Accel World - FanFiction Discussion

[Tusjecht]

Then perhaps you should work the other way round; create a believable character with one main trauma. Gray Moonlight has way too many IS techniques for a single trauma; given your past...history of creating the avatar before the character, I strongly believe you need to try working in a different way to produce a different result.

'Gray' is unknown, not only because it has yet to appear, but there also lies the difficulty in placing it on a colour wheel. Gray is either White mixed with Black, or Black mixed with White. Since White and Black are completely unknown at this point in time, Gray would be speculating upon conjecture. Choosing gray as a colour is an extremely risky choice of colour.

Can you also divorce your thinking of abilities from what they can possibly do and what they do by themselves? Using your example of bending light, (and I note you didn't mention anything about making Cosmos visible before this) it's alright to state "he bends the direction of light," but it is not alright to say "his light-bending can make Cosmos visible."

Or using a canon example: Cyan Pile. His basic attack fires his steel stake from his Pile Driver. It's okay to describe it as "a stinging attack that extends the stake by a metre (3 feet)" but it is not alright to say "he can fire his stake a metre, driving it through his opponent/ shooting off their limbs/breaking their armour."

I also strongly suggest that you completely leave out IS techniques for the time being if you don't understand it completely. Erring on the side of caution here, but designing moves when you don't understand the basics behind it leads to misunderstanding very easily.

I frequent a roleplay site with plenty of other original characters, and my reccommendation is to begin with just three things: a normal move, a special move, and either a specialised body part or an Enhanced Armament. Start from there and no more. Preferably at Level 1 as well, if only to simplify matters by removing Level Up bonuses and more skills from the picture.

I highly recommend you look at some of my more recent posts in the Spoilers & Speculation Thread and the Brain Burst Game Rules & Speculations Thread. I hope you gain a better understanding of non-IS abilities after this.

[Sunder the Gold]

Originally Posted by Tusjecht

Character hardship and setbacks are good for development, but most of the focus has been on Haruyuki. From gaining his wings, the 5th Disaster, having Aviation robbed and returned, it's all about Haruyuki. SAO got one volume for Aincrad side stories by the 4th Volume mark, but not AW, which got its first side story compilation at V10.

More focus on AW's other characters / less absolute focus on Haruyuki would be good.

tl;dr Kawahara needs to stop adding fresh avatars to break the system.

Absolutely.

Between extra Enhanced Armaments (acquired from Shops, Enemies or retired Burst Linkers) and Incarnate Skills, you don't need an avatar to be designed with inherent, game-breaking abilities. The setting already allowed for balanced "balance-breaking" without violating the rule of "same potential".

It's totally fair! Even if there's only one The Strife, anyone besides Green Grandee could have gotten it, and it's fully possible to take it from him by theft or killing. Grandee got that unique weapon fair and square by being the first to take it.

Other, lesser weapon drops might even allow for multiple copies. Items bought from shops present a risk because of the number of Burst Points they demand, which reduces your "safety buffer".

But don't feed us bullshit like "Same level, same potential" and then introduce so many damned exceptions that don't make use of the built-in exceptions.

Resolve the ISS Kit and the ARS, and briskly conclude AW, The Fluctuating Light, and Oscillatory Universe. Fanservice is overflowing, Takumu is suffering a little too much, and some avatars are now being left wide open after their one-time appearance.

That and we're not actually getting any closer to the REAL question of the story: What is the true purpose of Brain Burst, Accel Assault and Cosmos Corrupt?

The primary story should either be about Black Lotus defeating four other Level 9 players, or about finding an alternative way to win (such as successfully storming the Forbidden Castle), or about solving the mystery based on existing clues within the design and rules of the game itself.


Rescuing the Elements is important to that story, as it gives the Black Legion more fighting power to wage war against the other legions. Establishing a truce with Prominence is important, as it marks one King who's off-limits for killing, or creates serious dramatic tension if Black Lotus decides to take her head.

The Accel Research Society is an annoying distraction, especially when "dirty-dealing tricky bastards" is supposed to be the identity and role of the Yellow Legion.

The ISS Kits are also an annoying distraction. So is Magenta Scissors, whose motivation should be total bullshit except for the fact that the author really does seem to constantly break his own "same potential" rule.

[tuckersister]

Originally Posted by Tusjecht

'Gray' is unknown, not only because it has yet to appear, but there also lies the difficulty in placing it on a colour wheel. Gray is either White mixed with Black, or Black mixed with White. Since White and Black are completely unknown at this point in time, Gray would be speculating upon conjecture. Choosing gray as a colour is an extremely risky choice of colour.

Isn't Graphite Edge a "gray" duel avatar?

Also, I'll leave Gray Moonlight's ability and real name the same. Just as a reminder, his ability is to bend light (that's how he can make "constructs" and is able to fight Cosmos and Array). Just for your information, light energy IS light (duh). Basically you kill the lights, he's toast. His "constructs" is why he is able to make copies of himself. I will leave everything else blank and incomplete until figure out what exactly "gray" is?

[Sunder the Gold]

Graphite Edge is officially a pure blue (no hint of purple or green) so dark it's nearly pure black. Or a shade of black with a hint of blue.

