Sword Art Online - Episode 11 Discussion / Poll

[Clarste]

...who wants to play a realistic cooking simulator anyway? The point of a game isn't to be realistic, it's to let people do things they can't do in real life. For fun.

[Karakuri]

Originally Posted by Clarste

...who wants to play a realistic cooking simulator anyway? The point of a game isn't to be realistic, it's to let people do things they can't do in real life. For fun.

Well, what I thought was it was supposed to be as real as real life, but with the machanics of games.

[Bahamut]

Originally Posted by Clarste

...who wants to play a realistic cooking simulator anyway? The point of a game isn't to be realistic, it's to let people do things they can't do in real life. For fun.

...the game is suppose to be realistic set in a fantasy world...
...VR itself is suppose to feel real in a virtual world...hence its name...
...its like the matrix...

[zRichard]

Originally Posted by Rising Dragon

It's also not uncommon for people to refer to one by the name they first learned of instead of one's real name. A number of people I'm friends with online know my real name, and still refer to me as R.D. or Rising Dragon instead of it.

I once dated a girl that I met on a MMORPG. Whenever we arranged to meet, she would tell her parents that she was "going to meet with [mynickname]" before going out.

Weird as fuck but that's how it is.

[Wild Goose]

On the subject of cooking, I cook in real life, and it is a pain in the goddamned ass.

The paradox of SAO, as noted in one of the side stories, is that it is a game, yet at the same time is not a game. You are in a game world, and you are playing a game, but at the same tme becuase of its nature as a death game, you can't treat this game lightly - you have to treat it as real.

Besides, at the end pf the day, the game is called Sword Art Online, not Cooking Art Online.

Also, reading about something is not the same as experiencing something for yourself. I have played EVE. And the gamers treat it in the manner I have spoken. Hell, one of the US embassy staffers who died in Libya? He was an EVE player; he infiltrated one of EVE's top corporations (guild equivalent), spent a year working his way up to become second in command... And then he stole all the guild assets, returned to his original corp and helped them gut the corp he infiltrated.

[Swordstriker21]

Originally Posted by Wild Goose

On the subject of cooking, I cook in real life, and it is a pain in the goddamned ass.

The paradox of SAO, as noted in one of the side stories, is that it is a game, yet at the same time is not a game. You are in a game world, and you are playing a game, but at the same tme becuase of its nature as a death game, you can't treat this game lightly - you have to treat it as real.

Besides, at the end pf the day, the game is called Sword Art Online, not Cooking Art Online.

Also, reading about something is not the same as experiencing something for yourself. I have played EVE. And the gamers treat it in the manner I have spoken. Hell, one of the US embassy staffers who died in Libya? He was an EVE player; he infiltrated one of EVE's top corporations (guild equivalent), spent a year working his way up to become second in command... And then he stole all the guild assets, returned to his original corp and helped them gut the corp he infiltrated.

That sounds pretty hard core. Shame I don't play MMOs anymore. Almost makes me want to start back up. And yeah the whole point of a VRMMO is getting the experience of total immersion while still being able to make the experience fun. Who wants to play a game where all the mechanics are as tedious and frustrating as real life. Gaming is supposed to be an experience of escapism to something more fun than reality.

[Kamui04]

Originally Posted by SilverSyko

This just brings me back to that food preparation mechanic in episode 8. If they have the technology to make an MMORPG so realistic then why not go all the way? It's inconsistent.

Because it isn't a major feature of the game. The melee fighting is the highlight of the game. And if you want to make every aspect of the game realistic you'd be spending more time developing that feature or module into the game which won't give you a bigger benefit as a game developer. As game complexity increases so is development cost and time. Cooking is seen as something very few people try in the game. Even crafting/making weapons armor is over simplified as seen in Ep. 7.

And this disparity between game mechanics it is par of the course with MMO's. Some aspect the developers deemed worthy of investing their time or that they think gamers will appreciate or enjoy they dedicate more time, minor things sometimes end up being added as an afterthought. In pretty much all MMOs crafting is that simple, select ingredients, click, click, accept, ping pong, done.

I wonder just how many other things are simplified that we haven't been shown.

[n120cky]

Hmm I feel like bored Atmosphere from Kirito there, maybe because they have fun everyday . . .? I think they should be doing something to earn some money for living.

[grey_moon]

Originally Posted by SilverSyko

I don't play MMO's. There's a difference to playing them and being generally knowledgeable about them. I'm the latter. If I didn't know anything about them I probably wouldn't be watching SAO in the first place.

When it comes to interacting in a MMO world each one is different, mostly coz u are interacting with people. Just like in real life every experience can be different unlike a single player game.

Add in different mechanisms for things like:

Guild base maintenance (Forsaken World)
Limited decent equipment availability (SMTi)
Massive PvP which the outcomes dictates the ruling clan in that world (Aika)
Big PvP which dictates who owns a dungeon and can set taxes on them (Rappelz)

All the above examples are in regards to how it effects players as the high guilds in FW are really really strict as they can lose their bases if their member's don't grind each day for them or donate.

SMTi because of the limited cash shop high end items means that just gearing up your char becomes a game in its own right and if you know the right people it is much much much easier and cheaper.

