Sword Art Online - Episode 1 Discussion / Poll

[konart]

Originally Posted by Kirito

Why don't you check the image thread. I'm sure you'll find something there.

The first thing I did.

[Wild Goose]

His mom's the editor of a tech mag, iirc. Butnhonestly, imo multiple screens is a hit pointless... Unlessmyou're playing flight sims. NervGear would be awesome for those.

[LoweGear]

Multiple screens are useful for setups that require different applications displayed at full resolution simultaneously, like those working with graphics editing programs and the like. For gaming though, there aren't many that can take advantage of such a setup, so it's a waste if you're a gamer.

[kyp275]

Originally Posted by Wild Goose

His mom's the editor of a tech mag, iirc. Butnhonestly, imo multiple screens is a hit pointless... Unlessmyou're playing flight sims. NervGear would be awesome for those.

depends on what you're using it for, i currently run 2 monitors (3 if you count the laptop on my desk ), and the extra screen real estate has been a tremendous boost in work productivity for me.

if you're talking about for gaming, i agree, unless you have the GPU power to drive the high resolution that comes with the territory.

[Ray]

Some of the spoilers here are completely unnecessary..

Originally Posted by konart

The first thing I did.

Ah. Then I'd recommend you stay away from pixiv, because while it does have the crossover art you want, there are quite many images that contain spoilers there. It's a big no-no for anime-only fans.

[FlareKnight]

Definitely a good start to the series. Just confirming this as one series I'm going to enjoy.

Started off nicely with Klein and Kirito just going through the basics of fighting and then things really started to go nuts. Starting off with an "oh god I can't log out" leading to their normal appearances showing up and then the shear panic.

Can only imagine 10,000 people in a confined space just utterly losing it. Clear the game or you're dead and the game being in a kind of hardcore mode. Those like Kirito who can still think quickly about what they need to do will be in a better position as things get chaotic.

On a lighter note was fun having that one 'girl' go to his regular appearance as a guy. Kind of expected that character to be playing the opposite gender. At least now there isn't going to be doubts about Kirito and any girl he ends up encountering in this game.

Pretty much everything I hoped for from the first episode and looking forward to seeing how everything goes from here.

[Deltaray]

Anyone up to actually count if there really is 10 000 (9 787) players on "opening tutorial"

[Polarpew]

Originally Posted by kk2extreme

Note to self: If a real life VRMMORPG is on the market, do not buy...

u crazy bro? course im buying.

Anyways this first episode is more than I expected out of an adaptation. Its freaking unbelievable how accurate it follows the Light Novel, I could read the first chapter alongside with this episode. They fit everything in perfectly and didnt miss a beat, at the same time added some stuff which we always wanted to see, (Kirito's avatar before the mirror, setting of the first floor) though, those villages on those discs in the air are kinda weird, how do you reach them cept through town portal?

[leokiko]

Ugh...seems like I will have to avoid the discussions, spoilers going all around.

[Miraluka]

Originally Posted by Polarpew

u crazy bro? course im buying.

Its fine as long as there is no crazy game master.

Originally Posted by leokiko

Ugh...seems like I will have to avoid the discussions, spoilers going all around.

There is no spoiler in this thread until now I didn't find them, mods are very aware of them.

[dresden]

That was pretty good.

[Iron Maw]

Ep 1:

The Production staff really did a great selling the feel one being in a MMORPG and the subsequent shock and panic where it becomes a life and death. I do feel that Kirto was tad too clear headed during revelation even if he were beta tester though. Kirito and Klein are the only two characters of importance established, but they're written pretty decently with fairly standard dialogue.

Oddly enough, I was fairly disappointed in the production values regarding the animation and art. Perhaps it's because Fate/Zero has spoiled me, but this didn't come off nearly smooth or well directed as I though it would be. The art for the characters (notably the faces) are kinda bland and a bit lacking identifiable features. Ultimately the strongest aspect of the art was the gorgeous scenery particular the sunset where Kirito and Klein overlooking Aincrad. That said, overall production is by no means bad, it just pales in comparison some of the other high mark shows (like A-1's Canaan) on that front.

Surprisingly there wasn't much music in this episode, most of the scenes were either ambient or very subtle in terms of score. It's nothing like I expected out Kujira at all. It's not bad, in fact it's smart placement helped set the tone very well, drawing the viewer in.

