Sword Art Online - Episode 4 Discussion / Poll

[Kmos]

This was a nice epi, didn't like it as much as a lot of people say they do. I like the slow, gradual reveal of how SAO works (beast tamer, eavesdrop, hiding, detection, battle regen skills, orange/red bars, prisons). I'm fine with it being Kirito-centric, not seeing what all the Asuna rage is about for now.

I was kind of hoping to see some real PvP action, but what I saw doesn't count. Hoping there's some good pvp in the future... Since I'm an anime viewer only I thought the only PvP around in SAO was duel initiated. Episode 3 didn't show, only suggested there was open PvP, it could've just been a bodyblock/wall to prevent following.

[king12354]

meh episode, i don't like character archetypes like the girl. Anyways, Kirito has shown so many personalities throughout these 4 episodes, he seems so fake.

[Divini]

Seeing Silica in 4 different outfits was a nice treat.

I just wished she addressed Kirito as Kirito-onii-chan like in the LN. Otherwise, flawless adaptation given the one episode time constraint.

Originally Posted by joshuafaramir

Spoiler for about Kirito black armor:

I think Asuna said it in the light novel that Kirito upgraded the same armor he got from lvl 10 to +40-50 i think.

Spoiler:

It's actually the tier 4 version, which was crafted. Also it was Kirito that mentioned it. (Asuna just mentioned that he always wears the same thing)

[creb]

I thought it was fairly self-evident that these early episodes are to lay the framework for how things operate in the game world of Sword Art Online. In that, I think they are working fine. Each one has been fairly specific in what they tell us about the game mechanics.

I further presume that based on how much time has passed, and how many levels he's gained, in such a small episode count, that the meat of the show will see a return of the 'lead girl', and a far more concentrated focus on a specific span of time, once all the laying out of the framework has been done, where no time needs to be spent on explaining the ground rules so to speak. So, this episode explaining PKs and colored names seems to assure that these elements will be brought into play later on when the actual real story hits.

Though, I realize, we have so many LN readers in these threads that perhaps it's foolish for me to make conclusions based on observations if numerous people have already posted it's going to be episodic all the way through.

[Concordia]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

the Author is a fan of Ragnarok

The way he said "..I don't mind being orange for a few days..." reminds me of Ultima Online. If you commit a few criminal acts, you just go "grey" for a while i.e. stealing, attacking somebody will get you grey, but, if you murder somebody, they can report you. When you build up 5 report counts you are red. If you keep building counts they accumulate and so on.

There were people (myself included ) that had so many counts that it would literally take years for them to wear off. I'm sure it was something ridiculous like 32 hours per count. One of my characters had been reported over 700 times, but I know people had a lot more.

Sorry for the long explanation, I'm just wondering if the author was a fan of UO as well. It was very popular in Japan, I'm pretty sure they had the most servers. It was also the first "proper" MMO.

edit: After reading through the rest of the thread, I see someone did mention that the author did take some inspiration from UO. I think I'll go and find some interviews, this interests me quite a bit. I wonder if he was a PK

[Netto Azure]

Originally Posted by Concordia

Sorry for the long explanation, I'm just wondering if the author was a fan of UO as well. It was very popular in Japan, I'm pretty sure they had the most servers. It was also the first "proper" MMO.

You are quite correct on that, The Authors notes in the novels mention how the author liked playing Ragnarok Online and Ultima Online then based off the SAO Arc off the experience playing those MMO's

[flack]

Originally Posted by king12354

meh episode, i don't like character archetypes like the girl. Anyways, Kirito has shown so many personalities throughout these 4 episodes, he seems so fake.

I think he has just changed through time. This show is just rushing a bit.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by king12354

Anyways, Kirito has shown so many personalities throughout these 4 episodes, he seems so fake.

I don't know... I suppose the time jumps mean you have to connect a few dots, but he seems fairly well and consistently-designed to me. Overall, we see that he's an introvert and something of a loner who likes to manage risks. He generally interacts better one on one than he does in large groups (where he tends to keep more to himself), but he does care a great deal about those close to him. He usually has his own plan, but isn't necessarily going to share more details than necessary; he prefers to seek out knowledge and experience on his own rather than depending on others. He does what he thinks is right, and generally believes in justice and protecting the weak, but he doesn't always act in the way people expect he should (and is willing to do something less-than-seemingly-upstanding, if it's for the greater good). This makes him easy to misunderstand, particularly if you don't believe he has everyone's best interest at heart.

That's sort of the portrait of Kirito that I've built up over the episodes, and I think it's rather consistent and that each episode builds on the last in that regard. I guess I certainly didn't feel that there was any lack of continuity in that regard... but maybe it's just me.

[justinstrife]

Originally Posted by frubam

These last two episodes definitely had a Casshern SINS feel to them; like the way Kirito is kinda wandering around doing random things that has no particular focus to the main plot, and yet he is overly stronger than everyone else(in the last 2 eps at least), but still manages to have compassion for others. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing more episodes like the last two(though the pacing in this ep was much better than last one), rather than trying summing up the story in the remaining 8/9 episodes.

On a side note, I really liked Silica's char =03. So very cute (^,^).

