Guards need to do their job. They might not always do it well, but they do it. Without some good AI, then you are simply putting the city at risk, but I do applaud the faction hits. Could we do something a little different, like having an "irritation faction" that doesn't affect overall faction with the guards, but instead dictates how they treat you?
If you irritate the guards by running for help too often, perhaps they start ridiculing you after the third time. Maybe they get mean about it and tell the city council, making your merchant faction lower. If you still do it, they laugh at you and say condescending things like, "The city gates aren't your mommy's skirts, little one. Stand and fight if you hope to make something of yourself!"
I do like JDNight's idea of this going away over time. It shows that you are getting better or that you are someone else's problem now. However, if you train the guards again, it goes right back to the lowest irritation faction you've had with those guards. I'd love to /con a guard and have the guard's description say, "Guard Tobin finds you irksome," or loathsome or pathetic, depending on faction.
I think guards should help based on certain faction triggers, as has been discussed. They might help you, they might help the mob. Lots of good ideas here and I would add the ability to "bribe" the guards for a temporary faction buff. You pay them a bit of cash so they can buy drinks in their off time, and they in turn will watch out for you a bit more than they normally would. Obviously there would need to be limits and balance to it, but if you are going to be fighting in an area and think you will be running back to them it might be worth a bit of silver to cover your butt. If you are in a place that is not your home, the temporary buff would raise your faction enough to garner "normal" help. Its like donating to the state trooper fund and getting a sticker on the back of your car, some day it *might* make the difference between a ticket and a warning. Selfish reason, I know, but why do they give you the sticker then? :)
Whats the purpose of having guards if they just stand there and watch you die?
I do like the idea of giving the guards a better AI. However, Starting area guards are typically around level 20-25 and the mods in this area are only 1-5. So no matter how many you train I dont see them having any problems to make them want to flee.
Vaultarn said:I agree, it could certainly be used as a exploit if it isn't setup in a way to stop that happening or having a big enough deterant in place. I think it could be done in a way to make it not worthwhile and therefore would not be able to be exploited.
In regards to your first point of pulling the adds to the guards and then only having to deal with the boss. I think the simple solution to that is that the mobs in that encounter are linked. So if the adds are pulled to the guards to help kill them while other players fight the Boss away from the guards as soon as the guards engage the adds, all those mobs that are linked are then unable to give xp or loot to the players. In that way you couldn't do that and still get a reward for using the guards as an exploit.
I think there could be another mechanic considered when players are pulling mobs to the guards with the intention of causing mayhem in the civilised area. Instead of a faction reduction there could be a monetary charge, a Guard Assistance Fee (GAF) charged against the player. Perhaps this could be something that is put in place after x number of times this happens, not on the first instance. The fee could be then based on your level and the creatures level. This then means the governing body of that civilised area is taking steps to deter this kind of behaviour. The fee could also mean that the player is unable to access any of the services in the civilised area, vendors, banks etc. Another thought is to have the services still available but there is a monetary surcharge that needs to be paid to access those services or the prices of vendors items increase by a percentage of the GAF.
Totally agree in regards to creatures causing different reactions depending on the level of threat. From the Guards engaging with the creature, to them raising an alarm and all the npc's head indoors. For larger areas they could even raise an alert to call a more powerful NPC to come and help at the gates. I'm sort of thinking of Warhammer Age of Reckoning here where there would be assualts on the civilised areas and heros of that faction would eventually emerge and work at defending their home. I think that would be a great experience.
Valor and virtue ride with me, my blade defends the helpless,
my might upholds the weak, my words speak only truth,
my wrath undoes the wicked!
<~ Vaultarn Stormborn ~>
Absolutely, it can be modified to prevent that abuse from happening.
The monetary idea is also an option (addition?).
Finally, I would really be thrilled to see progressive NPC responses to varying degrees of game activity.