Taking back training fees back from followers. Is this an Exploit?

[Fighter Hayabusa]

You can have a follower with the ability to train up a skill, pay to train, and then take back the money w/ the trade item dialog option. Is this an exploit that Bethesda overlooked or was it deliberate, Bethesda's way of indicating that followers are willing to train you for free?

I've never taken it back before but I am reconsidering it.

 

[Hermaeus_Mora]

I think it's an exploit.

 

[Squirrel_killer-]

I believe it was an exploit Bethesda just couldn't counter fairly or realistically. You could just as easily Pickpocket the gold back as trade it back.

 

[DarkEastwood]

It's an exploit, yes. But like most exploits, I don't use it.

 

[Fighter Hayabusa]

Fair enough. I'll leave it be.

 

[Raijin]

You can also kill the NPC, and loot their bodies to take back the gold that you paid to train you

 

[Streets]

Yeah, I mean you can roleplay it. Have the willpower to not take it back if you don't want it and it's fine. However, some people will say that Faendal gladly taught them a thing or two about Archery after they saved his life countless times. Or after going through the Companions questline and becoming the Harbinger, they all show their gratitude by training you a few levels in their specialty skills, Archery, One-Handed, Two-Handed, Heavy Armor, etc. It is nice for console players who want to be able to level quickly if they are into that sort of thing. Use free training to get to a level where they can start Oghma Infinium. PC players can just console command anything they want. But yeah, I think it's an exploit, with a positive note of possible roleplay diversity.

 

[MushroomGenius]

You could just as easily Pickpocket the gold back as trade it back.

Depends on how much gold. At a certain point all that trained gold becomes 0% chance of theft.

 

[Clau]

What if we consider it as a "personal loan" for role-playing purposes? Just make sure you pay it back in exact amount.

I too had been tempted to get back my money from Aela, on which I did. Took the gold and bought a house. It was barely enough. But felt guilty of deviating from my role-playing setup so I crafted several golden jewelry and equipment, sold it and gave back what I owe to Aela.

 

[DdraigGwyn]

I see it as an exploit. After all, if Bethesda intended for you to have no payment for training by followers, why not simply make the cost zero?

 

[Psiberzerker]

Yeah, it's an Exploit, that Bethesda apparently supports. You don't see them Patching Crafting (other than making Smithy a bit more difficult) though it's the single most overpowered one. They leave certain ones in, I suspect because they'd get flamed, and lose a lot of customers if they "Fixed" certain things that have come to dominate most discussions of gameplay. Go to every forum you can find on this game and ask 3 questions.

FAQs:

"How do I train up Archery quickly?"
"Faendal Train"

"How do i get the best weapons, and armor?"
"Crafting Loop" (While you're at it, see if you can count all the tutorials on Utoob.)

"How do I make Destruction useful?"
"Enchant 4 pieces with 25% Fortify destruction, and dual cast with Impact." Even to the point that build articles suggest not spending points on Magicka, because it's useless for a mage.

 

[osheao]

of course, it's an exploit.

the choice and ability to exploit or not is a dimension i feel all great rpg's should have.

at least, it makes up for the lack of difficulty THROUGHOUT the game.

 

[Neveraine]

What if we consider it as a "personal loan" for role-playing purposes? Just make sure you pay it back in exact amount.

I too had been tempted to get back my money from Aela, on which I did. Took the gold and bought a house. It was barely enough. But felt guilty of deviating from my role-playing setup so I crafted several golden jewelry and equipment, sold it and gave back what I owe to Aela.

I always exploit everything because I'm super greedy and am a hoarder. Not only do I take back the money from my followers for training me, but I also will buy a house and then hide all of my money before the guy collects it, so I end up with a free house