[MeisterBabylon]

Originally Posted by Sunder the Gold

It IS notable how the author tries to jump past that starter zone as quickly as possible.

Cyan Pile starts the story at Level 4, Silver Crow's journey to Level 2 is truncated and his rise to Level 4 is completely skipped over, and Lime Bell teams up with the stupid-broken Dusk Taker to form a stupid-broken tag team that lets her power-level right up to Level 4.

One has to wonder what the point of it is.

At least it serves the purpose of weeding out those players who would be less than serious about the game. There's no way that Utai could have made it to Level 4 if she was hesitant to hurt and e hurt by personally fighting and struggling against other players.

If anything, I sometimes wonder if Lime Bell cheated the designer's intent. Would she have been willing to fight and so thirsty for victory that she could have made it to Level 4 without Dusk Taker? If she wasn't fighting so hard to return Silver Crow's wings and remove Noumi's control, would she have eventually just quit?

However, the dog-eat-dog nature of the "starter zone" returns with interest at Level 9. But why have a period of relative peace between those periods? To make the harsh stakes seem even harsher by comparison? Yet, it's not something that anyone but Kings needs to personally worry about, and there's no way Silver Crow, Cyan Pile, Lime Bell or any beginner Original Character should be able to reach Level 9 without years of effort... Or without defeating lots and lots and lots of higher-leveled Burst Linkers. (And even then, the rewards and risks eventually level out so that hunting enemies is the only sound path.)



As for inspiration, what are your thoughts on Gold Cub's potential upgrades, the upgrades he chose, the rivals that follow him (or whom he follows) into the UNF, and the character flaws he needs to overcome? What are the lessons he needs to learn, or the goals he wishes to attain?

1)

I believe the 'relative peace' is because that keeps players engaged in AW. Too much pvp and eventually everyone runs out of points, the game collapses, and I think that would be against the plans of whoever's developing the game. The game teaches you how to play, then puts you into the playpen of LoSec and beyond, then you have the ridiculously high end conflicts where the Kings are the equivalent of expensive Titans that have tremendous power. I believe there was a huge war before, weeding out many lesser kings and having friends turn on friends, and finally the last 7 decided it was too stupid to go through with mutually assured destruction. This would lead to the status quo... at least until the next Goonswarm appears.

Looks like we all struggle with Level 4 syndrome, hey.

2)

I started out with "SAO character designs in Accel World" as a premise but it quickly became too goddamn difficult. I'm realigning the story, but again, its kinda hard.

There's 3 things I want to achieve: 1) imagine what BB was like during the months post release, with thousands of guilds and players in an Age of Wushu-esque environment, 2) tell the story of a guild which went from the first endgame dominator until it was corrupted from within by Yellow Radio, and in the second post Golden age part, 3) tell the love story of Gold Cub and Ultramarine Bolt which crosses realities while showing how much BB has changed since the 1st brutal Unification War which saw so many thousands of players destroyed by Black Lotus and other like-minded warriors.



His trauma is that he has literally been robbed of his world, Locked In Syndrome with a body that is slowly dying if not for the extraordinary medicine being practiced. He struggles to grip on to anything he possesses. His fear is losing his attachment to reality, once his neurolinker fibroses over, that's it, he's forever locked in.

Therefore, the internet is the world he lives in, but he always craved more than the transient world he sought refuge in. One day, one of his doctors, at least what sounded like one of his doctors, installed the BB program in him and it activated, leading to that opening scene where he speeds around the virtual derelict hospital and encounters his first fight.

I wanted to manifest his trauma as a desire to conquer the Accelerated World, one that he almost forgets while spending time with the Golden Brigade. Yellow Radio will reminds him in the most painful way possible eventually. Because he is so black IRL, his avatar is pure gold. And because he struggles to hold on to the world around him, his gauge power and passive ability allows him to do something to that effect. There is a bitter irony in it. It doesn't manifest itself until much later in the story, but after that he goes into seclusion because it would attract too much attention (kind of like Kirito's dual wielding, a unique strong power that will have many people going after him).

I won't spoil all of it. But... I can say I designed his character around the tagline, "All of you are MONGRELS" and a certain city gate.

[Tusjecht]

Originally Posted by tuckersister

Isn't Graphite Edge a "gray" duel avatar?

Also, I'll leave Gray Moonlight's ability and real name the same. Just as a reminder, his ability is to bend light (that's how he can make "constructs" and is able to fight Cosmos and Array). Just for your information, light energy IS light (duh). Basically you kill the lights, he's toast. His "constructs" is why he is able to make copies of himself. I will leave everything else blank and incomplete until figure out what exactly "gray" is?

Originally Posted by Sunder the Gold

Graphite Edge is officially a pure blue (no hint of purple or green) so dark it's nearly pure black. Or a shade of black with a hint of blue.

I don't know if there's a typesetted version of this colour wheel, so I'd like to draw you attention to no. 23, the one written グラファイト・エッジ.

That translates as 'Graphite Edge'. Quite clearly, it's situated very close to no. 22, 青の王, or Blue King in terms of colour chromaticity. But it's placed so far into the blacks zone that it would look like black with a shade of blue.