There'll be at least 24 episodes for this series, not the 12-13 you're thinking. So there is plenty of time to lay the groundwork about this world, and who Kirito is and what makes him tick so to speak.

[creb]

Originally Posted by Netto Azure

You are quite correct on that, The Authors notes in the novels mention how the author liked playing Ragnarok Online and Ultima Online then based off the SAO Arc off the experience playing those MMO's

It really shows in the writing that he's actually played MMOs. Something I can't say for most writers of MMO-like shows. I can certainly see the Ultima Online influence, though I have no experience with Ragnarok Online, so can't comment there.

[Kafriel]

The jailing request reminded me of CABAL Online, where PKers are instantly transported to a maze with no exit for 3 hours ._.

There'll be at least 24 episodes for this series

Sweet, I was only expecting one cour for this! Makes you wonder just where the pace will slow down...

[creb]

Originally Posted by Kafriel

The jailing request reminded me of CABAL Online, where PKers are instantly transported to a maze with no exit for 3 hours ._.

Sweet, I was only expecting one cour for this! Makes you wonder just where the pace will slow down...

Heh. I've never spent time in a 'physical' in-game jail in a graphical MMO, but there were a number of MUDs where I had numerous characters routinely getting acquainted with logging in and being stuck for days (as in real life days; not in-game days) in in-game jails. I was a rabidly extreme pker in the 90s, doing things that I look back on today with a sad smile (it used to be a matter of pride to get jailed, for instance) and chalk up to the immaturity that the teenage/young adult years tend to channel so well.

If my 90s self existed in SAO, my current self would weep for the poor inhabitants (as well as possibly try to knock some sense into him).

I've always wished in-game jails existed in today's MMOs. I've never understood the wussy attitude of companies that think just because they're charging money for something, they can't rule their online worlds with a totalitarian fist.

[Somnus]

Originally Posted by Pocari_Sweat

Episodic format are fine for some series, but SAO is not one of them and imo would benefit much more from continuity.

The interesting thing here is that this is being told in proper continuity. Though the side stories were written after the main one, the timeline being told right now is correct.

[FateAnomaly]

Yet another complete newbie playing the game. For a supposedly exclusive game with only 10k copies it seems to attract a lot of first time mmo players.

The towns also seems to be pretty well populated even though there are probably only half the players left. A lot of npcs perhaps or are there actually more than 10k players from the start?

Today games are totalitarian enough imo. Nowadays mmo don't jail players because they just ban them (temporary or otherwise). Pvp is also restricted to certain areas unlike the old days. Of course it wouldn't work in SAO.

[Xacual]

Originally Posted by FateAnomaly

Yet another complete newbie playing the game. For a supposedly exclusive game with only 10k copies it seems to attract a lot of first time mmo players.

Well I think the first Virtual Reality MMO would attract a lot of first time players. I mean how many times has the whole idea of a virtual reality world appeared in countless science fiction stories after all.

[Clarste]

A better question would be how they got access to the game at all when presumably there were thousands of hardcore gamers lined up for a midnight release or something.

[FateAnomaly]

Yes if there are "unlimited" copies. Since there are only 10k copies chances are it would all have been preordered by people who have been following gaming news months before the launch rather than people new to gaming. If the first episode is any indications, the queue to buy is very long. Would a new player spend the time and effort to acquire the game? And the hardware for the game no doubt don't come cheap either.

[Kafriel]

Originally Posted by FateAnomaly

Yet another complete newbie playing the game. For a supposedly exclusive game with only 10k copies it seems to attract a lot of first time mmo players.

The towns also seems to be pretty well populated even though there are probably only half the players left. A lot of npcs perhaps or are there actually more than 10k players from the start?

Today games are totalitarian enough imo. Nowadays mmo don't jail players because they just ban them (temporary or otherwise). Pvp is also restricted to certain areas unlike the old days. Of course it wouldn't work in SAO.

SAO is a new kind of MMO, it's only natural that people don't know much about it. What surprises me is actually all the stuff that Kirito knows, like where to get a pet rez item in this episode, considering he doesn't even need it.

About the jailing system, it's the best thing they have, since there's only one admin and he doesn't hold human life in much respect

About towns: if every floor has another town, then yeah they sure seem heavily populated. Then again, just how big was the town of beginnings? How many people could it accomodate?

[Xacual]

Originally Posted by Kafriel

SAO is a new kind of MMO, it's only natural that people don't know much about it. What surprises me is actually all the stuff that Kirito knows, like where to get a pet rez item in this episode, considering he doesn't even need it.

About the jailing system, it's the best thing they have, since there's only one admin and he doesn't hold human life in much respect

About towns: if every floor has another town, then yeah they sure seem heavily populated. Then again, just how big was the town of beginnings? How many people could it accomodate?

The anime skips over a lot of the little side information, not like it can include it all though, apparently the knowledge of the pet resurrection item was only found out relatively recently. Kirito mentions this to Scilica for why she didn't know of it.

I think some floors have multiple towns, though every floor has a main one. Also all 10000 players were apparently in the plaza when Kayaba gave his speech. So take that as you will for how big the city itself is.

[Clarste]

Not all the towns have to be evenly populated. People are naturally going to gather in popular areas, and the popular areas will change over time as new floors are opened up. Some of the older towns probably have no one at all.