When I looked at a user’s profile there was a game in progress. I can’t tell if the players are aware of my presence. Are they? If not, they should be. I like to know who’s looking over my shoulder.
There should be a list of observers so that a user knows which game(s) is(are) being observed and who is watching.
Yeah bro, check out the bottom-right of the chat window.
Edit: Now with pictures!
At what point (if ever?) do the player’s get to see the observers’ comments?
That??? I clicked on it once and got what looked like a parallel chat column. Couldn’t figure out what it was for. So when my opponent is there it should be 2? It’s the same icon as the one at the top that represents Friends? Very informative, 2 icons that look same but are different things. Right now mine indicates “1”. My opponent in that game is not on so I wondered who the hell is watching me. Turns out it is me. That makes a lot of sense, hmm? No, I am not “observing” my own game. So I look at my other game and the same guy is there watching. I wonder if he is watching all of my games. Does that apply to one game or is it for all games? I have no way of figuring it out. I guess it does not tell me that anyone is watching my games unless I review through each one of them.
I get no information at all about either of those icons when i hover on them.
When the game ends :). Other observers can see them in real time.
Yes, you are 
Well no, it is always only for the open game. It feels ok to me that way, I think having a separate window for observers in any running game would be needlessly complicated. Anyway in my experience at least since you are probably talking about correspondence games no one is really going to be hanging around random games waiting for hours for someone to make a move. Not unless you are a high ranking dan player maybe.
Also note that if you are uncomfortable with people watching your games, you can always make them private when creating the challenge.
No, I am not observing my own game and the dictionary supports that. The sense in which we’re using the word “observe” is: (1) notice or perceive (something) and register it as being significant • watch (someone or something) carefully and attentively • take note of or detect (something) in the course of a scientific study. On the other hand, “participate” means to (1) take part.
No, I do not think that a participant is an observer, or that an observer is a participant (because quantum mechanics is not the paradigm at this scale). In fact, in your reply to Green, you cite a very real distinction between observers and participants. 
I only have two gams, both “correspondence”, but when my opponent and I are on at the same time exchanging moves, how is that any different? The fact is that I noted this when I looked at the profile of a user who had posted a game and who happened to be playing; I didn’t notice , that was not a point of interest.
How about thinking of it as the number of OGS users that are currently logged into the game? This group of people is then sub divided into observers and players 
I find it very useful as it is as i can tell if my opponent leaves the game for whatever reason (connection problems etc)
Ok, troll feeding time! 
Yes, you are observing your own games. By definition (1) of “observe”, if you are a player (or the one who does “participate”, in your limited sketch of a language), you are also an observer. You can’t play, unless you pay attention to playing and the game. Or do you think you can take part in the game of Go without perceiving the game of Go?
Your next objection is based on the belief that the sets of observers and participants are exclusive. I hope that I’ve sufficiently showed that the set of participants is a subset of observers (in other words that you can’t play the game if you do not observe the game).
Alas, even the perplexity of observers’ comments can be explained away. Comments by ‘observer&participant’ (this is a shorthand for “a member of a set of observers and a set of participants”) can be seen by all in a set of observers; comments by ‘observers¬-participants’ can be seen by all in ‘observer¬-participant’ and is revealed to ‘observer&participant’ after game concludes.
In ordinary language, it is sufficiently effective do distinguish only players and observers even though the underlying notions are more complex, because the meaning and one’s behavior can be adjusted by learning. You can figure this behavior by observing two distinct live games with more than 3 observers.
EDIT: Also, the ‘observer’ in the sense it is used here is some ‘one who has the game page loaded in a browser’. You can observe (in an ordinary sense) a game via thumbnail on player’s profile, list of games &c. which does not make you and ‘observer’.
You are out of line referring to me as a troll. Thank you very much for giving me an opportunity to earn another badge. I question you’re understanding of English; would not hire you as my lawyer.
You’re welcome.
Also, there’s a badge for this? That explains a lot.
your* understanding. Also, I am going to close this thread.