Of course I know solar energy is light, made from a stream of photons. I'm poiting out that you need to alter the way you describe your abilities, by leaving out entirely any references to how it works on other avatars.

I also fail to see how 'killing the lights' is feasible otherwise. Every stage known at this point has some light for controllers to fight. Of course, every combatant is almost unable to fight in the dark, so why should that be a weakness of Moonlight above all else?

[tuckersister]

Originally Posted by Tusjecht

I also fail to see how 'killing the lights' is feasible otherwise. Every stage known at this point has some light for controllers to fight. Of course, every combatant is almost unable to fight in the dark, so why should that be a weakness of Moonlight above all else?

I was trying to come up with a feasible weakness in his "constructs" besides his weak defense.

[Tusjecht]

So, are the constructs made from a system ability, or an IS skill? Constructing the image of an entire DA is not what I would call a basic ability. Whether it is the former or the latter case would then shape his trauma.

And on this topic, I will honestly admit. I have no solid idea on the traumas that create White, Black, and Greyscale avatars. There has been no canon information, save for some internal monologue in Versus (a SAO crossover side story). Even that was merely the characters speculating on the properties of Black.

Might I also point you to this thread I just made a few hours ago on Tips on how to create a character and his DA. The difference between OCs made for Roleplays and Fanfiction are so small as to be only in name. I beseech you to read it first before attempting Gray Moonlight.

[Sunder the Gold]

Originally Posted by Tusjecht

So, are the constructs made from a system ability, or an IS skill? Constructing the image of an entire DA is not what I would call a basic ability. Whether it is the former or the latter case would then shape his trauma.

And on this topic, I will honestly admit. I have no solid idea on the traumas that create White, Black, and Greyscale avatars. There has been no canon information, save for some internal monologue in Versus (a SAO crossover side story). Even that was merely the characters speculating on the properties of Black.

Might I also point you to this thread I just made a few hours ago on Tips on how to create a character and his DA. The difference between OCs made for Roleplays and Fanfiction are so small as to be only in name. I beseech you to read it first before attempting Gray Moonlight.

For that thread, you might want to link to this resource: http://chir.ag/projects/name-that-color/#BFFDD3

It really helps for coming up with an unused color name with the general (or even exact!) shade and hue that you want.

It's how I found "Ebony" for a "Black-with-Green hints" color.

[Sunder the Gold]

Originally Posted by MeisterBabylon

I believe there was a huge war before, weeding out many lesser kings and having friends turn on friends, and finally the last 7 decided it was too stupid to go through with mutually assured destruction. This would lead to the status quo... at least until the next Goonswarm appears.

Er, that's really not how I imagine it. Rather, each of the Seven Kings of Pure Color came about as they reached Level 7 and gained the power to create legions.

Even before that, unofficial guilds of friends would exist, for hunting Enemies and raiding Dungeons as part of the MMO experience. But after the formation of legions, the game also gained a territory-capture/defense aspect.

The major conflict from then on was about securing territory where you could be safe from normal duel challenges. It also provided a measure of safety in the Unlimited Neutral Field, as outsiders would be less likely to Dive within your legion's territory.

Though we do know that one King in particular made it a point to hunt down and "murder" a potential King. Either as part of an experiment, or because her plans threatened that King's prefered shape for the Accelerated World, or both.

For sure, groups of Burst Linkers would hunt and destroy certain other Burst Linkers they particularly hated or feared, but given how much time and effort that takes, it would have to be fueled by a LOT of hate or fear.

I started out with "SAO character designs in Accel World" as a premise but it quickly became too goddamn difficult. I'm realigning the story, but again, its kinda hard.

Well, Lisbeth as a crafting character can be done with something similar to Red Rider's gun-forge, only as a "sword"-forge. I've spoken about the possibilities of such a tool in this thread, I believe.

There's 3 things I want to achieve: 1) imagine what BB was like during the months post release, with thousands of guilds and players in an Age of Wushu-esque environment

I think it would be more like "dozens of guilds", but certainly not as many as hundreds.

Brain Burst was released to something like 1000 people, right? The 20 or so who reached Level 2 first gained the ability to make unlimited numbers of Children, right?

So, even before the Kings officially created the legions, Blue Knight and Red Rider and such could expand the numbers of their followers endlessly by simply making more of them. Which gave them a HUGE advantage over any second-generation players who wanted to challenge them.

The Legions of Pure Color are the largest because their kings are fertile. Other Legions can only grow in a limited and very unreliable fashion. Kuroyukihime's legion was a fluke and greatly relied on the power of her Element generals. Niko's reborn Red Legion relied on the original members who didn't leave for the Purple Legion, and even now is the next smallest legion after Nega Nebulus, since Scarlet Rain can only ever have one Child.

His trauma is that he has literally been robbed of his world, Locked In Syndrome with a body that is slowly dying if not for the extraordinary medicine being practiced. He struggles to grip on to anything he possesses. His fear is losing his attachment to reality, once his neurolinker fibroses over, that's it, he's forever locked in.

Therefore, the internet is the world he lives in, but he always craved more than the transient world he sought refuge in. One day, one of his doctors, at least what sounded like one of his doctors, installed the BB program in him and it activated, leading to that opening scene where he speeds around the virtual derelict hospital and encounters his first fight.

