Sword Art Online - Episode 4 Discussion / Poll

[proud_neet]

I liked episode 4 , but I still think that my strategy is better, where they space out there episodes without Asuka in it between the episodes that do, rather than go straight for 2-3 episodes without her =3=… Gah damn you Ito Tomohiko, you should employ me as your strategist man >< xD

[Metaneo]

I have a question about the Green, Orange, and Red players.

Kirito said that, of all the members of Silver Flag that were attacked, only The Guild Leader survived. This would mean the rest of his guildmates were killed correct?

And if so, why are the members of Titan's Head only Orange, and not Red?

Were all the members of Titan's Head not present or does Red wear off the same way Orange does?

[Xacual]

Originally Posted by Metaneo

I have a question about the Green, Orange, and Red players.

Kirito said that, of all the members of Silver Flag that were attacked, only The Guild Leader survived. This would mean the rest of his guildmates were killed correct?

And if so, why are the members of Titan's Head only Orange, and not Red?

Indirect PK. They threatened them out in a dungeon to give up all their stuff including crystals or be killed. Of course the players do that but now they're out in a dungeon with no items or armor and completely at the mercy of any monsters they run across. Kind of like what they did with Kirito and Scilica this episode. They confronted them away from town at a dungeon and told them to hand over stuff. The guild leader was basically the only one that managed to get back to town safely.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by Metaneo

I have a question about the Green, Orange, and Red players.

Kirito said that, of all the members of Silver Flag that were attacked, only The Guild Leader survived. This would mean the rest of his guildmates were killed correct?

And if so, why are the members of Titan's Head only Orange, and not Red?

Were all the members of Titan's Head not present or does Red wear off the same way Orange does?

O&A answer this.

[mod edit: removed the short answer; please go to Q&A instead]

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by n120cky

I mean ingame, you say 5 sense but they doesn't get hurt when got hit...

Hmm I have played several MMO, but none of them with hungger attribute except for pet, I bet SOA is hell hard MMO, for them to use some of their GP for food.

Well considering the abilities of the equipment it would be controlled senses. Like being able to feel the handle on your sword, but not feel it if a monster smacks into you. Assume the game cuts out that kind of tactile sense. Brains are getting tricked into whatever the game wants them to sense.

I'm sure that's one thing that makes the game tough. Have to manage your funds like that and decide whether having something good to eat is more important than that health potion. Does make sense to have that kind of hunger system in a game where you literally are the character. Too bad now it's another thing they have to manage in a death game.

[supermegasonic]

Originally Posted by Xellos-_^

O&A answer this.

Short answer there is no Red Status. It is either Green or Orange.

i think there is, no one evil enough has yet to show up with one though.

[Adigard]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

I'm sure that's one thing that makes the game tough. Have to manage your funds like that and decide whether having something good to eat is more important than that health potion. Does make sense to have that kind of hunger system in a game where you literally are the character. Too bad now it's another thing they have to manage in a death game.

Considering the game was designed as a death game, the system is likely in place to keep 'freeloading bystanders' from appearing en-masse. It would probably force 'most' players to at least risk the starter mobs to keep food on the plate.

[Xellos-_^]

Originally Posted by supermegasonic

i think there is, no one evil enough has yet to show up with one though.

the answer is in the Q & A thread.

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by Adigard

Considering the game was designed as a death game, the system is likely in place to keep 'freeloading bystanders' from appearing en-masse. It would probably force 'most' players to at least risk the starter mobs to keep food on the plate.

Very true, but it also works from a regular gaming perspective. Certainly does make sense for the sake of a death game to force people out of hiding (though really the food they can get just from the starter mobs can't be that good).

[Unknown Soldier]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

Very true, but it also works from a regular gaming perspective. Certainly does make sense for the sake of a death game to force people out of hiding (though really the food they can get just from the starter mobs can't be that good).

Kirito got a jar of butter from one of the early quests to share with Asuna back in episode 2!

[FateAnomaly]

Jar of cream. Kirito keeps all sort of stuff on him to make girls happy.

[Clarste]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

Well considering the abilities of the equipment it would be controlled senses. Like being able to feel the handle on your sword, but not feel it if a monster smacks into you. Assume the game cuts out that kind of tactile sense. Brains are getting tricked into whatever the game wants them to sense.

I'm sure that's one thing that makes the game tough. Have to manage your funds like that and decide whether having something good to eat is more important than that health potion. Does make sense to have that kind of hunger system in a game where you literally are the character. Too bad now it's another thing they have to manage in a death game.

Pain is separate from tactile senses. You could be able to feel them hitting you without feeling any pain. I assume the lack of pain was because who in the world would buy a game that hurt to play? Not sure why Kayaba didn't turn it on when he hijacked it though.

[FateAnomaly]

Because pain is very debilitating. If a player got stabbed, even if the attack only take away 10% hp he may feel too weak to fight back.

[Clarste]

Fear of death is also debilitating, isn't it? How many people do think have died from panicking?

[Shimapan]

As others have already pointed out, this series demands a super-sized portion of suspension of disbelief concerning the RL side.

What they *should* have put as RL part of the story, which would have made things quite a lot better:

After Kabaya trapped the players in the game, he makes two announcements:

• RL announcement: All players are trapped in the game. If anyone should try to tamper with the equipment, the helmet is rigged to kill players. If however people keep playing and are eventually killed ingame, they are just logged out harmlessly.
• Ingame announcement: All players are trapped in the game. If someone is killed ingame, he is killed in RL too by a mechanism in the helmet, so you must give your best efforts to not be killed. If you beat the game, you're free.

