So, why are there so few watchful boots here?

Well you could always create an alt and spam social actions…
On the other hand, reducing nightmare through social actions require second chances. So maybe not that easy.

For what it’s worth I’ve been looking at the derth of shoes/leggings/boots for a while. Recently my partner stumbled across the same thing and was also rather miffed. Christmas isn’t too far around the corner, so maybe we’ll get lucky.

Hell. Who knows with seasonal events, it might introduce a set of sandals with watchful +5.

Edit:
That

I want that
edited by Cecil on 9/2/2014

Confession time: I’d adore to go through Fallen London’s equipment pool and change everything for flavour and variety. For instance, of the existing hats that are actually hats - rather than glasses, masks, etc. - all but a handful are toppers or bonnets. Similarly, the vast bulk of the footwear category are high boots or slippers. Surely there’s room for more examples of the delightful oddities of the history of fashion?

Take, for instance, Dangerous clothing. At present, we have the generic Bloodstained Suit/Rough Gown, some corsetry with minor stat boosts, and a fantastical suit of armour. But surely we can imagine more examples of practical, even protective, Victorian garb! Think of riding coats and gowns, of tweed hunting-suits, and of the very handsome military uniforms of the period.

Or, look at hats. We have toppers, a bowler and a rather daring fedora. All very well, but that’s barely sampling the options of a very hatty era. In fact, a bowler could make a fine Dangerous hat, considering the style’s origins as a solid, protective shell for riders’ heads. Various broad-brimmed styles are popular in the city and the country alike. And not everyone, for that matter, wears a hat - caps are the traditional adornment of the hard-working type, and will blend into any crowd.

I’d definitely suggest the devs consult Sir Fred on all future additions to neathy wardrobe…

       You are in a game with a city inside the Earth, talking animals, and devils readily available to love.  And you are concerned that the clothing might be a little fantastic?  Whatever you say.
       You are in a game with a city inside the Earth, talking animals, and devils readily available to love.  And you are concerned that the clothing might be a little fantastic?  Whatever you say.[/quote]

Oh no, not at all. I probably didn’t phrase that very well. I was merely expanding AgentBlueSky’s (quite brilliant) analysis of why watchful boots make no sense by pointing out that watchful clothing makes no sense either. I have absolutely no problem with Fallen London’s fashion and I am more than willing to suspend my disbelief when it comes to ability-enhancing clothing. Especially if we get more of it. If Sir Fred’s suggestions make it to the game, I will be over the moon.

I daresay we could find a point of crossover between the highly literal Smock of Four Thousand Three Hundred and Eight Pockets and the thematic Morning Suit, and look to the sort of thing worn by various 19th century brain-workers. Lab coats, shop coats, aprons… not to mention the Rational and Artistic Dress reforms made by London’s intelligentsia.

I had another thought…
In London, from time to time, one does come across clothing that is considerably more vivacious than your average article. Gloves, hats, sometimes a suit that has forgotten more than the wearer will ever know. One only has to look to Polythreme to see what all clothing could potentially be; Where logs scream as they are placed in the fire. Where spoons bemoan foul breath and hot food. Where pebbles, when thrown, squeal in delight at the wonder of flight (or horror). Where your cloths gain awareness and seek to strike out on their own, start their own lives find their own fortunes (do they remember anything before awakening? I am not sure, I like to think they do).
Now, most shoes in London are either brutes or dandies, perfectly content to walk, run, hide, occasionally administer a kicking, all as long as they either look good doing it or achieve an admirable victory (sometimes both, maybe).
Now imagine your Watchful shoes… they simply wish to see the world, to know, to experience. What do they get? Tread upon… for what will likely be the entirety of their lives. Every day denied the opportunity to really help or learn. You’re writing a scientific paper that will change the views of physics as we know it? Where are you Watchful shoes? Under the table. In the dark. Ignored. Dejected. On an archeological expedition? Where are your Watchful shoes? Buried in the dust, in the mud or worse. The most they could possibly hope to do to aid you, because that is all they wish to do perhaps, is maybe help you avoid an unfortunate pit or toe shattering rock, and even then! I am certain that is more for their own self preservation, unlike other shoes of other qualities the Watchful shoes are not as vacuous. They, likely, simply wish not to forever be attached to some fool’s corpse in some dark, possibly snake filled pit. Some gloves might be able to make their escape, even some hats, suits seem to have more patience. Your Watchful shoes however… want more for themselves. They want to know more than what one’s feet smell like after a long day or how the underside of some monster looks like close up, at high velocity.
I am very much over-thinking this.
There is likely, absolutely, no tragedy in shoes that have a Watchful bent. I should probably stop applying personality to &quotinanimate objects&quot. Maybe I was more affected by Polythreme than I thought…
Just an funny concept.

