Voyeurism in Videogames (Spectator shenanigans, invasions, etc.)

I really don't know why I'm creating this thread, but I recently had some amusing experiences in Watch_Dogs that made me think just how cool the invasion mechanic is in videogames.

Streaming is becoming more and more popular, but you're in control of the stream, you know you're putting on a show (and it's cool that games like Akiba's Trip let the commenters generate events in-game, something that's PS4-exclusive I think.)


In Watch_Dogs, there's a Dark Souls-inspired mechanic where you can trail or hack other players, where both players appear as an NPC to one another. Depending on the circumstances, your target may or may not be alerted to your presence (I think it's dependent on Notoriety, EXP that you earn for online stuff that is used to unlock exclusive perks.)

Trailing tasks you with simply looking at another player's actions for a duration of time, simple as keeping them visible on-screen and within a specifric range. Hacking forces you to get close, hack the other player (hold square for two seconds) then relocate somewhere comfortable (within a specific distance of the victim) and start stealing their files which is a slow process that shows a radius of your location on the map, that shrinks every 25%. The other player can kill you if they can profile you (press square to get a reticule, aim at NPCs) and you'll lose Notoriety for this. You can escape with a partial bounty if you're simply discovered. Trailing has a smaller risk but a smaller reward as well.

What's fun about these is seeing the various things that players are doing when you first arrived, or how they attempt to find you. Online hacking is scarier than a horror game as you're just hiding somewhere hoping that you don't get spotted and blown away by a grenade launcher (because everybody's an unsporting douchebag.) I think I'll upload some private YouTube videos of me hiding from people (Watch_Dogs has a cool feature where you can turn off your vehicle and hide in it, and if you hide strategically you can just look like an ordinary parked vehicle unless the player looks inside the front seat.)

I invaded one guy who was just shooting grenades against a wall. Just a brick wall of a building in the middle of nowhere, and I don't even think they leave nifty effects behind. Just grenades against the wall.

One time I was hiding in a vehicle below the L-train tracks and they just couldn't find me, so they climbed up to the tracks and ran around up there for a bit...When I see them suddenly fall off the tracks and die in the intersection behind me. Certainly made my job easier, because respawning in Watch_Dogs takes a while for some reason.

Anyway, I'm rambling and this is kind of a pointless thread overall, but if you have any other amusing spectator/invasion stories, share 'em!