I am posting about the bugged Zeklos and Krezk gates and doors again since the bug has been persisting for the past couple months and it makes these areas far less appealing.
The doors
Expected behaviour: You can freely enter businesses in these towns at night because there are often designated night shift workers who go on duty when the doors lock.
Bug in question: The doors are locked, but pickable. You can freely enter, talk to the specifically designated night shift worker, and continue your crafts while it is night time.
Steps to reproduce: Wait for nightfall. Pick the lock to any business in Zeklos or Krezk (DC 28 or so, you are never in line-of-sight of a guard). Freely do business.
The gates
Expected behaviour: The gate is locked at night, but with a brief conversation, the guard lets you in or out.
Bug in question: At around 4 AM in-game time, or maybe 5 AM, the guard won't let you out of Zeklos or Krezk, even if he would let you in or out at any other time of night. In some areas he consistently disappears for no reason, and the gates swing open without anyone being there.
Steps to reproduce: Walk in and out of the gates of Zeklos or Krezk freely, at any point of the night, until about 4 or 5 AM. The guard will no longer let you leave. This next part is specifically in Zeklos, where if you watch for a little longer, the guard will just walk away, disappear without actually walking up to the entrance of any building, and then shortly after, the gate swings open with nobody nearby, which happens shortly after 6 AM I believe.
Notes: Footage to come soonish. I just need to actually get out to Zeklos at this exact time. But it has a 100% reproduction rate, it never not happens.
OOC problems leading to area abandonment: Like the RP XP cap in Western Barovia, these bugged behaviours shove players away and incentivize them going to more convenient places like Dementlieu for OOC reasons rather than IC reasons. In Dementlieu, it's already about a 2 minute walk to get to the dye vendor from the entrance of the city. Two transitions. Zeklos and Krezk have major low-level crafting hubs and dye vendors. To get to Krezk from Zeklos, you risk running into some of the most powerful outdoor mobs in the game which can be found patrolling when not in "sleep mode" idling, but still their spawns are very close to the road. You also have to spend around 5 minutes at a full running pace just to get to Zeklos from the Vallaki outskirts. This makes the region so unattractive when paired with the bug.
To those in disbelief: I understand that it's Barovia, but why would tavern doors be unlocked at night, but other businesses lock, despite some of them having specifically designated night shift workers that appear in there as the sun sets ingame, but you can't access them without breaking and entering? The only way to do business in these places is to bash or pick your way in, or just log in on the interior while it's night time. Something is wrong.
Likewise, in the Village of Barovia, Isabela's
Dwelling, she disappears after dark..even if you are inside with her. So making it to her abode before 6 p.m. doesn't mean you can spend the night brewing.
Where does she go? It's supposed to be her home. To be sure, one can--for an extreme sense of realism--say she's asleep and can't be disturbed, but these stations and NPCs exist in game for the purpose of crafting, not to be idle half the play time. There's zero good effect or Gothic horror generated, only player frustration.
Locking these places because Barovians lock their doors at night might be more faithful to the setting. If PCs are supposed to stay indoors during Old Noapte, however, they need something to *do,* and thus some incentive to stay indoors.