Also how people decide to play the game is extremely important. GW2 for example a few of the servers were populated by PvP guilds. The absolutely annihilate opposing server worlds, but the PvE environment is kinda dead.

What I'm trying to say is knowing about MMOs is one thing, but experiencing the multitude of different situations and cultures makes it really addictive

In regards to the use of taxes for extortion... From the sacred wiki we have:

"Danegeld: The Danegeld ("Danish tax") was a tax raised to pay tribute to the Viking raiders to save a land from being ravaged. It was called the geld or gafol in eleventh-century sources; the term Danegeld did not appear until the early twelfth century."

[SilverSyko]

All this explanation about stuff I already understand. Would it make a difference if I told you I've tried playing MMO's before and didn't like them and that's why I don't play them?

It was very far from long enough try to get to the extent of knowledge of those who play them frequently (I've never left a starting city), so that's why I figured it wasn't worth mentioning.

I'm a gamer, a hardcore one at that, but mostly on single-player focused games for consoles. Not very big on PC or multiplayer-centric games.

[grey_moon]

Originally Posted by SilverSyko

Lol at all this explanation about stuff I already understand. Would it make a difference if I told you I've TRIED playing MMO's before and didn't like them and that's why I don't play them?

It was very far from long enough try to get to the extent of knowledge of those who play them frequently (I've never left a starting city), so that's why I figured it wasn't worth mentioning.

I'm a gamer, a hardcore one at that, but mostly on single-player focused games for consoles. Not very big on PC or multiplayer-centric games.

My apologies, I was just trying to emphasise how much of a difference that playing with lots of people makes. Game mechanics influence a lot, but the player base always comes up with things that the devs weren't expecting at all

[~Yami~]

lovey-dovey episode.... I don't know why they should show us many "hands with ring" scene.. is it to make us become super jealous???
so Asuna and Kirito don't even check each other age before decide to get married?? hahaha
at first, I also think Kirito is bored... but it's just because he is a tsundere... lol

I like how SAO didn't put fast pacing in here... they show us a calm married life... then Yui appeared...

agh! Yui is so adorable.... *cuddling pillow and rolling on the bed*
please Yui... be more cheerful and don't put that sad face anymore, kay?
and I like how Asuna deals with Army...

[Wild Goose]

Originally Posted by grey_moon

My apologies, I was just trying to emphasise how much of a difference that playing with lots of people makes. Game mechanics influence a lot, but the player base always comes up with things that the devs weren't expecting at all

Going back to EVE, players have, in addition to conducting corporate espionage, mounted large scale wars between corporations, 419 scams, recreated white collar crimes, embezzeled money from ingame banks, and in a surprising case, actually managed to destabilise the Ingame econmy, and very nearly killed one of the most crucial economic hubs.

The devs, being sporting fellows, rolled with it.

That said, I got out of EVE years ago - I neither have the time or inclination for most MMOs. Last MMO I played was World of Tanks.

[Rakshasa]

Originally Posted by n120cky

Hmm I feel like bored Atmosphere from Kirito there, maybe because they have fun everyday . . .? I think they should be doing something to earn some money for living.

Cause he can't entirely pull himself from the battle mode of thinking, getting restless despite enjoying the time spent with Asuna. He probably needs a more gradual introduction to this whole dating thing.

Can't but think that Kirito is going to hit a giant wall of boredom and depression when/if he gets out of the game.

[Conan-san]

Ow, you can hear Kirito's neck pop when his head is forced forward by asuna.

[NoemiChan]

Just seen the sub and my first comment is....

They're so sweet>>>!!!!! SO sweet I got ants around my computer!!!

Best episode EVER!!!!

Yui, kawai, Asuna, kawai... Kirito ehhh.... kawai!!!!

[grey_moon]

Originally Posted by Wild Goose

That said, I got out of EVE years ago - I neither have the time or inclination for most MMOs. Last MMO I played was World of Tanks.

One of my colleagues used to play it, and told me lots of horrifying stories especially the one about the really big ships and how you can't park them safe so players are forced to make sure someone is online to protect it

[Xaturas]

Originally Posted by grey_moon

One of my colleagues used to play it, and told me lots of horrifying stories especially the one about the really big ships and how you can't park them safe so players are forced to make sure someone is online to protect it

Yeah that game really seems fun, I even was seriously considering buying a sub for it, until I would be able to buy plax ingame. However after 7 days of trial or less, I just got bored.
No matter how advanced and good the game is, it didn't take me in.
And when you hear about morons like lowtax you don't have any reasons to play it.

[Solafighter]

Lovely episode.

[Kafriel]

Nice episode, family life FTW! Feels like Kirito has already won the game, heh. Yui is a nice addition to the picture, with a good dose of mystery behind her...I find it particularly odd that Heathcliff accepted their leave so readily and predicted that they'd have to come back to the front lines soon. I wonder if he knows about the liberation Army's actions as well.

Speaking of which, that extortion scene was the worst thing I've ever seen. It's always the lowbies begging for money/items but here we see people from a huge guild bullying the people who have settled for the lowest level cap life. What do they hope to get from people who can farm, say, boars for 8 cor each when the soldiers themselves can probably hunt stuff 20 levels higher and get 1k per kill?

Anyways, it was a good episode, badass Asuna rocks...and so do her spicy sandwiches!