If you nearly scrolled past another Fable preview because morality systems usually sound like the same old good-or-evil slider, this is the part worth stopping for. The real read on Fable's judgement is simpler and sharper: in Fable, morality is not inside you. It sits with the witnesses.
That matters because a private meter is just feedback to the player. A public system changes how a world talks about you. Preview coverage says reputation depends on who sees what you do, and that judgment can form in specific regions or settlements instead of becoming one universal score. That is why I read this less as a morality bar and more as public opinion wearing RPG clothes.
The second detail is what makes the idea stick. One preview says the game has more than 1,000 NPCs, and another says NPCs react through their own traits, personalities, and what they know about you. So the point is not that the game knows you were evil. The point is that people think you were. That is a much messier, more interesting system if it survives the final game.
A game update is not worth tracking because it lists more features. It is worth tracking if it changes your next judgment. My takeaway: watch Fable for witness-driven reputation, not for a simple morality score. This is based on pre-release preview coverage, not final gameplay. If you know someone still reading it as a private good-or-bad meter, share this with them.