To Steal or not to Steal?

[Wai]

I thought that I had never stolen anything. But, when I looked into my stats I discovered 147 stolen items.

How did this happen? I went back to my earliest saved games and found that I could take as much as I liked from the barrels and boxes in the Market District of the Imperial city. But, If I took them from similar boxes and barrels, in other exterior locations, they were very likely to be recorded as stolen even though the pointer is most definitely not red when the goods are taken. There is no clear indication which outdoor locations are fair game and which are stealing.

This made me question if the goods on the ship, once the pirates have attacked you, are potentially stolen property. They are, but, the Ninroot and the goods in the locked chest are not. Go figure. Goods in caves and sewers occupied by bandits seem to be free to take too, but, I have not checked out other locations.

I have not checked it out yet, but, I am betting, if you pick vegetables from farms you are stealing. It should be, it certainly feels like stealing. But?

Is this a bug? It certainly is annoying and confusing.

[Umakurokoto]

Yeah, there are definitely certain items that are owned and sometimes it's not easy to tell when an item is owned.

Food is absolutely one of the things you could accidentally end up stealing.

If in doubt and you're trying to roleplay a character who would never steal, even by accident, it'll be tough. I'd just avoid taking anything in most cities, unless you're in a dungeon, since things are much more likely to be owned there.

Also I think this is one of the things the unofficial patch or one of the related patches helps with.