Sword Art Online - Q & A

[MasterVampire]

Spoiler for Future anime content:

I was kinda supprised that episode 14 was the end for SAO.

So now the remaining 10 episodes will deal with the other newer game world - ALfheim Online?


I had a quick look on wikipedia, risking spoilers and it sounds pretty full on.
Will there be enough episodes to flesh out the story?

[Xacual]

Originally Posted by MasterVampire

Spoiler for Future anime content:

I was kinda supprised that episode 14 was the end for SAO.

So now the remaining 10 episodes will deal with the other newer game world - ALfheim Online?


I had a quick look on wikipedia, risking spoilers and it sounds pretty full on.
Will there be enough episodes to flesh out the story?

Spoiler for Future anime content:

Should be fine, ALO is fast paced with no side stories to divert it.

[Gearhead]

Originally Posted by Krono

Seeing as the heaviest activity for those series was in the 80's and 90's, odds are against him being a huge fan of them, if he was 13 in 2000.

Wizardry is an odd example, because Japanese ports of the game are notoriously bad. It's actually more likely he would have picked up such a game later rather than sooner.

As for him being in the workforce in 2005, his answer was actually kind of evasive. He could've just been interning (or the equivalent) somewhere.

We don't know a lot about him at the end of the day, I suppose.

[Netto Azure]

I have always wondered once the Anime came out...why do people abbreviate Sword Art Online as "SOA" rather than "SAO" sometimes?

[Ray]

Originally Posted by Netto Azure

I have always wondered once the Anime came out...why do people abbreviate Sword Art Online as "SOA" rather than "SAO" sometimes?

I've asked that question before, and people said it's just a typo.. *shrug*

[erneiz_hyde]

Originally Posted by Aphrah

Spoiler for Answers (volume 3+4 spoilers):

1) Well, the simple answer is because of the power of looove! But I don't like that answer. Her survival can be interpreted in two ways:

a) we know that the resurrection item has to be used within 10 seconds after one's death in order to revive them. Their body breaks into shards after that. But how long does it take for the NervGear to fry their brain? It could be anything from 10 seconds to a few minutes. In the novels, you create your own pacing, so I assumed that 10 seconds hadn't passed since her death.

b) or, alternatively, Kayaba may've "protected" Asuna as Kirito asked him to make sure she doesn't commit suicide in case he dies. He may've just saved her at the last possible moment.

Honestly, I don't like b) at all, as a) was the impression I got when I was reading the light novels..

2) Yeah, the 10 second limit before players' bodies vanish. Their bodies seem very weak in that semi-transparent state, but Heathcliff's sword was keeping Kirito standing (kind of hard to fall while something like that is keeping you up), so all he had to do was just stab Heathcliff with Asuna's rapier. You can interpret it as you wish (power of love, willpower, and etc), but players seem to be able to move their bodies just fine after running out of HP. Well, not exactly, but they were able to move their hands, for example, Diabel was able to move his hand to refuse Kirito's crystal/potion.

Spoiler for questions regarding this:

Wait, am I understanding this right? If it's up to interpretation so there wasn't an underlying mechanism for why some people were able to overcome the system by sheer force of will alone? It just happened? Not even a canon in-universe explanation of something like "The One" or some retcon monologue or narration or anything? Author managed to give an awesome exposition in world building but failed to address this? Really?

If it's really up to interpretation then nobody can really fault anyone for thinking these things being a DEM or just some conveniently placed plot material.

May I ask then, if all these things were all actually possible and can be (and supposed to be) explained with all previously appearing phenomenon, what does Kayaba mean with Kirito transcending the rules?

[Esebian]

Originally Posted by erneiz_hyde

Spoiler for questions regarding this:

Wait, am I understanding this right? If it's up to interpretation so there wasn't an underlying mechanism for why some people were able to overcome the system by sheer force of will alone? It just happened? Not even a canon in-universe explanation of something like "The One" or some retcon monologue or narration or anything? Author managed to give an awesome exposition in world building but failed to address this? Really?

If it's really up to interpretation then nobody can really fault anyone for thinking these things being a DEM or just some conveniently placed plot material.

May I ask then, if all these things were all actually possible and can be (and supposed to be) explained with all previously appearing phenomenon, what does Kayaba mean with Kirito transcending the rules?

Spoiler for Answer to the question (from Vol. 1 and 10 ):

Well that depends if you want an actual explaination for that phenomena or only the acknowledgement of it:

The acknowledgement itself happens already in the first Volume as Kirito states that Asuna could overcome her paralysis per willpower, so he had to overcome his death per willpower.

