Confused about reputation and crimes

[scurvee]

So I've been a bit of a scoundrel, creeping around at night and stealing stuff. I knocked out both the saddler's wife and the saddler in Semine and stole everything from their hard locked chest, but as far as I could tell no one was the wiser - I never got chased and there was no one that noticed....

then the next day I went to do a quest in Semine and every guard triggered and ran up to me, demanding $6000 for the crap I stole (not worth even a quarter of that). I had already sold all of the stolen goods so it wasn't in my inventory.

I figured if there were no witnesses and you got away clean you were golden? Is this a bug or is this how it's supposed to work?

[[HBM] Cryxalis]

Yea, same thing here - only I robbed the priests house after putting him out of his misery (the one that sent his two farm hands to mess with the herb ladies daughter)

Absolutely NOBODY saw me enter the place - I took all the stuff in the chests, snuck out - didn't alert a single guard..

Went back to my bed and slept/saved - woke up to "Guards have been alerted to your stealing - you will be quesitoned by them" (or something along those lines)..

So.. does stealth just not work?

[Samtaro]

NPCs will remember you if you act suspicious then they find out a crime was committed, they will report you.

If you want to rob shopkeepers, follow these steps:
- Make sure you have decent stealth skills.
- Rob them at night whilst they sleep.
- If you open a closed door, make sure to shut them again before leaving the house.
- If it is an un-named NPC (like ''hired hand'') then feel free to stealth kill them, they will respawn. (I dont think the named NPCs and shopkeepers respawn if killed)
- If you really have to, do a stealth knockout when they are sleeping and successfully pass the quick time event.

The crime system has been drastically improved, even entering a restricted room for a second then stealing an item 30 minutes later will get you reported if someone saw you go in there. If someone sees you do something and tells you to leave, then go away and come back the next day.

Edit: Also, do not equip stolen items until the tag has been removed, because everyone has a sixth sense and can tell if the item is stolen, even if its an apple lmao.

[scurvee]

I'm guessing it's because I equipped the stolen saddle and horse stuff on my horse right away. I don't recall riding back through that town but it's possible I fast traveled through it at some point. Interesting.