Far too many guards

[Just_Mad]

I've recently noticed (by recently, I mean in the last week) that there are far too many guards on my character's save. I admittedly haven't checked if this applies to all saves, but on this Bosmer at least. For example, if I fast travel to Falkreath, then I am immediately greeted by 13 guards (I counted) all in the gateway, who then disperse into various patrols of the 'city.' If I'm in Whiterun, then all of the guards spawn up at Dragonsreach and march down the steps, about 15 of them... it goes on. I was wondering if anyone else had had this experience, or might have any insight into it. All I'm thinking is it's a good job this is a law-abiding Bosmer... there'd be no escaping the Hold Police if I was a crook.

[Evil-i]

I haven't seen this before, but you mentioned you were fast-traveling. Fast-travel seems to induce some in-game weirdness, most notably the Letrush Clone glitch (without patch) and frequent or multiple dragon attacks.

From personal experience with fast-travel + dragon attacks, I've learned that not using this feature for a while allows the game to clear up and return to normal.

[Musicman247]

Yeah, fast travel doesn't mean instantaneous travel. The game still goes through the time it would take to walk/ride there. If you go through a night cycle while fast traveling it can mess with spawns and such.

[Just_Mad]

Yeah, you may be right, I currently have two Commander Caius' ...hmm... To think I hardly ever use fast travel, and I was just wanting to get to another alchemist store for poison ingredients Ah well...just motivation to lead an innocent hunter's life

Thanks guys

[Avron the S'wit]

It definitely has to do with the guard cycles; I've seen this, too, since I've been fast traveling to try to encourage random dragon spawns. (Damn dragons, hiding from me...) It only happens to me at certain hours, and if you watch the guards you'll realize they're changing shifts.

Interestingly, I also noticed that it takes much less time in-game to manually go somewhere than what the fast travel dictates, so...

[SilentPsycho]

The best time and place for me seems to be evening in Riften. Nothing quite like half the guards escorting you across town, weapons drawn, as they slowly walk to the training year.

[Belthazor]

Oh, good. I thought I was the only one with this problem.

Markarth
Whiterun
Falkreath
Whiterun
Markarth

Screenshots were taken on two different characters. Neither of them has ever fast-traveled. Strangely enough, I never had this happen until a couple of weeks ago. No idea what's causing it, but NPC spawning has always been kinda weird in Skyrim. Especially when fast-traveling into cities.

[Musicman247]

Any mods installed, Belthazor?

[Just_Mad]

Yes! Those screenshots pretty much are exactly what I see...Falkreath is the most concerning, that front arch you walk through is usually occupied by a wall of guards, just in a line, have to charge at them to be able to pass through

[Angrun]

I was in the Riften Market once and noticed a single line of guards walking down the stairs of the keep into the city. And then noticed the guards already in the city were heading back into the keep. Cool - Changing of the Guard. Have never noticed it in other cities, but i have not followed a guard around all day or night either.

I have noticed if I fast travel and arrive in some cities 8-9-10ish in the am, many characters only then wake up and start walking in mass to their day jobs.
River Rock and Riften especially for me...

[Belthazor]

Any mods installed, Belthazor?

About 70+. None that should affect NPC spawning, AI or schedules, though. And most of them had been installed before this started to happen. I just checked the date of the first screenshot, which was April 2. Never had it happen before that day and I have about 1400 hours in Skyrim. Since MadAndyD has the same "problem" and apparently plays on the 360, I have my doubts that it's a mod issue. Maybe some issue with the 1.9 patch? That one was released around that time.

[HatofMadness]

I noticed this too. But only lately.


I had Skyrim when it first came out on xbox and never saw anything like that. But I recently purchased it again about 2 weeks ago.

2 or 3 times now, I've waited in a city or fast traveled to one, and when the wait period is over/I arrive, there are about 10-13 guards all with torches walking almost in formation throughout the city. Those pictures posted are exactly what I'm talking about.


I haven't followed them yet, seeing as I was too tempted to attack one of them in order to take on the whole fleet.

But definitely something I've never seen before in my Skyrim days. Damn pigs. Imperial Milk Drinkers!

[Mauin]

The Guards do that all the time, although mine seem to like taking their sweet time in doing things. It's rather hard to get into Falkreath when the entrance is blocked by more Guards than I'd care to count. Sometimes I'm just tempted to use Unrelenting Force to clear the way... But then that would get me in trouble with them. Fun trouble.

Seriously, though, I haven't actually noticed them changing shifts before. It's probably just because I don't linger in towns long enough to see what they are doing. I can't remember if this started before or after the 1.9 patch. All I do know is that it has been going on in my saves for a long time.

[Just_Mad]

Yes, as you said Beltahzor, it can't be relative to mods, as I'm playing on Xbox, however I would think that you and Mauin might be onto something suggesting it's patch 1.9 related. I never noticed it before then, and I've been playing almost constantly since day one.

[Jo'than]

Yup. One more voice noting that this is a post-1.9 patch experience.

[Marelo]

I've seen this happen with the only form of fast travel being the carriage system, and while I can't say for sure that it's never happened pre-1.9, I definitely hadn't noticed it until recently.

[Street_Assassin]

Same here if I fast travel to a city bunch of guards with random npcs spawn next to me and all talk to me at the same time.

[Avron the S'wit]

Interesting! I always chalked it up to fast travel in my game, but I didn't realize so many people witnessed it as well. What a strange little bug.

[Belthazor]

Interesting! I always chalked it up to fast travel in my game, but I didn't realize so many people witnessed it as well. What a strange little bug.

It kinda boggles my mind how they managed to screw up NPC spawning in towns. I mean, it's not just the guards. More often than not, when I arrive in town between, say, 8 AM and 10 AM, NPCs appear at their spawning position and then start going to where they are supposed to be at that time of day. It's especially annoying with shopkeepers and often makes me wait for another hour so everyone is where they're supposed to be.

I really don't get it. It worked fine in Oblivion. No matter when you arrived anywhere, NPCs were where they're supposed to be, doing what they were supposed to do.

[Avron the S'wit]

Interesting...I never noticed it with regular NPCs who are not guards, but I'll be keeping an eye out for it.

As for how they screwed it up, it's certainly possible if they updated or made changes to scripts. I know from PC mods that Skyrim scripts are very difficult and it doesn't take a great deal to really break them, minorly or majorly. It ought to be something that will be remedied eventually, either by Bethesda or a savvy modder.

[Mauin]

Yeah, I've seen it with regular NPCs, too. They do appear at their spawn points and then slowly meander towards whatever they were supposed to be doing at that time.

I've noticed that most with Whiterun, since that's the city I generally fast travel to most. It really doesn't help that my computer can take ages to load. In that case, the NPCs wind up standing in the T shape until my computer figures out what its doing.

[Just_Mad]

Yes, And it's made significantly worse during Dawnguard, as all those NPC's making their way to their scattered destinations are often soon preyed upon by several high level vampires and their associated beasts... I don't think any of my saves currently have a living Belethor (sleazy little man, you know) as he always is first to be cut down.

[Evil-i]

...Belethor...sleazy little man...

But he has good stock.

[Just_Mad]

Haha, the irony is one of his lines is 'I'll give you the best prices or die trying' or something to that extent, and he seems to do a lot of the latter. Poor Sigurd doesn't know any different, as part of the shock he still tells everyone he works for Belethor, at the general goods store- I think he's having a breakdown