I wanted to manifest his trauma as a desire to conquer the Accelerated World

So, his desperate greed is the reason for his Gold metallic color?

Aside from vulnerabiltiy to all kinds of physical damage and utter immunity from corrosion, what do you see as his damage-type resistances and weaknesses?

Going by Silver Crow's Headbutt, apparently "Energy" is a damage-type; perhaps Gold is likewise immune to that, as opposed to Wolfram Cerebus, which is immune to physical attacks but not energy damage?

[MeisterBabylon]

Originally Posted by Sunder the Gold

Er, that's really not how I imagine it. Rather, each of the Seven Kings of Pure Color came about as they reached Level 7 and gained the power to create legions.

Even before that, unofficial guilds of friends would exist, for hunting Enemies and raiding Dungeons as part of the MMO experience. But after the formation of legions, the game also gained a territory-capture/defense aspect.

The major conflict from then on was about securing territory where you could be safe from normal duel challenges. It also provided a measure of safety in the Unlimited Neutral Field, as outsiders would be less likely to Dive within your legion's territory.

I've only followed the anime, so I only know more of what the anime has released, so I didn't know any of this. But I'm open to spoilers, and if I'm about to contradict something from the novels, thanks for pointing it out.

But this is even better. Yellow Radio destroying the unofficial guild he was in, levels up as a result, and creates a legion from the leaderless members as the ultimate troll/insult.

Originally Posted by Sunder the Gold

Though we do know that one King in particular made it a point to hunt down and "murder" a potential King. Either as part of an experiment, or because her plans threatened that King's prefered shape for the Accelerated World, or both.

For sure, groups of Burst Linkers would hunt and destroy certain other Burst Linkers they particularly hated or feared, but given how much time and effort that takes, it would have to be fueled by a LOT of hate or fear.

1) Sounds like a good side story to mention.

2) There's Goonswarm. And every thing EVE ever stood for. >.>

Originally Posted by Sunder the Gold

Well, Lisbeth as a crafting character can be done with something similar to Red Rider's gun-forge, only as a "sword"-forge. I've spoken about the possibilities of such a tool in this thread, I believe.

You did, and that was kinda where my ideas stalled. As earlier pointed out, there's no semblance of an economy going on now. I could depict a time when such an economy of EA production and trade, where dying in the UNF meant you got all your crafted EAs destroyed and ate some burst points, so so that crafted EAs don't end up circulating in the economy indefinitely, and in present day, the expense of making one just doesn't warrant the effort, and eventually even crafting itself was neglected and forgotten, leaving the odd Bartender, Cook, and Lisbeth here and there.

Originally Posted by Sunder the Gold

I think it would be more like "dozens of guilds", but certainly not as many as hundreds.

Brain Burst was released to something like 1000 people, right? The 20 or so who reached Level 2 first gained the ability to make unlimited numbers of Children, right?

So, even before the Kings officially created the legions, Blue Knight and Red Rider and such could expand the numbers of their followers endlessly by simply making more of them. Which gave them a HUGE advantage over any second-generation players who wanted to challenge them.

The Legions of Pure Color are the largest because their kings are fertile. Other Legions can only grow in a limited and very unreliable fashion. Kuroyukihime's legion was a fluke and greatly relied on the power of her Element generals. Niko's reborn Red Legion relied on the original members who didn't leave for the Purple Legion, and even now is the next smallest legion after Nega Nebulus, since Scarlet Rain can only ever have one Child.

The fertile kings don't always produce children of the same color do they? So a black 'fertile' king can create a silver child?

Originally Posted by Sunder the Gold

So, his desperate greed is the reason for his Gold metallic color?

Aside from vulnerabiltiy to all kinds of physical damage and utter immunity from corrosion, what do you see as his damage-type resistances and weaknesses?

Going by Silver Crow's Headbutt, apparently "Energy" is a damage-type; perhaps Gold is likewise immune to that, as opposed to Wolfram Cerebus, which is immune to physical attacks but not energy damage?

Quite a few design considerations went into his design, but excluding the Incarnate system which comes later and the funky secrets the anonymous Doctor locked inside Gold Cub:

1. Immune to corrosion, special effects and special damage
2. Weak to physical damage; one of Gold Cub's deaths in the UNF is being huggled by a horde of 5s and 6s.
3. Small size -- Speedy, high spike damage, leaping and clawing. A Jedi Sentinel playstyle of sorts, and when he gets some wired grapples from "Oyster Smith/Lisbeth", Cub goes full Shingeki no Kyojin. He also uses it to stalk targets and hide, or find a BAM's blindspot and just hack away with impunity.
4. Low overall DPS. Cub has to use the element of surprise, martial incapacitating attacks like limb locks and stuff, and precision attacks to quickly take down an opponent. He even makes them feel inferior to put them off-balance enough for him to exploit. Because once they work out his weaknesses, he loses or retreats if he can. But because of his above average gaming skill, he rofl-stomps the competition right to Level 4, where the actual game begins.
5. Special Gauge ability: Roar of the Cub. An allied AOE buff that inspires the Cub and his allies, immediately granting X% gauge, removing all jamming and non-damage special effects and temporarily allows everyone to drain their Gauge steadily over time to increase their damage output and resistance, like a Super mode from SNK fighter games. Something like an AOE pvp cooldown.
6. Special Passive: ___________.