The explaination, well, that's something that happens late, actually it never is really explained for how Kirito and Asuna were able to pull that off, problem is this phenoma is recurring so you imo don't need an explaination for it as it still is part of the plot and wants to be a mystery (ofc I hope that it will expained at the end and not simply left out)

Well if you go up to Vol. 10 then you have your explaination for it, the problem there is that this is Underworld and in that "game" you have much more possibilities than before, so it doesn't need to be the same for Aincrad.

Ah and for your second question:

Well ofc that was NOT part of the game, otherwise Kayabe wouldn't have been so surprised after Asuna got out of the paralysis. If you read what he says to this it seems as he himself is wavering between that this was a bug and that this was her willpower, so he himself has no explaination for it.

Also pls don't forget that this is told out of the POV of normal characters, so if they have no explaination for sth, as there is no almighty narrator, there simply exists no explaination, although Kirito mostly makes assumptions for unnatural things that occured him

[Conan-san]

Did Klein ever get a refund for that pizza?

[Andrewthelord]

Originally Posted by Conan-san

Did Klein ever get a refund for that pizza?

best question ever

[Wild Goose]

Probably not. If it was an ordinary company, they'd keep the money.

The way my company (I work for an international pizza delivery chain, which is currently dominating the delivery segment of the Malaysian market) operates is primarily cash, and we try not to do refunds, instead replacing the entire order if need be. For a credit card order like Klein's, our customer service center isn't allowed to process refunds - the customer needs to make the refund request, via filling in a form, which our team will assist them on.

But since Klein's unable to fill that form, he gets no refund. And if he wanted to get a refund after he came out, well... It's a bit too long ago to do anything about.

[ronelm2000]

Originally Posted by Conan-san

Did Klein ever get a refund for that pizza?

Take it to the RL Implications Thread. NAOW

[erneiz_hyde]

Has the LN been concluded or is it still ongoing?

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by erneiz_hyde

Has the LN been concluded or is it still ongoing?

Already addressed (and you know you could have just Googled the answer too )

Originally Posted by venshade

I have a question does this light novel already completed? or is it still ongoing

Originally Posted by Divini

Still ongoing

[erneiz_hyde]

Oh it was addressed? sorry, just me being lazy.

Anyways, if it's still ongoing, then I guess I could still hope of some answer of the last issue I mentioned.

How often does the author release new books then? has this been asked too? edit: nvm, I see an aswer

[Ray]

Well, for what it's worth, the story already has a conclusion (web novels). There's a chance that the author might change how it plays out or even what happens in the light novels, though.

[Alucard24]

Kayaba did say that ALL the non-dead player have been able to log off last week isn't it ? So why are still 300 unconscious players ?

And why maintaining SAO servers since everything has been deleted by Kayaba ?

[ronelm2000]

Originally Posted by Alucard24

Kayaba did say that ALL the non-dead player have been able to log off last week isn't it ? So why are still 300 unconscious players ?

And why maintaining SAO servers since everything has been deleted by Kayaba ?

You'll find out in the next episodes....

But... in case you want an answer already:

Originally Posted by ronelm2000

Spoiler for heavy spoilers for season 2:

Kayaba didn't notice that the entire server was copied to a new server, ALO, that scavenged 300 or so players before shutting down...

Also,

(2) That was from before...I don't know about you, but the server, despite old, can still be used as new VRMMO server.

[Alucard24]

Spoiler for Reply to spoiler answers:

well, yeah it could be used but as far as I know, when every files and accounts have been deleted, there is nothing left xD

It's surprising to be able to use an "old" account in another game, even on the same server. Surely, Asuna didn't create any other account on a VRMMORPG game nerve gear compatible.

And I don't see why Kayaba would have developped another game at the same time ?

[Kamui04]

Originally Posted by Alucard24

Spoiler for Reply to spoiler answers:

well, yeah it could be used but as far as I know, when every files and accounts have been deleted, there is nothing left xD

It's surprising to be able to use an "old" account in another game, even on the same server. Surely, Asuna didn't create any other account on a VRMMORPG game nerve gear compatible.

And I don't see why Kayaba would have developped another game at the same time ?

Spoiler for Pointing out dialogues in Ep15 that might answer the question.:

Watch episode 15 again, and pay attention to minutes 14:20 to 15:00
Sugou mentions that Argus after the SAO incident went bankrupt and dissolved. Of course someone had to keep the servers online, and their maintenance was entrusted, most likely by the government, to Asuna's father company where Sugou worked too. There's no timeframe but from how he words it you can guess that Argus was dissolved soon after the incident came to light and all this time the original SAO servers have been under Sugou's control way before the game was cleared and most were logged off.

Him being the slimeball shown he is, you can imagine the rest.

Also we don't know about SAO, but on other MMROPGs they do periodical backups of the data.

[RRW]

what is the cost for playing VRMMORPG?

no way it's F2P