Picking Pockets for XP

[Haenir]

Problem (maybe): Rogue experience gain is relatively difficult solo.
Solution: Add an experience component to picking pockets.

E.g. 1st successful theft from a mob that grants xp rewards you with some amount of xp relative to the amount of xp you would gain from killing said mob. 1/4 xp for light blue, 1/2 xp for dark blue, 3/4 xp for white, full xp for yellow and above. Only on unengaged mobs. And no xp gain for the rogue if it kills the mob in a 2 hour time span.

The difficulty of gaining xp solo as a Rogue certainly encourages group play. It would be nice to have some flexibility/ability to progress when a group can't be found.

 

[Hesyous]

I highly doubt this will take off. However I like that idea.

NOT long ago I was leveling my current Rogue. And, honestly I couldn't solo with him at all even with Twink items. You have to have a group. My suggestion is to box. A mage, a bard or even a BL would be cool. You need someone to take agro away from your rogue.

 

[Vitali]

Once upon a time Dimmi still played, and was so excited when he could solo EW orc camps. Rogue life is hard. Grouping in general can be a pain, depending on play time. I really like your idea, but it essentially ensures free exp for the class. While I like the approach of "even if I can't get a group I can still get exp" I am no so sure about this in particular.

 

[Kedrin]

It seems problematic that one class has the ability to potentially gain double the amount of exp from a mob than any other class. Picking a mobs pockets for 100% exp then after actually killing the mob for yet another 100% exp. This doesn't even get into the potential of gaining exp from mobs you would have no way of gaining exp from otherwise.

I have never played a rogue in SoD but asking for exp from pickpocketing seems a bit nutty. I played a rogue in WoW and I loved the fact mobs had a "secondly loot table" just for rogues. Not sure how possible this would be to implement in SoD however.

 

[Vitali]

Well it just creates a slippery slope. "If Rogues get a cool pickpocket exp dealy, why can't I as a Cleric go around healing sick NPCs for exp?" "Why can't Warrior's become NPC bouncers outside town taverns, taunting and bashing rowdy patrons who get carried away with their mead?" "Rangers should be able to shoot Fae Apples off childrens' heads to show off their skill for exp and fame!"

I dont think it's impossible to create something like this that isn't just for flavor, however it would take some serious though to implement it without breaking other things.

 

[Haenir]

I really like your idea, but it essentially ensures free exp for the class.

I'm not what you mean by "free exp", are you arguing that there is no risk involved with picking pockets? Or is it a variation of the double exp situation Kedrin pointed out?

It seems problematic that one class has the ability to potentially gain double the amount of exp from a mob than any other class. Picking a mobs pockets for 100% exp then after actually killing the mob for yet another 100% exp.

So after a successful pick pocket flag the mob as not giving exp to the Rogue for a period of time.

This doesn't even get into the potential of gaining exp from mobs you would have no way of gaining exp from otherwise.

I'm not sure if this is relevant. Got some example mobs you're thinking of? It strikes me that they wouldn't have anything to pick pocket in the first place.

Well it just creates a slippery slope. "If Rogues get a cool pickpocket exp dealy, why can't I as a Cleric go around healing sick NPCs for exp?" "Why can't Warrior's become NPC bouncers outside town taverns, taunting and bashing rowdy patrons who get carried away with their mead?" "Rangers should be able to shoot Fae Apples off childrens' heads to show off their skill for exp and fame!"

I think there's some clear evidence that the slippery slope can be dealt with in a reasonable way -- look at how Rogues get exp from burglarizing the countryside, and how we get exp from training traps, and a whole extra tradeskill (okay half a tradeskill) worth of exp. I think those features make the class feel more rewarding and flavorful. Figuring out a way to make pick pockets grant exp under certain conditions seems like a positive change.

 

[Hesyous]

Again. I think this is a great idea. If you fail to pick pocket you suffer....sometimes with a fairly quick death. The risk vs reward for pick pocketing in my experience isn't worth it. Unless someone has gone crazy and tried to pickpocket a red con boss mob and made off with some crazy amount of PP or item that would vender for a crazy amount, but I've not heard of that.

I started to level my pick pocket and just stopped because I found it ....at least in this game to be worthless. Fishing is a better skill to have imo.

Adding XP to the PP skill would be at least a small bonus to a boring trait.