I've played other games where thieves can't hide while holding a light and I think it makes sense. I know that bringing realism into a fantasy game setting is always risky business, but I think it makes sense here.
Just as the description help thread says no 7 foot tall halflings, I think we should say no to hiding while holding a lantern.
My idea: Give thieves/ninjas infravision spell (or skill with a cooler sounding name?) and don't let them hide while holding lights.
Give them a skill called dark vision, which allows them to scan, and type exit and see everything. As it is now, infravision only lets you see the current room you're in, but not type exit.
I like it, there is already a class in the game that cannot hold lights.
I'll just say that's not entirely true there Nightmare. Since we can't discuss it openly at least.
Im of the opinion that hide functions fine as is. You dont get a fail message cause you think your hidden no matter what.
I would like to see thieves have a chance of their traps hitting them if they are blind/moving quickly through the area/setting a trap. Nothing annoys me more than a duergar thief who runs while blind from a bashlock straight past his chestbuster, which can hit ME from across the ENTIRE game if he makes a pet flee through it.