No single action is illegal, it's the context of the action that is illegal.

For example, "killing" you may think is illegal, but it's not. Your kingdom could be at war with another kingdom, but all the soldiers don't get arrested if they kill people. However if you put killing in the context of "murder" then sure thats going to be illegal... but both actions are the same, as well as the end result.

Your specific examples are both legal as well, because base on what you have put....

Example 1: You are a shopkeeper and receive some new supplies but the lock didn't come with a key. You have your friend pick the lock for you.

Locksmith is a job, it's a job in the real world just like it's likely to be in Elyria. If you get locked out of your home, out of your car, out of wherever, you call a Locksmith. Being a locksmith isn't illegal.

Breaking into someone elses property though, thats illegal. If your dealing in stolen good thats illegal, but opening up your own belongings because a key is lost, thats not illegal.

To put it in a bit more context.... for the action to be considered a criminal act, someone needs to report their property missing, or that it's been broken into. Since you are the owner, why would you report yourself for breaking into your own property?

Example 2: You are going to have a duel with someone. Perhaps in an arena or maybe just somewhere else in view of others.

For having a duel in public, depending on the laws of the land, that might be illegal, but the duel itself isn't illegal so long as everyone involved consents to the duel. Same as the above, so long as you agree, why would you report yourself?

If it was an arena, that'll be a purpose built location for such an event. Likewise if you were a woodcutter, you would go to a forest that you can legally cut wood in, you wouldn't go to the town square and cut down the tree in the middle of the market.#

Anything can be legal or illegal, it just depend on the how and why of whats happening

Look at it just from a coding point of view.

How is something deemed to be legal or not? Through the laws created by contracts.

NPC's may recognize that fighting or opening a lock with something other than a key is deemed unlawful. Same could apply to riding someone's horse, which could instead be seen as theft because the ownership does not match and a law was created to prevent horse thieving.

Here's the ultimate question:

In what way can you make NPC's bystanders see that a particular action that goes against a contract of law is okay?

Will you have to make a bunch of amendments to every law to cover such situations?

Fighting example:

1. Combat between people is prohibited.

a. Excluding a declared war between kingdoms.

b. Excluding those directly involved in a CB.

c. Excluding people who have formed a dueling contract.

d. Excluding anyone on the premises of the Black Trison Tavern.

A lot of games already do something very akin to this.

For example, in Skyrim, no one sees it as a crime to lockpick a chest in an abandoned cave. Likewise, getting into fights in Skyrim is fine, depending on the circumstances, like duels.

I don't see why CoE can't be similar.

Posted By Snipehunter at 4:13 PM - Thu Feb 22 2018

So, it's not an answer to the question, directly, but there is another element to consider:

What is considered taboo (e.g. illegal) can differ from location to location with fine granularity. That is, as a homeowner you might even set permissions for a single room in your home that says "here lockpicking is legal." Likewise, if you were perhaps running a combat arena, you might set the arena's floor area as "fighting permitted."

In both cases, you'll be changing what the game considers taboo in that area, which in turn will filter down to the way NPCs and the game systems react when related actions occur.

OK, so I messed up a little, that actually is an answer to the question. ;) The answer is: If you want to decide what is legal and what isn't within a space, the first step is to own the space so you can set the rights and permissions for that space. You might still be confounded by the higher-tier laws (e.g. "In this county it is illegal to operate an arena, making it taboo to have a fighting permitted area on private property.") of your kingdom, however.

Hope that helps! :)

(Also, this is post #100 for me, neat! ;) )

(Grats on 100!)

That's fantastic, and what I was looking to clear up for things like arenas that are area based. Being able to set direct permissions will help a lot.

Posted By Desophyr at 6:59 PM - Thu Feb 22 2018

A lot of games already do something very akin to this.

For example, in Skyrim, no one sees it as a crime to lockpick a chest in an abandoned cave. Likewise, getting into fights in Skyrim is fine, depending on the circumstances, like duels.

I don't see why CoE can't be similar.

Unlike other games, players in CoE will be creating their own laws. So it's important to understand how exceptions can be made and who can do so.

Posted By Ravenlute at 12:23 AM - Fri Feb 23 2018

Posted By Desophyr at 6:59 PM - Thu Feb 22 2018

A lot of games already do something very akin to this.

For example, in Skyrim, no one sees it as a crime to lockpick a chest in an abandoned cave. Likewise, getting into fights in Skyrim is fine, depending on the circumstances, like duels.

I don't see why CoE can't be similar.

Unlike other games, players in CoE will be creating their own laws. So it's important to understand how exceptions can be made and who can do so.

Ah, I thought you were referring as to how the game engine would differentiate between legal and illegal. My bad.

I'm pretty sure these sorts of rules would be at the discretion of rulers though, from mayors to monarchs.

Posted By Ravenlute at

How is the AI controlled NPC's that view such actions going to be prevented from just thinking that something bad is going down and calling the guards?

I suspect exceptions will be handled via contracts. For example, legally picking a lock might require the owner of the locked door/container to issue a contract, which the locksmith signs, and can be presented to the guards upon inspection.