Yes, the Gold is an allusion to his boundless desire. But also a metaphor that reminds him, that gold can't buy everything. His Special Passive and Incarnate allow him an incredible ability to hold on to his world, but at the same time, they are also remain as empty possessions. They then serve as the hook that slowly draws him into madness for using the Incarnate system.

[Tusjecht]

While specifically directed at tuckersister in this context, I also would like to remind all other AW fanfiction writers stumbling upon this thread about the limits to the Incarnate system.

Spoiler for Volume 4, Chapter 5:

Niko suddenly said some unexpected words.

“Right now, you guys should be thinking this. ‘Since its use is so insistently restricted, the «Incarnate System» must possess a terrible power and if mastered anything can be done.’ But, that’s a big mistake.”

“…Eh……?”

Feeling far more surprised at the contents of her words than the Red King’s intimidating air, Haruyuki unconsciously raised his voice.

“N-No way. Mind power should be able to make the impossible possible…”

“No. Listen well, mind power is never an almighty power. Drive this into your brains first.”

=-=-=-=-=

“Listen well, it may be called by the exaggerated name «mind power», but in the end this is only a single logic that operates within the Brain Burst program…In other words, it is an operation that functions according to the Diver’s image power. To put it another way, due to one’s intense subjective impression, this world’s God…the system mistakenly believes it to be reality.”

After taking a short pause to breathe there, the scarlet avatar spoke slowly in order to engrave her words into the minds of her two students.

“But, in order to actually cause this phenomenon, an image that is strong enough to deceive even yourself is needed before the system can be deceived. A «belief» that surpasses the level of imagination power. And two things are needed in order to conceive that belief in your heart. «Experience» that has been instilled over an overwhelming amount of time, and a «Desire» whose source is an absolute lack of something. An image that isn’t backed by these two things will never become reality.”

=-=-=-=-=

“……I’m scared of the world. The closer I get to it, the more it hurts me in every way possible. Brain Burst consumed my craving to keep the world away from me, and produced this avatar. Scarlet Rain’s long-distance firepower is like the spines of a hedgehog. The me inside it is just a weak brat without any power…That’s why I cannot strengthen the offensive power or defense power of this avatar’s body through mind power. Do you understand, Crow, Pile? That is the absolute limit of the Incarnate System.”

If only to reiterate my points raised, IS isn't a mechanic that functions like Incarnation in Sword Art Online, where some characters were able to create anything and everything by imagining it strongly enough.

In other words, Incarnation in Accel World is driven by the scars in your heart, and not your imagination. Both are involved at some point in the process, but the heart wounds of a Burst Linker are the foundations for the final technique. Your heart is not able to comprehend anything else besides a way to overcome or be swallowed by its scars, and this results in certain types of Burst Linkers being unable to use some IS techniques through pure ineligibility.

/rant

Originally Posted by Meisterbabylon

The fertile kings don't always produce children of the same color do they? So a black 'fertile' king can create a silver child?

The 'fertile' kings, if you put it that way, would technically be the Originators who have unlimited copy-install privileges, as well as their reaction speed checker Trojan, invaluable for choosing high-calibre Children. In any case, that every Child should have a distinctive upbringing should therefore mean that every Child is different...save for identical twins, as V6.2 suggests.

[Sunder the Gold]

Black Lotus is a second-generation player. Like Niko, despite being a King, she cannot create more than one Child. Otherwise, she would have been recruiting new members in her middle school a lot sooner, not just when Cyan Pile found her and forced her to make a desperate choice.

But no, there's no rule that Children must match their Parent's color at all. Color is detemined solely by the Child.

Black Lotus made Silver Crow. Cyan Pile made Lime Bell. Mirror Masker made Ardor Maiden. Glass Monarch made Aluminin Valkyrie. Crimson Kingbolt made Lagoon Dolphin who made Coral Merrow. A black/colorless avatar made a reddish avatar.

But that's the wrong way to look at it. Those Parents made those Children, but the avatar of the parent didn't matter at all; the Child makes the avatar, not the Parent.


That said, there IS a way for a Parent to influence the color of their Child... but only by guessing what color this or that person would end up with BEFORE giving away your copy.

The fertile Kings of Pure Color had a lot of time to learn how to judge people, and maybe their special, fertile-exclusive compatibility-testing program helps with that.

Blue Knight might be a kendo-ka in real life, and he and his children might deliberately recruit from other martial arts students. You also can't join a legion without an invitation (likely from the Legion Master), and perhaps Blue Knight doesn't generally recruit non-blue avatars. We know that blue avatars are at least favored in his legion, with the potential to join Knight's honor guard.

Cobalt and Manganese Blade, whom are apparently his closest aides, are actually Metallic, even if they're both bluish Metal colors. This could mean that Metallic avatars are also favored (thus the invitation to Silver Crow) or that exceptions are allowed based on merit.