Again, I would like to draw attention to the idea of Watchful shoes less as literally Watchful and more as perceptive.
Watchful shoes could, on an Expedition, help you FEEL the right route by noticing where old cart wheels rolled or what lies broken beneath your feet. While investigating a case, your shoes could focus on your suspects’ feet (the most truthful part of the body). Perhaps your boots can’t help you write that groundbreaking scientific paper, but I can’t imagine they’re incapable of assisting in the research component. There’s not another part of the body so often in contact with the world in which you move.
Give shoes the power to perceive in a meaningful way and I’ve no doubt you’d end up with a treasure-trove of valuable information (which, of course, is what Watchfulness is all about. Information-gathering.) Just a thought…

[quote=Asfodella]
Oh no, not at all. I probably didn’t phrase that very well. I was merely expanding AgentBlueSky’s (quite brilliant) analysis of why watchful boots make no sense by pointing out that watchful clothing makes no sense either. I have absolutely no problem with Fallen London’s fashion and I am more than willing to suspend my disbelief when it comes to ability-enhancing clothing. Especially if we get more of it. If Sir Fred’s suggestions make it to the game, I will be over the moon.[/quote]

Ahh, I see. Somehow I thought you meant more to the tune of, things looking ridiculous as they are. Sorry I misunderstood.

Actually, I too might like some of the bazaar items to be more attractive or distinctive. We do have quite a few rather conventional looking hats and dresses. I agree with some of the posts above on that.

It would also be nice to have more variety at each level in the bazaar - something more than one or two outfits for each level of a character statistic. I think it would be better to have more than one dress with +5 Persuasive, for example. Of course there does not have to be a huge catalog (and we may outgrow the +1 stats quite soon), but I imagine many of us might like to pick from multiple colors and cuts, and even change it up with our moods from time to time.
edited by Lavessa on 9/3/2014

Ye Gods, is it not evident why there is no footwear with eyes? It would mean the end of skirts in the Neath! Either that, or being forced to walk a yard apart at all times. No, good Sir, we will not anything of the sort blemish the impeccable decency of the Neath.

So those are the caliber of secrets you have been seeking from the cats? Now we understand completely…

Blast, they are on to me and my depraved appliance of the Mirror-Polished Shoes!
Ever since Mr. Pages proclaimed those particular secrets Proscribed Material there is nowhere else to turn to except the puss…err…cats.

A certain officer of another great and strange city can recognize, with eyes, nose and ears blocked, what part of the city he is walking through, as long as he wears boots with thin, cardboard soles. I think they would make great watchful boots.

Those sound less helpful than the shiny shoes, though; I can see them providing a +1 to Watchful at best. Certainly they’d be less helpful than the stockings.

I think that in a city with little light, knowing where you are, and what you are stepping on, in the dark is more useful than mirror-polished shoes. Of course, cardboard has disadvantages in other areas, and I can see it being quite bad for persuasive and dangerous. Then again, we walk around with iron hats, try to argue that these are a good idea.
edited by Loon on 9/7/2014

[quote=Loon]I think that in a city with little light, knowing where you are, and what you are stepping on, in the dark is more useful than mirror-polished shoes. Of course, cardboard has disadvantages in other areas, and I can see it being quite bad for persuasive and dangerous. Then again, we walk around with iron hats, try to argue that these are a good idea.
edited by Loon on 9/7/2014[/quote]

It works out your neck muscles so you can recover from being hanged quicker.