[Iron Maw]

Originally Posted by Adigard

Too many variables really. We just don't know the requirements of using that tracking skill. OTOH, being able to stalk / track random MMO player's inside a town does sound... icky, so I'm tempted to go with Kirito's clock tower statement.

This just makes me wish we had some visual representation of skill being used, like with the dungeon map in ep4. It would have given us a better idea of how it worked. As it stands there doesn't seem to be whole lot of reason to use the skill in one instance and then not the other even though the situation is similar.

I'm going with assgrab from the adaptor's on that one. There's nothing to suggest that boss would have a DoT effect to his attacks, although we have seen a scene with the Army boss fight where the leader was around for a bit after being 'killed'. So maybe it's consistent. I'd have to compare the two scenes to say for sure.

True, but we seen plenty of people die and it's often instantly when their HP his 0, unless it's being used again for dramatic effect.

Originally Posted by zRichard

Tracking Skill: Nothing suggested that Kirito didn't use it once he got on higher ground.

IIRC, according to the author, Kirito used a different skill to find Lizbeth which is normally used to locate Guildmates or Pets, which is pretty odd. As for the tower, nothing suggested that tracking skill was effected by terrain either, Saichi was found very quickly despite her location being more difficult to find.

Regen: Explained by DPS concept.

I understand this myself as I have a minor MMO background, but Kirito's regeneration was healing him at crazy speeds for a pretty big chuck HP when he last showcased it. SAQ since then has acted as if he doesn't have it. At the very least Kirito shouldn't be getting knocked down to 1HP so easily. At this point I subscribe to the thought Kuradeel's paralysis probably nulled the HP regen temporally.

EP2's Death: Also explained by DPS and the Heal Over Time nature of most health potion of most MMORPGs. They were at the first floor, the potion Kirito had on him must have been a low-grade potion that would not recover the player instantly as the high tier potion that Asuna used in this episode.

The problem is that Kirito knows this and Diabel (I think?) baffling refusing it when he could have be saved (this what anime suggested). An LN reader told me that he pretty much died near instantly in novel and Kirito never attempted to heal him at all.

Sleep PK/Friend List/Durability: All of them are small game mechanics, of which I'm absolutely sure that the anime is showing a very minuscule fraction of the ones that may exist in SAO (or in your average videogame).

I don't know if would call Friend's List and Item Durability insignificant, but they're good examples of consistent mechanics that are in the show. Sleep PK has yet to make an appearance again so we can't compare how it's used from one event to another at the moment.

I think people familiar with MMORPG gameplay will have an easier time with these "no tell nor show" game-mechanics moments. I think SAO does a very good job at portraying them.

In most cases I agree, but it still trips over itself when introduces certain things without much explanation even to veteran gamers.

Even for the mystery arc, that I watch with no LN knowledge, I was juggling around the idea that the first victim used a skill that had an animation similar to that of a death. I wouldn't have imagined that if it weren't for my familiarity to MMORPGs mechanics.

Speaking of that, I remember something else that was inconsistent, Griselda's ghost.