[MeisterBabylon]

Originally Posted by Tusjecht

While specifically directed at tuckersister in this context, I also would like to remind all other AW fanfiction writers stumbling upon this thread about the limits to the Incarnate system.

Spoiler for Volume 4, Chapter 5:

Niko suddenly said some unexpected words.

“Right now, you guys should be thinking this. ‘Since its use is so insistently restricted, the «Incarnate System» must possess a terrible power and if mastered anything can be done.’ But, that’s a big mistake.”

“…Eh……?”

Feeling far more surprised at the contents of her words than the Red King’s intimidating air, Haruyuki unconsciously raised his voice.

“N-No way. Mind power should be able to make the impossible possible…”

“No. Listen well, mind power is never an almighty power. Drive this into your brains first.”

=-=-=-=-=

“Listen well, it may be called by the exaggerated name «mind power», but in the end this is only a single logic that operates within the Brain Burst program…In other words, it is an operation that functions according to the Diver’s image power. To put it another way, due to one’s intense subjective impression, this world’s God…the system mistakenly believes it to be reality.”

After taking a short pause to breathe there, the scarlet avatar spoke slowly in order to engrave her words into the minds of her two students.

“But, in order to actually cause this phenomenon, an image that is strong enough to deceive even yourself is needed before the system can be deceived. A «belief» that surpasses the level of imagination power. And two things are needed in order to conceive that belief in your heart. «Experience» that has been instilled over an overwhelming amount of time, and a «Desire» whose source is an absolute lack of something. An image that isn’t backed by these two things will never become reality.”

=-=-=-=-=

“……I’m scared of the world. The closer I get to it, the more it hurts me in every way possible. Brain Burst consumed my craving to keep the world away from me, and produced this avatar. Scarlet Rain’s long-distance firepower is like the spines of a hedgehog. The me inside it is just a weak brat without any power…That’s why I cannot strengthen the offensive power or defense power of this avatar’s body through mind power. Do you understand, Crow, Pile? That is the absolute limit of the Incarnate System.”

If only to reiterate my points raised, IS isn't a mechanic that functions like Incarnation in Sword Art Online, where some characters were able to create anything and everything by imagining it strongly enough.

In other words, Incarnation in Accel World is driven by the scars in your heart, and not your imagination. Both are involved at some point in the process, but the heart wounds of a Burst Linker are the foundations for the final technique. Your heart is not able to comprehend anything else besides a way to overcome or be swallowed by its scars, and this results in certain types of Burst Linkers being unable to use some IS techniques through pure ineligibility.

/rant

Exactly. It takes a specific trauma to create an effect. If anything, I find that I can only create crapsack characters for AW for that reason alone; anyone who's even remotely mentally stable either didn't make it through the front door or shouldn't be there in the first place but they had some kind of high level rule-breaking.

But because BBers are mostly crapsack characters, I end up trying my best to come up with the most Negative Sue just to get one to exist believably in fanon. I don't think I've ever been quite forced to do that before.

Originally Posted by Tusjecht

The 'fertile' kings, if you put it that way, would technically be the Originators who have unlimited copy-install privileges, as well as their reaction speed checker Trojan, invaluable for choosing high-calibre Children. In any case, that every Child should have a distinctive upbringing should therefore mean that every Child is different...save for identical twins, as V6.2 suggests.

Originally Posted by Sunder the Gold

Black Lotus is a second-generation player. Like Niko, despite being a King, she cannot create more than one Child. Otherwise, she would have been recruiting new members in her middle school a lot sooner, not just when Cyan Pile found her and forced her to make a desperate choice.

But no, there's no rule that Children must match their Parent's color at all. Color is detemined solely by the Child.

Black Lotus made Silver Crow. Cyan Pile made Lime Bell. Mirror Masker made Ardor Maiden. Glass Monarch made Aluminin Valkyrie. Crimson Kingbolt made Lagoon Dolphin who made Coral Merrow. A black/colorless avatar made a reddish avatar.

But that's the wrong way to look at it. Those Parents made those Children, but the avatar of the parent didn't matter at all; the Child makes the avatar, not the Parent.

Yes, but, then how do the Pure Color legions exist, if its dependent on the child, wouldn't the Fertile Parents end up making lots of different colors in order to collect a few blue ones?

Or maybe they do, and that explains why everyone in AW seemed to have been trolled at some point. Imagine that, psychologically unstable children looking for something to cling to, get enticed into the game by the Fertile Parent, and then gets disowned because they were a different color?! That's an ENTIRE GENERATION of players! The spill on effects on the tiny society of AW would've been enormous, possibly setting up the massive culture of trolling we see in AW today.

Originally Posted by Sunder the Gold

That said, there IS a way for a Parent to influence the color of their Child... but only by guessing what color this or that person would end up with BEFORE giving away your copy.

The fertile Kings of Pure Color had a lot of time to learn how to judge people, and maybe their special, fertile-exclusive compatibility-testing program helps with that.

Blue Knight might be a kendo-ka in real life, and he and his children might deliberately recruit from other martial arts students. You also can't join a legion without an invitation (likely from the Legion Master), and perhaps Blue Knight doesn't generally recruit non-blue avatars. We know that blue avatars are at least favored in his legion, with the potential to join Knight's honor guard.

