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Old 2012-08-29, 11:39   Link #404
Iron Maw
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Join Date: Feb 2006
Quote:
Originally Posted by Clarste View Post
No one chooses to be born on Earth either. You just end up here and you can either find your own happiness or die. It's your own choice.
But with the Earth as one matures you come to the understanding that without it, you couldn't even exist to begin with. This not case with SAO since no one is native or born here. The people in the game all have prior knowledge of this and it's because of that most can't truly be happy here even if a living can be made.

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What you seem to be missing is the fact that SAO is only particularly dangerous when you're trying to get out. If there's anything sadistic about it, that's it. You can either risk your life with the hope of getting out, or stop trying to get out at all and live a peaceful if somewhat boring life there. This is the choice that every person trapped in there is forced to make. Do I value my old life enough to risk my current life? Based on the conversation in this episode, it seems that increasingly people are choosing not to risk their lives. Which means that they consider living there a valid option.
There really isn't a choice here though, merely conditions set by Kayaba. The people who are staying in SAO aren't doing it out love for it (at least nobody like that has appeared yet), but rather they see no other way due to the fear of death. If Kayaba suddenly showed up now and allowed the players who decided to stay a way back, do you think they would still stick by that choice? Are they truly attached to SAO that would prefer that to their previous lives instead simply making the best out of a bad situation?

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Is it "settling for less"? Sure, why not. We don't know everyone's circumstances, but we can grant this assumption without changing anything. But "settling for less" isn't the mark of being imprisoned or undergoing a trial, it's just another part of living. I'd argue that every single one of us "settles for less" every single day. You don't always get the person you love most, you don't always get the job you want, you can't afford to eat the best food every day. People go through that all the time.
I don't think it's quite the same thing here. In SAO choosing to stay means giving up the life you rightfully had, regardless of it's situation. Compared to something like not getting your "first love" or "dream job" those things were never promised or yours to start. People in SAO had a life before the game and it was simply taken away and forcibly replaced a cage. A sweet smelling cage designed to mimic their former lives at a basic level, by still a cage with death being the bars.

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...and since I know someone's going to mention PK, how exactly is that different from murder in real life? It's not different at all. Lock your doors and don't fall asleep in the middle of the street and you should be fine. The entire mystery arc was about Kirito and Asuna freaking out over the rules possibly being broken, to the point where they considered it more important than furthering the escape attempt, which tells you exactly how much reassurance the rules normally provide.
Indeed, however is this really a surprise? The rules are the only real protection the inhabitants have in the game. Without them climbing Aincrad would be almost impossible.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wild Goose View Post
On the subject of living in SAO, the novels actually address this issue in several of the chapters after the current story arc. Patience, and all will be revealed.
Isn't this what the show has been doing since ep 3? Well I'm looking forward to all the same as long as their plot advancement too.

Last edited by Iron Maw; 2012-08-29 at 11:55.
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