What's the point of the Watchers?

So, if you steal decorations/etc but no one sees you, you still take a virtue hit... correct?

From that, we can extrapolate that the Oracle is pretty much omnescient.

So... what purpose do the Watchers serve, other than getting in the way? It seems like a good gameplay hook, that the watchers are always watcbing. But if it doesnt matter if they see you or not, who cares if they watch?

Unless there is something im missing?

 

I would guess that the presence of the watchers is not limited to what you can see and what you can't see.

Just because you think the watchers don't see you, it doesn't mean they don't.

 

If the watchers can see you through walls with no line of sight amd no indication of that... from a gameplay and design point of view, that is pretty weak.

 

They can see what is in your wicked heart. Having the self restraint not to act in your evil nature makes you virtuous. Don't hate because the Oracle has figured you out!

 

I would put the shrug emote here but im too lazy to copy and paste

 

They are part of a synthetic ecosystem of macro and micro lifeforms that all feed information to the Oracle. The synthetic viruses in your body, that confer the oracles protection, download your actions to the watchers, that then wirelessly link to the oracles datastream.

 

What a hideous description.
lol

 

I always figured they were just part of the legacy build of the game going back a few years. Kinda like the wierd electric fields in OWLS that they once meant to be used for something but long ago moved away from.

 

I think quite simply that they are reminders that The Oracle is out there. Perhaps they are also out there to perform some bidding, since an observing omniscience doesn't necessarily have the power to act.

Or, as @2112Starman says, they're a legacy idea that never really came to fruition before plans changed.

 

In summary, they couldn't figure out how to actually get the watchers to see and report so basically they see everything.

 

http://sotawiki.net/sota/Metal_Scrap









(Joke aside I really wish that the watchers would give a metal scraps when killed).

 

You already forgot ? Cities were supposed to be able to be sieged, and those towns with tesla coils were supposed to be safe zones.

Why do people always forget everything Or is it me that can't forget anything ?

I think that @Solstar description is the closest RPG explanation we'll get... indeed, its pretty weak and I have been ranting against that stupid oracle since its there...

People who play sandbox RPGs hate omniscient arbitrary controls... they like freedom and not to be judged like machines.

 

Considering the track record of the project, im pretty comfortable assuming that any hidden and deeper meaning is probably all in the end user's head at this point.

this seems a lot more likely. Another missed opportunity? When I first started playing, there was this sense of oppression, of something hidden under the surface, which was enticing. Hell, it almost felt like a callback to Blackthorn's rule in Ultima 5.

Seems like that has fallen by the wayside.

 

Whatever it takes to sleep at night.

Yea, with the Cabalists, it certainly has shifted most of the antagonist focus away from The Oracle. I'm still early on in the main questlines so I might not have a great view, but I'm doubtful it changes much.

 

Not fallen, just pushed back... did you see the number of bug reports ? JIRA entries ? It's quite massive...

I'm pretty sure no one in the dev team expected Unity to be so hard to work with to produce a AAA title.

But missed opportunity, untapped potential ? Completely agree...

They had this GREAT chance to have a legacy cannon following, and they pretty much ruined it.

It's not too late to create a great game, but its too late to capture that magic again.

 

To aggravate players.

 

I also think they are annoying.

 

Don't think you're missing anything. The Oracle is creepy and her rigid definition of virtue is a thinly disguised assault on all Novians and Outlanders alike.

Only Chaos can save us now...

 

I've always looked at them as simple elements of Lore showing that the Oracle is "everywhere".