Talk:Dishonored: Death of the Outsider/@comment-16533050-20170918000716/@comment-16533050-20170919062341

As usual, my response is TL/DR.

@ Fradi, what I am talking about is the complete lack of either runes or Outsider Shrines in the area for no reason whatsoever storywise.

You're somehow assuming that ONLY the cults or other factions (Overseers, Oracular Order or whoever) are the ones who create, carry, have, hide, build, or acquire either the runes or the shrines. Why you're assuming their existence has to be connected to the overall storyline makes no sense to me.

In Dishonored 1, the Mad Survivor is a prime example of a character who has not only managed to acquire a rune, but also build an Outsider Shrine within his own apartment, upon Kaldwin's Bridge no less. He was part of no cult, no faction and had no motivations beyond keeping his precious "treasure" safe.

In Dishonored 2, the artist Amadeo Monte built a shrine within his apartment, and had runes and bonecharms hidden away there as well. While associated in a slight way with Mindy Blanchard, Amadeo was not directly connected with any gang, faction, or cult. He was just some guy who happened to acquire these things. Unlike the Mad Survivor above, he didn't lose his mind, at least that I'm aware of.

In The Knife of Dunwall, a rune was found within the belly of a whale according to this note. The note also refers to the worker who steals the rune and then hides up in an alcove and dies protecting it whilst writing this note. Again, this man was just some random worker at the Slaughterhouse, not some member of the Butchers or any other gang or faction.

During The Dead Eels mission in The Brigmore Witches, there is an entire shrine hidden away at the Drapers Ward Riverfront near the Undine. The only access to this shrine is through an underwater passage. The Dead Eels in the area don't even seem to be aware of its existence, let alone worship at it. The shrine is just there, belonging to no faction or cult or coven.

And these are just a few examples. What I'm basically saying is that storywise, the shrines and runes don't have to be directly connected to the main plot to exist. They're brief snippets of the secrets and hidden lives of the citizens of the cities of Dishonored. They're just there.

The sudden vanishing of ALL runes and Shrines in Death of the Outsider EVERYWHERE, therefore, makes no sense from a storytelling point of view. Even if some great purge existed, there is still the clever plebeian or the sycophantic noble who has a rune or two stashed away, or has a shrine hidden beneath the floor or in a specially designed room. These can either be for quiet contemplation, or other more debased rituals, depending on the individuals involved. They don't have to be part of any cult or any great plot.

It would be one thing if runes were rare in the previous games, like one a level, or five total for a whole game... but the things were everywhere. The same holds true of the shrines.

If the missions and levels in DotO were exceedingly linear and enclosed, such as the Dishonored Mission or A Stay of Execution for Lizzy then that would make more sense. But for everything Billie Lurk has to do and everywhere she needs to go, not only for the main mission(s), but for all the side missions and contracts while not seeing evidence of these, just doesn't ring true based off of previous entries in the series.

The game universe went from "here's our lore and story and et cetera... enjoy yourself", to "well, this is what ya need to win, and only what's necessary for gameplay". That just seems subpar writing to Arkane's usual standards.

Anyway, that's just my opinion. As I stated earlier, TL/DR; sorry for rambling. :/