Sword Art Online - Q & A

[Alucard24]

Hi, I got 3 questions ^^

1. is there any admin/moderator or something like that in SAO ? Or is everyone have exactly the same rights in the game ?

2. Why is it even possible to throw something in the room from the street by the open window ? I thought the inn was protected places out of reach except for the invited ones.

3. Is it technically possible for Kirito to lift a little the skirt of the sleeping Asuna ? :evil:

[styr]

Originally Posted by Alucard24

Hi, I got 3 questions ^^

1. is there any admin/moderator or something like that in SAO ? Or is everyone have exactly the same rights in the game ?

2. Why is it even possible to throw something in the room from the street by the open window ? I thought the inn was protected places out of reach except for the invited ones.

3. Is it technically possible for Kirito to lift a little the skirt of the sleeping Asuna ? :evil:

1. The only "GM" to speak of is the AI system called Cardinal. It monitors the game and fixes bugs that show up. Cardinal never directly interacts with the world and only changes things behind the scene. Cardinal got ignored in the anime pretty much.

The below spoiler is from Vol 2 and 8, both regarding Cardinal and what it actually 'does' in SAO:

Spoiler for Vol 2+8 Spoilers about Cardinal:

Excerpt from Vol 2
"This world named, «Sword Art Online», is managed by a single large system. The system's name is «Cardinal». That is, the way this world is managed is based on its judgment. In the first place, Cardinal was designed to not require maintenance from humans. With two core programs doing mutual error correction on the other, and in addition, countless numbers of lower program bundles, they regulate the whole of this world... The AI for monsters and NPCs, the balancing of the rates of items and the currency, anything and everything is managed by the cluster of programs under the command of Cardinal."

Excerpt from Vol 8
"The so called farming aka powerlevel aka PL is a MMO-term for hunting large numbers of mobs at high speeds for an extended period of time. Last year, I decided to take a high-risk activity because of a certain incident and used the «Ant Hill» on the 46th floor. It was a symbolic place. However, once the experience gain there at a certain time exceeded a certain limit, the «Cardinal System» that ruled the world of SAO would naturally decrease the efficiency.

2. The window was open. Only valid reason, really.

3. I'm sure if he tried, a player harassment prevention warning would pop up for Asuna and she would not be very happy. It isn't mentioned in the anime but the LN states that touching a player inappropriately triggers a harassment window for the player being touched and clicking yes sends the player to jail.

[Alucard24]

Originally Posted by styr

1. The only "GM" to speak of is the AI system called Cardinal. It monitors the game and fixes bugs that show up. Cardinal never directly interacts with the world and only changes things behind the scene. Cardinal got ignored in the anime pretty much.

Thanks. My next question would then be : is it possible for anyone to mess with Cardinal apart from Kayaba ?

Originally Posted by styr

2. The window was open. Only valid reason, really.

Not really valid since I'm pretty sure it was said somewhere that a room in a inn is totaly out of reach, window open or not.

Originally Posted by styr

3. I'm sure if he tried, a player harassment prevention warning would pop up for Asuna and she would not be very happy. It isn't mentioned in the anime but the LN states that touching a player inappropriately triggers a harassment window for the player being touched and clicking yes sends the player to jail.

That's a nice touch to the program xD But how Cardinal is recognizing inappropriately to properly touching ?

They were talking about sleeping PK : that's not inappropriately enough to trigger the window ?

[Anh_Minh]

Originally Posted by Alucard24

Thanks. My next question would then be : is it possible for anyone to mess with Cardinal apart from Kayaba ?

Only if you want to fry the brains of all the players...

Not really valid since I'm pretty sure it was said somewhere that a room in a inn is totaly out of reach, window open or not.

You can't force your way in (by picking the lock or breaking the door or walls). But if someone with the right to obligingly opens the door or, in this case, a window...

They were talking about sleeping PK : that's not inappropriately enough to trigger the window ?

Even if it is, the sleeping player can't confirm the inappropriateness of the touch.

[Skull Leader]

What's the difference between Kirito's white trimmed coat and the other one with what looks like blue collars ?

[Utsuro no Hako]

Originally Posted by Alucard24

Thanks. My next question would then be : is it possible for anyone to mess with Cardinal apart from Kayaba ?

Not for a human in the game.

Not really valid since I'm pretty sure it was said somewhere that a room in a inn is totaly out of reach, window open or not.

All will be explained in the next episode. There are no inconsistencies.

[Alucard24]

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

Only if you want to fry the brains of all the players...

Sorry, I meant " is there any way for another player to hack Cardinal".

Originally Posted by Anh_Minh

Even if it is, the sleeping player can't confirm the inappropriateness of the touch.

Then, Kirito can do it without worry

[Alucard24]

Originally Posted by Utsuro no Hako

Not for a human in the game.

Oh, is there any other non-human in the game apart Cardinal and his sub-system ?

Or better, is it possible to hack a part of the sub-system wich will then hack Cardinal himself ?

[Awrya]

Originally Posted by Alucard24

Oh, is there any other non-human in the game apart Cardinal and his sub-system ?

Well, NPCs and enemies are non-human.

Originally Posted by Alucard24

Or better, is it possible to hack a part of the sub-system wich will then hack Cardinal himself ?

For a player, no. Would you create a game where players can hack into parts of the game and take control?

