Say what you like about so-called "golden eras," the guard has never been as true to the source material as it has been under Eugen and personally I prefer it that way. Puck plays a better Barovian than anyone, including myself, and the degree to which she cares about setting propriety is one of the things that make her the best faction leader we've ever had on the server.
As for public punishments, whilst it's true that they sometimes get attacked I don't feel that it happens all that often these days. Most people aren't stupid enough to make things worse for their friends by turning a simple public example into a mass murder and getting bounties on everyone involved. Rescues normally occur when having a bounty on your head is better than the alternative and when things have progressed that far then it's at the point when an execution will probably be performed inside the Citadel, and rescues are difficult once the corpse is in the vault. Furthermore, once you've attacked the Citadel then the Count will want your head and then it's only a matter of time before the character is rotting in Castle Ravenloft.
When all is said and done, playing a guard is always going to be dangerous because you will always be at a severe disadvantage when facing outlanders in PvP, but don't let it dishearten you from trying to run public scenes. You're going to take hits every now and then but ultimately those few scenes that go well and are fun for everyone involved are what make it worth it.