In general while it didn't quite live to hype for me, it's still one best starting shows this season. The premise has been done many times now, but the execution is what setting it apart and will likely continue to do so.

Very sold 8.50/10 for me.

[monir]

Off-topic:

If you see any spoilers, please report so those can be deleted quickly along with a trout-slap for the culprit. Considering the amount of shows that are airing, it will take at least a few days before any mod becomes up to date with the series. So yes, please use the report button for any spoilers. Thanks.

[thundrakkon]

Quite an interesting start and some beautiful animation in the background.

Originally Posted by Funkatron

Yeah, wasn't expecting that. That ending post the "intro" was creepy: 2000 died? Really? Wow, this really sucks you in. In a lot of shows about playing virtual games, there sort of an air of "why should you even care? It's not real and you can log-out whenever." This show made you care because people are freaking dying. Makes me wonder if law enforcement can even touch this guy since he literally has thousands, if not millions hostage in SAO.

Didn't Klein state that only 10,000 were sold? So 20% of the population in the game has died so far. So where is the creator? I'm sure he is hiding somewhere undetectable. Also, what is the purpose of this game by the creator? I'm sure it is not only to murder people.

I can guess what players with families can do to save them in the real world (Kirito), but what about players who live alone (Klein)? I hope they have some sort of system to locate all the players, since people would starve to death in real life.

So from my understanding, if you lose health in game, you die. The creator states that there is no way to recover health. Hence, doesn't that mean that any hit on you would slowly chip away at your life? I cannot imagine anyone going to level 100 without getting hit much. There must be a way to recover health. There is that eating scene in the intro, so maybe food in game will recover health?

[kyp275]

Originally Posted by thundrakkon

So from my understanding, if you lose health in game, you die. The creator states that there is no way to recover health. Hence, doesn't that mean that any hit on you would slowly chip away at your life? I cannot imagine anyone going to level 100 without getting hit much. There must be a way to recover health. There is that eating scene in the intro, so maybe food in game will recover health?

No, there are recovery items in the game, what he said was that the resurrection spells etc. have been removed, so you can't revive someone after they died. Basically Diablo in hardcore mode.

[Maelstrom]

I wonder how they are going to get nourishment in the real world.... maybe everyone playing will be strapped to an IV needle?

[DragoonKain3]

Awesome art, but way too much exposition for my tastes. Next to no action and no sign at all of any sort of romance made this episode a snorefest for me. Even weaker pilot episode than say, Campione IMO.

[serenade_beta]

As expected of Accel World's author, but the setting is ridiculous. The characters were better though, without an otaku pig and a male side character that isn't a side-side character, but wow, the setting... Like no official committee ever checked this game before it was made available to the public. It's practically terrorism.

Putting aside the very entertaining (making me laugh-meaning) setting, everything else was really interesting though, kind of the same excitement for Druaga's Tower, both being a fantasy aiming to conquer a tower.
Being forced this time, the characters don't look just like MMO-junkies either.

[Kattaro]

Originally Posted by kk2extreme

Note to self: If a real life VRMMORPG is on the market, do not buy...

If VRMMORPG was on the market then I would specially go to Japan to buy this
This kind of technology really interest me. In my opinion it would be great if something like that were made.

[NaweG]

Originally Posted by thundrakkon

Didn't Klein state that only 10,000 were sold? So 20% of the population in the game has died so far. So where is the creator? I'm sure he is hiding somewhere undetectable. Also, what is the purpose of this game by the creator? I'm sure it is not only to murder people.

Anime only viewer here, but you bring up a couple questions I had, so lets see if we can come up with something reasonable:

1) If this is like many "real" games there were 10K copies sold, but the Beta users probably got gifted (cheap or free) copies as well. So that suggests there may be 11K folks, and that's assuming that there is no way to load a cracked copy. I'm also curious if like a "real" MMO there aren't some support staff - and are they trapped as well? In fact, while he said you couldn't get out, there was no mention that the game was closed to new players coming in, and I can imagine some folks choosing to do so if the option is open.

2) Why would someone do this question has a LOT of possible answers. We have nothing on his back story, and that could be relevant. It could be something as wild as the reason for "Eden of the East" - and this is his way of making the Otaku "man up". It could be a chance to blackmail folks for money. Think of the "Hunger Games" - he could get folks paying him money to send items to their loved ones in his world. Or he could literally be a meglomaniac and it's easier to build your own world to rule than to take over the real one.

Just my .02 worth...