Please use the edit function instead of double posting.

[Alucard24]

Well, I would not create a game who trap players in the first place ^^U

[styr]

Cardinal in the story is basically impossible to mess with as a player. There are no computer terminals in the world of Aincrad for players to do hax attempts, no console setting to bring up a command prompt. I bet the EULA/TOS/whatever you accept before you can play the game must've been quite long for SAO.

[StellarCell]

How long was the time period between 1st chapter Vol. 3 to the last chapter of Vol. 4?

Also,

Spoiler for rondo:

From this dialogue:

As I nodded, I couldn't help but feel a mysterious cold sweat in my mind. Indeed, I was the one to introduce Argo and Asuna. To be more precise, in Tolbana town on the first floor, I had lent Asuna a bath in the room I had rented. And with great timing, Argo also visited me at that time, I had desperately tried to prevent the two from encountering each other in the bathroom but my effort was in vain, of course Asuna was surprised and screamed despite me fleeing from my rented room――
"......I don't think I'm wrong here, but, you cannot remember something which you cannot remember. If you could do that, I will feast on two cakes which is on you."
"......No, I don't remember."
I *bubububu* shook my head and immediately continued.
"True, well that is assured, Argo's information is accurate and fast, but you have to be careful of the price of dealing with her. «Client's confidentiality» does not exist in her dictionary."
"......Then, I wonder, is it possible to buy all kinds of information about Kirito-kun?"
Crap, I brought trouble to myself., was what I thought a moment too late.
"Po-Possibly...... I'm not sure about this, but it is sure to be expensive. Perhaps the total shouldn't be less than three thousand Col."
"......Somewhat, that is an average price. I should try it out......"
"No, NOOの、ノォ! If-If it's like that I'll buy all of your information too! After all that person knows Asuna's—"
Here, I closed my mouth quickly with a *Gachin* sound.
Asuna who sat facing me, grinned and said.
"My, what?"

Why did Kirito said that he brought trouble to himself? Was he hiding something? I just know that Asuna was tricking him to get moar cakes.

[Xacual]

Originally Posted by StellarCell

How long was the time period between 1st chapter Vol. 3 to the last chapter of Vol. 4?

Do you mean before the time skip at the end? If so it was about 4 days.

[bhl88]

Is Sword online the true MMORPG? (many men online role playing girls aka the crossplayers are represented here?)

[styr]

Originally Posted by bhl88

Is Sword online the true MMORPG? (many men online role playing girls aka the crossplayers are represented here?)

Spoiler for Vol 3+ info about MMOs:

SAO is the first VRMMO developed for the NerveGear, and first real 'game' for the Nervegear in general that wasn't educational, so it was widely anticipated. First, but not only; many VRMMO's came after SAO. Later arcs in the "SAO-verse" are about different MMOs. The gov't however forced a new model to be produced that was 'safe' for users and is called the AmuSphere. All the MMOs after SAO are capable of working with both models (idk why), although NerveGear are extremely rare due to the SAO incident and danger concerns.

@Stellar

Spoiler for Vol 3/4:

You read Vol 3/4, or no? It happens very quickly like Xacual said, only over a period of 4 days IRL, aside from a few flashbacks. I think ALO would be a lot more fun than SAO was, if the magic/long range weapons were balanced. Plus, flying. Who wouldn't want to fly?? I'm sure the Potter nerds would be off somewhere playing quidditch, too.

[don_Durandal]

Originally Posted by bhl88

Is Sword online the true MMORPG? (many men online role playing girls aka the crossplayers are represented here?)

It was stated right at the beginning that Kabaya changed all players to their real life genders (along with using their real face and body shape).
So (apart from those appearing before Kabaya's announcement) all girls met in SAO are also girls IRL.

Obviously this means there are very few girls in SAO. Kirito just happens to be a magnet for them.

[styr]

Originally Posted by don_Durandal

It was stated right at the beginning that Kabaya changed all players to their real life genders (along with using their real face and body shape).
So (apart from those appearing before Kabaya's announcement) all girls met in SAO are also girls IRL.

Obviously this means there are very few girls in SAO. Kirito just happens to be a magnet for them.

Not to mention all the guys who had been playing girls up to that point were suddenly the other gender but still were wearing pink clothes and a skirt.

That would be.. awkward. Doubly so if you picked a female name.

[Alucard24]

Originally Posted by styr

Cardinal in the story is basically impossible to mess with as a player. There are no computer terminals in the world of Aincrad for players to do hax attempts, no console setting to bring up a command prompt. I bet the EULA/TOS/whatever you accept before you can play the game must've been quite long for SAO.

Thank you for the complete answer Then, I guess it's maybe that creator bastard who turned off the "safe" settings just for the fun ....

[Kimidori]

is player's real life sword skill matter in SAO? like can a real life sword master take on a normal guy with higher level than him?

[Clarste]

Originally Posted by Kimidori

is player's real life sword skill matter in SAO? like can a real life sword master take on a normal guy with higher level than him?

To a certain extent. You can dodge and parry and whatever, but attacking is done with pre-programmed Sword Skills that basically move the sword around on their own, often faster than would be physically possible. So a person with real sword training would have some advantages, but not overwhelming. And they might even have to unlearn their training because the attacks happen unnaturally.