A recent speech was made in the streets about pickpocketing. And it was the speech givers opinion that there should be some sort of retaliation for unwanted pickpocketing. They listed off a few suggestions that would most likely not be of much punishment to the offenders and suggested death being the only form of punishment/retaliation they could think of. There are a few reasons I am against that form. For one, not every pickpocket produces a ws. If the person has stealthed their target, then no ws is generated, unlike wack ws, where they are produced regardless. So some offenders will die and some will get away free and clear. Not a very ideal scenario in my opinion. If we are talking the loss of a character here, then NO ONE should be exempt. The other problem I have with that option is... It's a pickpocket. No one is harmed, no one loses any exp, or anything else other than 5k at the most. A loss of a character for that is a bit ridiculous in my eyes.

So I started thinking of a way that could offer you the option of punishment/retaliation without going to that extreme. What if the victim had the option of calling the cops on the offender? As in the victim would receive the normal ws and next to it is the option of notifying the authorities. In order to carry out this action, I think the victim should have to dump their drugs so that they can speak to the cops "cleanly" or else risk either a) Losing their drugs upon placing the call or b) Run the risk of being put in jail along with the pickpocketer. After the call is placed, the pickpocketer runs the risk of being thrown into jail. I believe there should be some instances where they aren't caught, not every petty crime is solved. Time of course would be a factor, how quickly the crime is reported. A flight should also keep them from getting caught. But I believe if they do get caught, they should also lose the drugs they are holding. I believe this is much more realistic and ideal form of punishment/retaliation.

Excellent suggestion. Hope the commision pushes this forward.

I do like the idea but I'd suggest just a small appearance change:

Instead of snitching to the cops what about hiring a detective, calling in a favor with the chief of police, clearing Lieutenant X's debts if he takes care of it. I just don't like the idea of having a don or even Made Man + crying to the cops, doesn't make sense especially if the concept is that at least some of the officers are already on the pay roll.

I don't really like the idea of people getting crying about pickpockets at all, but I think "snitching" is a better alternative to killing them. Although your suggestion seems favorable. Would this bribing or calling in a favor still result in jail time for the offender? That is the end goal here. A reasonable punishment/retaliation. Whether the cops are called or bribed is negotiable.

I like this idea with what the big easy said is added it should be implemented

Its far more reasonable than the overblown 'if you pick pocket me, ill shoot you'

Holy shit. Im due a life sentence :O

I actually like the idea in general, though. I would also agree with the appearance change too, call in a favour as opposed to actually snitching. Also pleased Squishy is liking the idea, lets hope it grows legs.

I like the idea, but I have one thing to add. When the pickpocketer gets thrown in jail, they should not be able to just get busted out within 5 seconds, as then there is really no punishment (apart from the possibility of having your drugs taken off you)

Maybe giving a 10, or even 20 minute sentence to the pickpocketer, and only letting them get busted out after they have served half there sentence, or three quarters of it etc. I believe this will actually make people think twice about pickpocketing people who don't want it, as sitting and staring at the jail screen for 5-15 minutes, is not fun at all.

I think that would be a nice touch if it were to be possible! I agree it wouldn't be much of a punishment if they were to be busted out mere moments after being thrown in.

I don't agree with the extended jail period or unbustable jail period. Disadvantaging one area of the game(jail busting) in order to [fix] another part of the game doesn't seem like the right method.

I'm still a fan of this idea though.

Got to disagree there Salvatore. Thats punishing those that PP folk they shouldnt as well as those that only PP friends/NPMs. PPing is part of the game, there is an achivement for it, so we shouldnt have people punished to an extent that they can't get out of jail for certain periods.

Being Jailed in the first place isnt a bad idea, but they should be able to be busted, maybe the solution could be like when someone wackbacks you often see 20 Guards instead of the normal amount? Thus making them tougher to bust. Sure, its by no means a guarantee they'll be in longer what with so many skilled JBers, but I feel that would be a more fitting circumstance than being stuck for ages.

TheBigEasy, is doesn't disadvantage jailbreaking, it adds a consequence to Pickpocketing as getting thrown in jail, and all you have to do is post 'BMO Chicago' for example, and you're out within 10 seconds, how is that a punishment?
It is not as if this is happening every time someone pickpockets somebody else. It would only happen when the victim is PP unfriendly, and even then it wouldn't always happen.

I can see both yours and Alabama's points though, but there are plenty of people that are already PP friendly and have no problem with you pickpocketing them, just stick to pickpocketing them and there wouldn't be any problem.

I still stand by my idea and think it would work well in this situation.

I am not sure I agree with snitching to the police thats for sure. Who wants a mafioso police rat in their crew? I do think it would be cool for jail time to be given though and you kind of need the police to put them in jail. I also think that if you stealth then you shouldnt get caught. Alot of people dont stealth once your higher up. I also like Alabama's idea of giving them 20 guards. all in all good idea hope it gets figured out and implemented

I can understand everyones hesitancy on the "snitching" element, but again, this is an alternative to people losing a character they've put hard work into over a pickpocket. And it gives those that don't want to be pickpocketed but aren't respected in that the chance to retaliate. I could have used this the other day when I was in Chicago and my pockets were picked through. The rules of the city clearly state no pickpocketing in that city unless the person states it in their profile that they are pickpocket friendly, which I do not state.

As far as only being able to use this if they don't stealth. 100% of my pickpocketers thus far have stealthed me. So that would disable this feature and then there wouldn't really be a reason for it.

I appreciate your thoughts! Thanks for adding to the idea!!!

i agree with cassi as far as the issue with this idea being only when not stealthed. but, i don't like the idea that even if i do stealth, i will get nailed for certain.

how about this: person A pickpokets me, but doesn't stealth, i can "call in a favor" from the local police chief, and get him jailed. no special bust out restrictions, just jail time. person B pickoets me stealthed. i can pay a small fee, whatever that amount might be in cash or credits, and call in a favor from my friend the detective. i suggest making the fee in game cash and giving the detective a 25% chance of falure.

I like this idea, potential to bring the mug back?

I, for one, like the idea of PP and Mugging at the same time.

Mugging is a form of attack essentially delaying flight times by 2 hours (and erasing the option to taking a private flight). (like the old days)

..but pickpocketing I think should be hit or miss, I mean if you successfully pickpocket someone then you should get away clean, why in gods name would anyone watch you take money out of their pocket and let you get away...especially someone with connections into organized crime... By this I mean if you the Success screen then you succeeded. Period. The victim would never know it was you. That means the victim doesn't see who did it. Maybe the personal shows up later...20 minutes? I mean would you really know you got pickpocketed until you went in your pocket to get your money out?

If they do get caught or seen then the punishment would be getting you ass kicked... I mean why would someone with connections ever let someone from another family steal from them.



If you fail then you don't get the money and you are seen by the victim and THEN they get the chance to snitch/call the cops/call in a favor...or what ever.

If that means changing the Percentages of stealth/success then I am all for it...the more practice the better you get, could this be a way to train stealth? Like all other skills there is risk or a chance for repercussions.

Thanks for the listen!

I like this Idea and what TheBigEasy Said

I like the idea of possible jail time for the offender if caught in a timely matter and what not, but what if your "reliability" on whether or not the cops wanted to deal with such an offense was linked to who's palm you have previously greased. Much like your reputation for selling drugs is increased if you grease the local FBN agents palm.