Cobalt and Manganese Blade, whom are apparently his closest aides, are actually Metallic, even if they're both bluish Metal colors. This could mean that Metallic avatars are also favored (thus the invitation to Silver Crow) or that exceptions are allowed based on merit.

True, but still, it must've taken a while before they got it down to a vaguely exact science, and imagine the number of newbies destroyed in the process...

Scary.



EDIT:

Continuing from the BB rules thread:

I'm stuck. Let's say Lisbeth joined Accel World, and wanted to go into crafting because that's her skill, making CQC weapons. How would she go about it?

(I have an idea what her trauma is like, but again, with each character I put out, I feel like I'm digging deeper and deeper into the darkest reaches of my own mind that I kept sealed away... Unless, this is my Incarnate system. )

My initial idea had her like a rare collector and trader of EAs, travelling thru AW, seeking rare materials and working with other players to hunt monsters for her Shop. Hints of Capitalism HO! abound. But the more I tried, the more it felt like I was forcing canon to bend so that I can get my Ayahime fix.

[Sunder the Gold]

"Pure Color" doesn't refer to the legionaires, but to the kings. They are the Kings of Pure Color, so their Legions are the Legions (of the Kings) of Pure Color.

To the extent that most legionaires so far DO match the colors of their kings, it could be the author keeping things simple.

But the Black King recruited the blue Sky Raker, who gained the green Ash Roller as a Child, and Ash Roller joined the Green Legion because they controlled the territory where he lives. Also, his Parent's old legion was still dead.

Purple Thorn went out of her way to recruit Crimson Kingbolt, and his red has only a hint of purple. The Blue Legion has two prominent Metallics, and tried to recruit Silver Crow. The Yellow Legion ambush featured avatars of all colors of the rainbow.


As to Lisbeth's crafting, what do you mean, "How would she go about it?" She would have a device (possibly an anvil and hammer, possibly an EZ-Bake oven). She pushes a lot of buttons on a screen to select the features and flaws she wants, and she pays the Burst Points to make the designed weapon. It may happen instantly or take some time to finish.

There's probably no component fetch-questing, since that doesn't exist for anyone else in the game. Or maybe she alone starts to recieve such things as drops from any fight, though the drops are useless for anything but making weapons with her device. (There is definitely no "crafting skill" to grind. Just regular old experience about what is and isn't worth spending points on for this or that purpose.)


Also, I imagine Green Grandee gets his surplus points the same way any other King does - by hunting Enemies. He hunts Enemies so he can make other Enemies more rewarding for other players. Why would you assume anything else?

[MeisterBabylon]

Originally Posted by Sunder the Gold

"Pure Color" doesn't refer to the legionaires, but to the kings. They are the Kings of Pure Color, so their Legions are the Legions (of the Kings) of Pure Color.

To the extent that most legionaires so far DO match the colors of their kings, it could be the author keeping things simple.

But the Black King recruited the blue Sky Raker, who gained the green Ash Roller as a Child, and Ash Roller joined the Green Legion because they controlled the territory where he lives. Also, his Parent's old legion was still dead.

Purple Thorn went out of her way to recruit Crimson Kingbolt, and his red has only a hint of purple. The Blue Legion has two prominent Metallics, and tried to recruit Silver Crow. The Yellow Legion ambush featured avatars of all colors of the rainbow.

Aaaah. That solves it. My understanding of the Legions of Pure Color were that: matching color avatars. If its just the king, then no problem there.

And I forgot Yellow’s pluralistic brigade. I thot they were all mercenaries he pulled from somewhere, because he was a jerk that did everything he could to win, if it meant working with people he did not usually work with. lol.

Originally Posted by Sunder the Gold

As to Lisbeth's crafting, what do you mean, "How would she go about it?" She would have a device (possibly an anvil and hammer, possibly an EZ-Bake oven). She pushes a lot of buttons on a screen to select the features and flaws she wants, and she pays the Burst Points to make the designed weapon. It may happen instantly or take some time to finish.

There's probably no component fetch-questing, since that doesn't exist for anyone else in the game. Or maybe she alone starts to recieve such things as drops from any fight, though the drops are useless for anything but making weapons with her device. (There is definitely no "crafting skill" to grind. Just regular old experience about what is and isn't worth spending points on for this or that purpose.)

Hmm… How about making it a bit more interesting, she can make some Uncommon quality EAs using just BPs, but rarer (and more powerful) items also require bits that she alone loots from the bodies of fallen Enemies on top of BPs, and the best Craftable EAs require rare boss kills that leave the body part she’s after intact?

I’d have her equipped with an intrinsic EA that has dual use for crafting and for combat. A hammer is temping, to differentiate from Cyan’s Pile. But, maybe something that can be used on Enemy corpses to harvest their parts for crafting too. Maybe, a power claw?

Originally Posted by Sunder the Gold

Also, I imagine Green Grandee gets his surplus points the same way any other King does - by hunting Enemies. He hunts Enemies so he can make other Enemies more rewarding for other players. Why would you assume anything else?

