Your character and guards?

[Wuvvums]

Some guards have net guns c:

[rentreality]

I hope you all also realize that they don't all have radios to call in back up with. . . They can only call in backup from the distance their voice carries. Their only means of getting backup is shouting "That guy punched me in the face! Stop him!" Therefore, I do see it as Stormwind guards being pretty easy to outrun. Lightly armored guards are different, though.

I just had to comment on this bit: there's absolutely no reason that the guards would not have signal horns. I have the feeling that once one of those got sounded, anyone running away from the direction the horn sounded from would be quickly tripped and arrested.

For example, see in the spoiler, although the Blood Elf in the video is apparently an unstoppable killing machine of death and fear:

Spoiler:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWgW3ogaV84[/youtube]

The problem of outrunning them is only compounded by the modular nature of Stormwind City. If you cause a big enough ruckus, they'll just close the porticullis in each of the district's gatehouses and shoot you like a dog.

[FlyingSquirrel]

I was thinking of that vid.

But yea, guards would rightfully pwn. Even if you could survive against a mob of them, I doubt you'd be able to kill them through all that plate and protection.

[Lynoa06]

You forget something.

1) People aren't gonna stand around and wonder like iRL, they're gonna join in the fight. So a murderer would be screwed.
2) It's an OOC rule, stop whining. It's the lesser of two evils - take it or leave it.

[PvtFrog]

I agree with Roxa's idea of the assassin's creed style of breaking line of sight with the guards means that you can make a succesful escape. However, if the GM's say no, then I'm good with that too. I was just wondering what people thought of this.

[Roxas65]

Oh yeah, if you do something really big, like killing an official and whatnot, they'll probably close the portcullis. However, a skilled assassin does have the skills to disappear, so to speak. Being masked when doing the deed, breaking line of sight, hiding and then switching costumes would enable one to vanish until the simply can't keep the city under lockdown

As for the signal horn, errr, I guess. But it's never going to be ass effective as todays radios. I think that if a fight broke out, a lot of people would run.

As for Lynoa's argument that people would join the fight, no. . .Just no. Not -every- single person is a mage, or warrior, paladin or whatever. There are blacksmiths, merchants, housewives and florists. These people wont just zerg a murdered, that's preposterous! normal civilians usually stay away from a looney wielding a knife out of fear. They don't want to be stabbed. They got families and a life. It's not worth possibly throwing away for just attacking a murderer. Adventurers and the likes that pass by though, sure, they might. But a city's population is not just heroes. . . That would throw the economy into the ground very quickly.

These are all just my two cents. I trust that if the GMs have some sort of god mode on guards, it's because people have done some seriously stupid stuff in the past and not fer teh lulz, so I'm cool with whatever. Sometimes it's just a bit boring to not be able to do anything in cities.

[rentreality]

Oh yeah, if you do something really big, like killing an official and whatnot, they'll probably close the portcullis. However, a skilled assassin does have the skills to disappear, so to speak. Being masked when doing the deed, breaking line of sight, hiding and then switching costumes would enable one to vanish until the simply can't keep the city under lockdown

It's hard to say just what would be enough to cause them to close the portcullis, but I suspect it would be considerably less than killing an official: any murder at all would likely have people up in arms. There is an economic incentive for the city to act very proactively in catching murderers. Murder depresses trade, which is the lifeblood of a city -- without it, you will be faced with starvation and collapse. So yes, some murderers might get through, but I suspect that the percentage would be well below 20%. Hardly odds I'd be willing to gamble my life and freedom on.

As for the signal horn, errr, I guess. But it's never going to be ass effective as todays radios. I think that if a fight broke out, a lot of people would run.

You're correct, it wouldn't be as effective as a radio in the way that it could not give details on the description of the suspect. It could, however, be used to identify the last known good location of the suspect, and it would certainly get the guards up in arms.

WoW is a much more brutal society than we are used to today. I wouldn't be surprised if the guards simply detained anyone who ran, or at least anyone who looked like they had been in a fight. A sort of "shoot first, ask questions later" policy.

You might also be surprised to learn that radios do exist in WoW: http://www.wowhead.com/item=10723

As for Lynoa's argument that people would join the fight, no. . .Just no. Not -every- single person is a mage, or warrior, paladin or whatever. There are blacksmiths, merchants, housewives and florists. These people wont just zerg a murdered, that's preposterous! normal civilians usually stay away from a looney wielding a knife out of fear. They don't want to be stabbed. They got families and a life. It's not worth possibly throwing away for just attacking a murderer. Adventurers and the likes that pass by though, sure, they might. But a city's population is not just heroes. . . That would throw the economy into the ground very quickly.

From a psychology standpoint, you're utterly correct. I forget the name of it, but it's been found that the more people there are in an area, the less likely any of them are to help a stricken individual. The thing is, though, that there are exceptions. The civilians serve a double purpose: one or two of them might be willing to wade in with a blacksmith hammer and crack a few skulls, and virtually all of them would be willing to point out where the murderer had gone.

Also, look at the tragedy with Congresswoman Giffords that just occurred in the United States: a lone person was willing to risk their life. They dove in and effectively disarmed the assailant, then many others joined in and pinned the man until the authorities arrived. Don't underestimate the power of the good Samaritan.

These are all just my two cents. I trust that if the GMs have some sort of god mode on guards, it's because people have done some seriously stupid stuff in the past and not fer teh lulz, so I'm cool with whatever. Sometimes it's just a bit boring to not be able to do anything in cities.

Unfortunately, that is what it boils down to. If everybody doesn't RP in a responsible, sane way, taking into account what the reactions of NPCs will be to their actions, the GMs will have to institute rules like this one.

[Roxas65]

You make a lot of good points, Rent. I do know radios exist, but I don't see SW guards using them. Booty Bay Bruisers? Most likely every single one of them has one. I'm also not doubting that somebody might get the urge to join a fight, but it's not common. It really isn't.

Having said that, I doubt any rule change will be implemented and, honestly, it's not a necessity. I just tend to go arguing for no reason. It is slightly derailing the thread, though, so I'll stop. Ya'll have some good points, though