disagree with this approach of using the code that way to support what should just be an rp'ed situation, but if the thief involved is refusing to play the situation out, I see little other choice, if you're going to insist on playing out your scenario of tightly holding onto a handful of coins.

On the flip side of things, think about those con artists who can steal the watch off of your wrist and the rings off of your finger, completely unnoticed.  I've seen firsthand demonstrations of that sort of sleight of hand by people who chose to use their "talent" to entertain rather than actually steal.  The point is, for all I know, it might be well within the bounds of reality for someone to do exactly what was done to you.  It's frustrating to have something stolen from you, but that doesn't necessarily qualify it as either "unrealistic" or "bad rp".

[Malifaxis]

Even though it is a distasteful reaction, the way I see it is if someone is going to spamcommand to try to F you over, and not give you any flavor in return (to quote Full Metal Jacket: "... with out the common courtesy to give a reach-around"), then I don't have any problem with returning the favor.

Yes, I agree, people SHOULD respond, with respect, to what you are emoting that your character is doing.  If they don't?  Screw 'em.  Maybe I'm a bit verbose when I'm around people... I'm one of those 'every command requires an emotive description' types, even if it's of a stealthy nature.  But if someone were to spamsteal from me, without providing any flavor... even if they have had five flawless steal attempts that I noticed by watching my coins drop in my inventory, I would have no problem with saying something like "Hmm, my pouch is lighter than it was four moments ago... GUARDS!!!" then kick up the run, and boogie.

If someone steals, jostles my elbow, then emotes ducking behind a display, re-approaches, nicks another few coins, emotes that there's a small slit ripped in the side of my 'sid pouch, I'd enjoy it too much from an OOC standpoint to react, until I get an active failure message.

If the flavor is there, the soup is worth enjoying.  If it's bland and tasteless and gives you gas, toss it out, bitch at the waiter, and ask for a refund.

[Barzalene]

I see nothing wrong with CRW's post. If no one says anything how will people know they're wrong. Yes, this topic comes up periodically, but people never think criticism is aimed at them.

Does it need to be further debated? I don't know, but if you feel the topic has been overly visited, then don't post.

[spawnloser]

Mali's got the best point made so far.  Oh, and what Barzalene said?  Right on.  Noone's going to know they're idiots unless someone tells them...such is the nature of idiocy.  However, the big colored happy guy also has a point.  RP something out, but if the code doesn't change someone's chance to take something from you just because you emoted, do something about it.  You don't have to act like the shopkeeper is the thief...in fact, most of them would have too much to lose by going for petty theft.  One chooses how they are going to interpret a situation, granted, but that doesn't mean that you can't guess at a thief being there.

[Frog Fairy]

I think that a complaint about players' behaviour would have a much bigger effect on those players if it was written in an explanatory way rather than in a sarcastic way.
If you want to change how people role-play, I suggest you tell them what you think they do wrong and why you think it's wrong. It's difficult to improve without that information.

One shouldn't assume that people understand that their role-play is unrealistic. Maybe they're new, maybe they've never played a thief before, maybe they've never thought about it from that perspective. Role-playing on Armageddon is not an innate ability.

[Bestatte]

I'd like to add...

Okay, one theft of coins is easy to let slide, and yeah scanning might be kinda iffy.

Two in a row, in the same place? C'mon, since when are you required to assume that a thief ISN'T hidden on the side of that big boxy crate that you're leaning against and stealing from you over and over again?

I'd suggest a reversal of the old saw:

Fool me once, shame on ME. Fool me twice, shame on you because I'm gonna hunt you down and rip your head off, and shove it up your ass.

[Cenghiz]

That's why I emote at least "emote walks north, passing very close to ~<bla>" when my skill's high enough. OK, it makes the other player a little conflicting between his OOC and IC mind, but... At least he knows I could easily steal from his inventory, I was close.
I started a non-sneaky, non-scanner character and I know I'll be stolen from. Please emote it, so I don't log to the MUD account, wish up to the deadly imms and send trojans to your computer which turn your computer into a finger eating cyborg.
Ohh... writing nonsense, I'm sleepy.

[crymerci]

Hey, CRW's back!  Welcome (back) to Armageddon!

[Dracul]

I'd like to add...

Okay, one theft of coins is easy to let slide, and yeah scanning might be kinda iffy.

Two in a row, in the same place? C'mon, since when are you required to assume that a thief ISN'T hidden on the side of that big boxy crate that you're leaning against and stealing from you over and over again?

I'd suggest a reversal of the old saw:

Fool me once, shame on ME. Fool me twice, shame on you because I'm gonna hunt you down and rip your head off, and shove it up your ass.

Exactly why I don't like to emote when hidden...you don't need to force yourself to be obvious or fuck up...because eventually you will by accident (and it's therefore genuine) and then......you die.    or some other great consequence, so why do it on purpose?

[Cenghiz]

If you don't object another PC for more than one pickpocket, it's OK to emote something like "emote passes by you, his head bowed down"..
The city version of hide is blending into the crowd. But to steal, you should come close to someone. You'll just look like "someone", this time meaning a person visible, but not drawing any attention of the victim, so forgotten, if you're succesfully hiding. Then you *must* (I'm against stealing twice from someone) leave the room sneakily.
If the victim scans succesfully, he doesn't find you under a table. Not in the city. He just sees you trying to stay close to a few half elves head inclined, then walking with the passing human group to another corner. Oh I can't tell with my limited English, but I mean scanning a city hide means seeing some suspicious behaviour of someone, I guess..
Let noone tell me that he hides under a table in Gaj. It's just funny and nearly impossible to *hide* without drawing any attention. You just blend into the crowd.
That's my two silver coins.. (Heh, won't tell you where I found them, but you may take them. I have more in my castle.)

[Anonymous]

Maybe they're new, maybe they've never played a thief before, maybe they've never thought about it from that perspective. Role-playing on Armageddon is not an innate ability.

You're right, FF and well said..  It was my second day of really being back into this game and I let my frustration over what I felt was disregard for fellow players get the best of me.

I left this game because I felt that, increasingly, the mud was becoming a contentious place for players and not just for characters.  The episode I complained about only seemed to reinforce that and my complaint had nothing to do with the approximately 10-20 coins I lost (it really wasn't much) but from making a bunch of assumptions.

Honestly, for all I know it was an NPC.

I sit corrected.

[Anonymous]

Hey, CRW's back! Welcome (back) to Armageddon!

Heh, that made my day.  Thanks for the kind note.

[Malifaxis]

Believe it or not, many of us missed the three-lettered wonder.

Hey, anyone know Halaster's number?  Lets try to make this a trend...