The task we set out to accomplish tonight was mending our broken claim system and, in the process find a solution to the problems with thieving being nigh on impossible to combat. And here is our solution. Bear with me.
Claims: Anyone can walk on claimed land, regardless of having the trespassing skill. Trespassing no longer deals any damage what so ever. The Trespassing skill is instead needed if you wish to interact with objects on claimed land. In addition, if you have the theft skill you can remove an object from the claim: For example pull a cart out of the claim zone, or carry a big object out of it.
Crime:The game now keeps track of five different types of crime: Trespassing, assault, theft, battery and murder.
Trespassing: Walking on or interacting with an object on claimed land.
Assault: Initiating combat with another player. A new skill, Rage, is now required if you wish to initiate combat with another player
Theft: Carrying an object out of a claim zone, any interaction with inventory based objects (Chests, baskets, kilns, ovens etc.) on claimed land.
Battery: Knocking out another player character.
Murder: Killing another player character.
Every time one of these crimes is committed (please note that your character will commit the trespassing crime if he walks on claimed land, regardless of whether or not he actually has the trespassing skill), the game places what we call a "Clue Object". The clue object looks like a smoking footprint, with different colors for each crime.
Punishment: There is a new skill called "Ranging". If you have this skill you can right click on a "Clue Object" and choose "Track". This will place one of the following items in your inventory, corresponding to the clue object you chose to track: Odor of Trespassing, Smell of Assault, Reek of Theft, Stink of Battery or Stench of Murder. Right click these objects and you will be given the alternative to track down the perpetrator, or his Hearth Fire or, in the case of The Reek of Theft, the object that was stolen. Doing this will present you with the same sonar like interface used by the dowsing rods, pointing out the approximate direction in which your target is located. (Hiding in houses will not help, as the sonar will point the way to the house.)
The crime smells have a limited number of uses, displayed in the lower right corner of their inventory objects. Each time you activate the sonar, or try to do so, one use is expended. It is possible to go back to a clue object and gather a new smell, but you can only have one at any given time. The smells also have cool down timers for the activation of the sonar. The length of the cool down timer is determined by your exploration skill (New stuff, see below).
The theft, battery and murder smells can be used to force summon a logged off player character. This is done by holding the smell and right clicking the character's Hearth Fire. This will bring the character into the game, in a fight relation with your character (Please note that this, obviously, requires that you have both "Ranging" and "Rage"). Numb, cold, dead and at your mercy, he will not even fight back automatically. (If the thief logs in while this is going on, he will assume control of his character) If the character is already logged in, tracking him down is probably more useful than tracking down his hearth fire, but we'll let you be the judges of that.
This means that logging off is no longer an absolute safe zone if you have committed crimes.
Also, Hearth Fires now burn brightly green if the owner is logged in.
New skill values: Exploration and Stealth. Clue objects are not immediately visible. In order to see them, you must (Apart from having the Ranging skill) succeed with some rolls based on exploration and perception. The difficulty is determined by the thief's stealth and intelligence. A good thief needs high stealth and intelligence, and a good tracker needs high exploration and perception. Please also remember that the tracking ability can be toggled via the adventure menu, and is initially set to being off.
New Equipment: Ranger's Cape, Pants, Bow, Shirt and Boots. (Currently these items cost steel as a place holder for something expensive not yet implemented, this will change.)
In short: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-GCJHwvCms
.... any questions?
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UPDATE: Tracking a character who has been killed will now track his bones, rather than telling that he is not logged in; and until Jorb draws a World Hearth, hearthless characters can be force summoned by right-clicking the ground near the center of the Ring of Brodgar with a smell of a suitable crime. --Loftar
