> I'm quite certain that proximity has been accounted for for many years.
Except for when you desperately need someone to pull that lever to raise the drawbridge to head off a horde of feral elves, and it assigns the job to a staggeringly-sober one-legged basketweaver who's having a party in a copse of trees halfway across the map.
While vampires and other undead members of your society can be problematic, a setup where you can trap them in a lever room is highly convenient. They don't have any feelings and will have near 100% availability to pull a lever.
Except for when you desperately need someone to pull that lever to raise the drawbridge to head off a horde of feral elves, and it assigns the job to a staggeringly-sober one-legged basketweaver who's having a party in a copse of trees halfway across the map.