This is something I've always found hilarious in cRPG. Doesn't matter if it's Witcher 1, Witcher 2, Dragon Age, Fallout etc. Enter a house, a family milling around. Random stranger (you) walks through the door unannounced. No hello. No wave. Don't mind me, I'm just rooting through your closet, your dresser, your kitchen and looting whatever gold and valuables you may have. The best is after you save someone and you choose the good good option of not demanding payment for it. But right after run through the house and loot all the gold, junk, medicine etc, crafting materials etc.

Even though it's a game and almost a necessity if you are interested in crafting, it feels almost immoral stealing from random people in their own homes.

lol...

You don't get away with that sort of thing in Fallout 3, New Vegas, Oblivion or Morrowind :)
The NPC's watch you like a hawk and actively warn you about getting out of their house.

I've always thought it funny when I rob folk blind too (while they are standing right next to me).

Oh, one time in Morrowind, I went into a shop and the shopkeeper woman was working away quite happily. I went upstarirs and robbed her of everything she owned. Took everything including her pillows from her bed. Went straight downstairs and tried to trade with her by selling her own things back to her. No way did I expect her to recognise her own stuff....

"Hey... THESE ARE MY PILLOWS.... THIS IS MY STUFF.... GUARDS!!!!!"

Some Neverwinter Nights modules also didn't let you get away with it. I think Shadows of Undrentide made you take alignment hits for it.

The NPCs in Baldur's Gate will attack you if you loot their stuff while in their line of sight.

It is amusing, in a sad sort of way. I was disappointed to find there were no consequences to looting every last crumb from houses. Of course, that didn't stop me from doing it - money is money, after all. lol

Stealing has been punished in some cRPGs for decades - the Ultima games, for example, already killed you for breaking the law. I personally love games where you have to sneak before you can steal - hiding in the shadows to pick a lock. In Morrowind, for example, it was a game to rob every guild blind and in Oblivion it was only made trickier to do.

This is why i prefer Gothic 1 & 2 over ANY other RPG`s out there.

Realism, or atleast a sense and hint of realism in the psychology of the game and the inhabitants alike.

In Gothic you get skullthumped by entering peoples homes unauthorized.

That reminds me of a house I entered in Baldur's Gate. If you don't turn around and leave fast enough, they will attack you. And if you fight back, the guards get in on it. It was a nice lesson.

Yeah, this actually really bothers me in the game. Sombody is sitting at a desk, and you walk right up to the desk and swipe their orens, and they're still like, "Oh hey, how's it going." I actually try not to swipe mundane items from average citizens, but its just so hard because Geralt is such a thieving whore.

At least the loot in this game is better than the first game, which generally consisted of mundane food items. Stealing someone's money is one thing. Stealing their chicken sandwich is just cold.

In Witcher 1 I first avoided it since I though there might be repercussions (as many things had), but even after I learned you can do it freely, I still tend to avoid it just because it feels wrong.

On the other hand I never get this feeling in other games, such as Zelda or Final Fantasy games. (In my opinion) it's because there's a dissonance in the connection between different mechanics and drama in Witcher (and other similar games). The game goes for extra realism in some respects (NPC interactions, NPCs have "real lives", etc), but totally forgoes it in others -- case in point looting.

I don't think this makes Witcher any worse (and since having NPCs watch their possessions should be pretty easy to implement, it's probably a conscious design decision), but it does amount to some hilarity.

I remember the first Fable game (only one I bothered playing) handling looting pretty well, with town guards and home residents keeping an eye on you. But it doesn't really matter, if anything you'd just be spending more time waiting for people to turn around before filling your pockets...

It also cracks me up when I kill someone and everyone else just stands around, letting me just after walk up to them and talk about the weather.

There's actually a funny video about this by College Humor.

RPG Heroes Are Jerks -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kedjhnguKhc

damn you and your chicken sandwich comment. made actually snicker out loud and people at work looked at me.

damn you are so right, stealing some of the things in witcher 1 was funny in how many stupid things there were.

but as much as i would be annoyed not be able to get loot as easily i agree it should be like games like oblivion or fable or others that have some sort of consequense or necessary skill needed to take items.

I mean witcher 2 is perfect for it. every single person in the game has a set schedule, so you could just wait till they left thier house and then loot away.