There exists an leather armour, on the loot table that has lockpicking skills (+2), and a various other skill boosts, while it has -4 con! So that lockpick armor is not that exceptional:) (Allthough mentioned example is seriously punishing on the -4 con:)
About Vardo players reply:
It is a nice touch! However i do hope that bad apples have to face appropriate consequences:) (Like Vardo hunting them down, and their friends who have obtained these items:)
About lock DC raising. I actually think most lock DC-s are quite allright. There are a few places that need adjustment, but most of the time they need their DC-s lowered.
(Example Ghakis: the DC-s there are nearer to 50 than to 40, and the loot there is garbage, since the place is meant for around level
The thing with locks is, you either have the skills, or you are willing to sacrifice a lockpick. And these latter do cost a huge amount of money. (Over 1500 for 10 and 12 lockpicks.) And many a times your gain is less than the lockpick you have used up, and it is not that easy to find lockpick 10 and 12, which you usually value greatly, if you manage to aquire.
About enhanceing faction play, and their influence, well i think it is a player side and player attitude thingie.
A few folks cant even keep the simple rule of the outskirts temple, and break their rules the moment a faction member loggs off.
Openly trading, openly drinking, singing, dancing, playing an instrument you name it.
The temple does not ask THAT much of its guests, yet quite a number cannot keep that. (Trading can be performed in the temple, but at least try to hide that you are doing that, and not openly shout out what you are selling or wish to buy, and then perform the task, because this is a simple neglection of the present NPC-s.)
Basicly they are acting ICly a way that is not allowed, merely beause they know OOCly they will not have to deal with any consequences.
As long as such behaviour is widely accepted, tolerated, and sometimes by other players even encouraged, it will be not easy to enhance faction play, because such nuisances can greatly break the immersion.
but again this is just my way seeing it.
Also one thing about the ML faction:
I think not only ng and cg apply but LG as well.
I played a gundar morninglordian priest, who started as ng, but quite quickly became LG. Since he was an old gundar, he knew the difference between Gundars and Strahds rule, and he welcomed the latter more, and has kept all the rules applying to the gundars. (I think i even got into some RP conflict with some rebels. Secondly during my first 2 weeks of play i could not even spend the nights in the temple, because gundars were not allowed to stay anywhere in the Vallaki municipality as long as the curfew was active, at night. So my ML-er had to spend each night in the vistani camp, or in caves, that hopefully had no residents.)
It was quite frustrating most of the time, since it was a major hindrance, and disadvantage. Not being allowed to carry any decent weapon(not even the morningspear!), not really being able to dungeoneer even though i was a buffer/healer build. At start not even being present in the temple!
Yet at some times, these annoying things have led to quality rp, and since this server is an RP server, it should be our aim, to value this over dungeon runs and farmings.
And these few occurances were that actually made up for me accepting these huge disadvantages and hindrances. Consequences, rewards and punishments.
(the way i see it again.)