What's wrong with people?

[Asmodeus]

By being a purely social function it would determine how all players interact with the character, and that interaction being based on the human players individual would provide an abstract and subjective result for being a bad person.

Making it a Village or Kin reputation would also mean that your actions are more likely to be reflected in your alts and that your village is less likely to tolerate housing you (if you like to visit other villages and...oh I don't know... steal a cupboards worth of sausages.) Because then other villages and players will be less liekly to trade or co-operate with that village.

...or if they are smart enough just rate each other highest...

The reputation stat would definitely need to be affected negatively by trespassing, vandalism, theft, violence and murder. Perhaps time spent playing without performing these illegal activities would return your state to neutral, reflecting the village authority forgetting about the theft of bread made weeks ago. Gaining a positive in Reputation would have to be given by village members with apropriate authority and a positive or neutral rep, as there aren't actually any 'good' actions to make in the game that I know of. I would personally like to know if someone is a griefer or occaisional thief when considering how I interact with them.

[Jackard]

*devs add memorization mechanic, which aids anonymity*
*dumb pubbies propose a scarlet letter mechanic*

[Chakravanti]

Yeah idk about all that other shit.

[Asmodeus]

Memorisation mechanic has no effect on the details of crime scents.

Bad guys look like bad guys, whether you know their name or not, in japan the get tattoos.. perhaps in olde norway they twisted mice skulls into their beard. Anyone can walk down the street in real life and play spot the thief. Sometimes people who associate with thieves or drug dealers look like them and get mistaken for them, this supports the reflection of the stat being on kin or village.

You can tell someone who comes from a different city (Especially in Europe) and if you have heard bad things about that city you mark it against them without even realising. In Sheffield you can spot someone who comes from Parsons bloody Cross (a real bad suburb) and you cross the road rather than get within arms reach. Doesn't mean I know their name or who they are related to but I know that they are associated with people I dont want to associate with.

I am just looking for reprisal against thieves that doesnt involve killing them, because not everyone can do that. Its why people banded together and lived in villages in the first place.

[Jackard]

its you, you are the bad guy

[sabinati]

a chav nicked me mobile

[Asmodeus]

Thats it, we should ban Chavs from the earth.

[Chakravanti]

...perhaps in olde norway they twisted mice skulls into their beard...

I've thought about doing that to my dreadlocks.

[martinuzz]

Hmm. I like the reputation idea.. Maybe expand on it:
If you gain bad reputation, your village members gain bad reputation too.
It still diminishes with time.

That way, doing bad stuff will have social complications.

[Potjeh]

Nonono, you identify bad people by measuring their skulls. I thought everyone knew that.

But anyway, here's my proposal:

To break city walls, you need to build a siege camp in vicinity, and hold it for a specified length of time (one RL day at least). Then you get a battering ram/catapult/whatever and knock down the walls. The defenders need to destroy your camp to prevent this.

But that leaves thieves out in the cold. And as much as I hate getting stolen from, I still think that a reasonable amount of theft adds a certain charm to the game. So, what's the solution?
1) Make it possible to scale walls.
2) Make it impossible to scale walls with armour and large stuff in inventory (swords, picks, etc.).
3) Make it impossible to destroy stuff without a pick (you can see where this is going). Of course, stuff like bog iron is a prerequisite for this.
4) Add lockpicking for cabins etc, but not for city gates.