Lexx, so say me, this game is for players or for you? If players want something, why you always look only for worst sides? Have I to be GM to make an RP idea in which you won't protest?
this game is for players who prefer harsh wasteland, not sims.
Anyway, Izual and Lexx are making this idea dead, so we won't get any prison there.
So why " waste " work time and manpower in creating something which will be abused anyway?
How about: Guards will allways see if someone steals, but do nothing unless he succeeds. If they fail, the players can kill them. IF they succeed, he gets a thief "tag", but not the old one. The new thief tag does not let players attack the thief, hower, guards intercept UNARMED(or with http://www.fo2238.fodev.net/wiki/Club XD), and chase the thief out of the city shouting "STOP! THIEF!" He loses karma(but only to a certain minimum,like -1200), and when the thief has negativ karma that would otherwise result in instant death, they would rather chase him unarmed the second he steps in the city. He could sneak however, but high enough sneak+steal? Impossible. If the thief attacks anybody in the city, the thief tag is erased, thus guards kill him instantly.
Jail? Disguise? Hmm... I smell another brainstorm approaching..What if... There was a command(as WIP, like: '~namechange name') to change your name temporarily. Name = appearance(imagination, rp stuff.), like in the hitman games, or the spy class from team fortress 2. The higher the steal skill, the more time you could be your alterego. Like 1 steal skill =1 second(useless). 300 steal = 300 seconds. Add a high CD ofc, and cannot be done while beeing seen->high sneak. Effects: Picked name colored from namecolorizing for that period. Neutral NPCs(like guards) would ignore you for that period. The thief can go into low rep towns this way, for a maximum of 300 seconds, to well..steal stuff, before he is discovered and hunted down. zOMG just think of teh possibilitys PvP wise, teh chaos :O Factions need a password because nobody could be trusted. With high sneak, it would mean the perfect scout.As for jailing: Based on the idea i brought up a few posts ago, when guards chase the thief unarmed shouting stop thief, if they catch and kill them, they would respawn in a jail area.
The NCR, actually, is running at least one prison, which is called Black Canyon.
I like The Sims.