Ol’ Green Grandee had a farm, e-ai-e-ai—

*slaps himself*

I guess being a king means you’re so strong that you can literally farm those Enemies so efficiency that he has points to spare. But… A tank is normally a very inefficient pve farmer. How the hell does he do it. Or does he have infinite amounts of ingame time?

[HasuMasu]

I hear Green Grande's never been killed anyway, so there's that.

[Sunder the Gold]

Originally Posted by Masuzu

I hear Green Grande's never been killed anyway, so there's that.

I only recall hearing that Grande's never been defeated except by Time Out.

Personally, I say that makes no sense. If he can be defeated by Time Out, then it's possible to hurt him. If it's possible to hurt him, then if you outnumber and harass him enough in the Unlimited Neutral Field, it should be just as possible to kill him as anyone else.

Perhaps it's meant to be implied that dueling him "fair and square" in the UNF is futile, but the UNF is not a dueling field. It's a field for "dirty tricks" and ruthless tactics, where you can bring friends to a fight and ambush someone when they're weak or unprepared.

Originally Posted by MeisterBabylon

Aaaah. That solves it. My understanding of the Legions of Pure Color were that: matching color avatars. If its just the king, then no problem there.

Also look at it this way:

If they were the Vermillion, Chartruese, Burgundy and Puce Legions, no one would call them the Legions of Pure Color, because not one of those is a "pure" color.

If they were the Silver, Gold, and Aluminum Legions, people would call them the Metal Legions, or the Legions of Metal. Because all of those colors are metallic.

The phrase "Legions of Pure Color" simply refers to the fact that the color-names of each major legion is a pure color like White, Black, Blue, etc. It's just a summarization of all major legion names rather than a descriptor of major legion membership.

And I forgot Yellow’s pluralistic brigade. I thot they were all mercenaries he pulled from somewhere, because he was a jerk that did everything he could to win, if it meant working with people he did not usually work with. lol.

Yellow Radio has good reason to not trust mercenaries with this ambush.

Radio can threaten his legionaires with the Judgment Blow if they dared kill Scarlet Rain for themselves rather than leaving her to him, or if they ran to the other Kings to reveal how Yellow Radio had conspired against Scarlet Rain.

Mercenaries would still have to fear Radio's retaliation, but not having to worry about the Judgment Blow is a big deal.

Hmm… How about making it a bit more interesting, she can make some Uncommon quality EAs using just BPs, but rarer (and more powerful) items also require bits that she alone loots from the bodies of fallen Enemies on top of BPs, and the best Craftable EAs require rare boss kills that leave the body part she’s after intact?

I didn't mean to suggest otherwise. I think she should ALWAYS need to spend Burst Points to make new weapons, whether or not she needs or uses dropped materials.

I’d have her equipped with an intrinsic EA that has dual use for crafting and for combat. A hammer is temping, to differentiate from Cyan’s Pile. But, maybe something that can be used on Enemy corpses to harvest their parts for crafting too.

The idea of making her crafting device a hammer that can be used as a weapon is interesting, especially in Brain Burst which is even MORE combat-oriented than Sword Art Online.

However, corpses don't last any longer in the Accelerated World than they do in Sword Art / Alfheim Online. They explode into pixels, or become Return Lights in the case of Burst Linkers in the Unlimited Neutral Field.

...Well, I assume Enemies burst. I don't think we've ever actually seen one die, yet.

I guess being a king means you’re so strong that you can literally farm those Enemies so efficiency that he has points to spare.

That's exactly what it means. Black Lotus and Blue Knight earned the titles of Legend-Slayer for managing to defeat legend-level Enemies on their own. Green Grandee was noted as reaching Level 9 by soloing entire dungeons.

But… A tank is normally a very inefficient pve farmer. How the hell does he do it. Or does he have infinite amounts of ingame time?

If he's tough enough, he might not bother with defending himself, but simply get up in an Enemy's face for a slugging match. If he hits an Enemy enough, he could kill it before it kills him. He's pretty big, so his punches probably hurt a bit.

There's also his Double Payback ability, whatever that is. And he might have gained an offensive Enhanced Armament that he pulls out whenever he's not tanking for a group.

[HasuMasu]

Originally Posted by Sunder

I only recall hearing that Grande's never been defeated except by Time Out.

Yeah, that's what I meant.

Maybe it only happened once...when he was level one...and just logged in for the first time.

Or something like that.

Maybe it just means that he can't be hurt any more after gaining a certain level-up bonus or mastering the Incarnate System or something like that.

Or maybe he's just too much of a macho badass that he'll go down but never out...or something.

[Tusjecht]

Enemies do burst into pixels; the Legendary Enemy Jörmungand did so after being torn into two halves from head to tail.

And if we're talking about crafting here, then I imagine that an avatar with 'dissembly' abilities would prove extremely useful to a potential crafter. While I haven't seem much to suggest that there are materials, ores, and such for crafting, Enhanced Armaments are rather easy to come by by any of the five methods to gain EAs: Obtaining in Card form, Buying from Shops, PK-ing a player, Direct Connection, and Level-up bonuses. Breaking down an EA to get its elements, then crafting an entirely new EA from those, would be something I'd seriously consider if I became a crafter.