That way, the "offline" world would probably be highly disencouraged from actually doing any rescue attempts which would kill the players, but rather wait and see until the players are logged off by dying ingame. After the first players then returned safely after dying ingame, any remaining rescue plains would probably dissivolve into thin air, and they would rather prefer to wait than trying anything risky.

In the "online" world, people would be just as shocked and traumatized by the announcement that an ingame death means real death as they are now, and would do everything they can to avoid ingame death.

That would have been a good explanation why no rescue attempts would happen in RL, and the story could entirely concentrate on the "online" world, without any dispension of disbelief neccessary. As no one could find out ingame that they wouldn't actually die if they die ingame, nothing would be changed for the people ingame, compared to now.

[kyp275]

Originally Posted by Shimapan

After Kabaya trapped the players in the game, he makes two announcements:

• RL announcement: All players are trapped in the game. If anyone should try to tamper with the equipment, the helmet is rigged to kill players. If however people keep playing and are eventually killed ingame, they are just logged out harmlessly.
• Ingame announcement: All players are trapped in the game. If someone is killed ingame, he is killed in RL too by a mechanism in the helmet, so you must give your best efforts to not be killed. If you beat the game, you're free.

That way, the "offline" world would probably be highly disencouraged from actually doing any rescue attempts which would kill the players, but rather wait and see until the players are logged off by dying ingame. After the first players then returned safely after dying ingame, any remaining rescue plains would probably dissivolve into thin air, and they would rather prefer to wait than trying anything risky.

Kayaba's goal is the creation of a VR world/reality that is "real", hence why he said back in ep.1 that his goal has already been achieved. Part of that reality is that people die when they're killed, it's not something negotiable to him.

[Shimapan]

Originally Posted by kyp275

Kayaba's goal is the creation of a VR world/reality that is "real", hence why he said back in ep.1 that his goal has already been achieved. Part of that reality is that people die when they're killed, it's not something negotiable to him.

That depends. If he is just a deranged psychopath who only created everything for the sole purpose of watching people die in all sorts of ways, then yes, he would want them to die for real. That way, he wouldn't be interested in his VR world, as it would just be a means for him to let people die and enjoy their deaths.

If, however, he only created it for his entertainment, and just wanted to give them a strong motivation to do their best and thus see his VR world come to life at its fullest, then what I suggested would make much more sense, with them just being logged out harmlessly if they die. The killswitch in the helmet would just be there to prevent tampering from the outside and prevent interruption of his entertainment, but not with the primary purpose to kill players.

[kyp275]

Originally Posted by Shimapan

That depends. If he is just a deranged psychopath who only created everything for the sole purpose of watching people die in all sorts of ways, then yes, he would want them to die for real. That way, he wouldn't be interested in his VR world, as it would just be a means for him to let people die and enjoy their deaths.

If, however, he only created it for his entertainment, and just wanted to give them a strong motivation to do their best and thus see his VR world come to life at its fullest, then what I suggested would make much more sense, with them just being logged out harmlessly if they die. The killswitch in the helmet would just be there to prevent tampering from the outside and prevent interruption of his entertainment, but not with the primary purpose to kill players.

It is not a either/or scenario, his goal is the creation of a real world, and dying is simply part of it. Whether/how people die, and whether the players ultimately succeed or fail is irrelevant, for him SAO is not a means to some other end, it is the end goal itself. Remember that he stated quite clearly in episode 1 that his goal has already been achieved, which was to create the world of SAO that the players are now stuck in.

[Merilyn Mensola]

Just started with this anime, i didn't read the light novel, so i don't know what will happen..however i like it a lot, ep 4 was good to me, Wow, Kirito is strong, and the regeneration skill is effective, is kinda sad that he is a Solo player, but maybe is the best for now to level up...

Ep 3 give me a strong emotion..when the girl died..

[Wild Goose]

Originally Posted by Shimapan

As others have already pointed out, this series demands a super-sized portion of suspension of disbelief concerning the RL side.

What they *should* have put as RL part of the story, which would have made things quite a lot better:

After Kabaya trapped the players in the game, he makes two announcements:

• RL announcement: All players are trapped in the game. If anyone should try to tamper with the equipment, the helmet is rigged to kill players. If however people keep playing and are eventually killed ingame, they are just logged out harmlessly.
• Ingame announcement: All players are trapped in the game. If someone is killed ingame, he is killed in RL too by a mechanism in the helmet, so you must give your best efforts to not be killed. If you beat the game, you're free.

That way, the "offline" world would probably be highly disencouraged from actually doing any rescue attempts which would kill the players, but rather wait and see until the players are logged off by dying ingame. After the first players then returned safely after dying ingame, any remaining rescue plains would probably dissivolve into thin air, and they would rather prefer to wait than trying anything risky.

In the "online" world, people would be just as shocked and traumatized by the announcement that an ingame death means real death as they are now, and would do everything they can to avoid ingame death.

That would have been a good explanation why no rescue attempts would happen in RL, and the story could entirely concentrate on the "online" world, without any dispension of disbelief neccessary. As no one could find out ingame that they wouldn't actually die if they die ingame, nothing would be changed for the people ingame, compared to now.

Novel elaboration on this:

Spoiler for Elements of Kayaba's speech that were omitted from anime:

In the novel, In Kayaba's first announcement, he did inform family members and authorities, and gave a 2 hour disconnect grace period for trapped players to be moved to hospitals. This was, unfortunately, not fully stated in the anime.

As for the rescue attempts, who's to say the authorities weren't trying? Unfortunately we only see the PoV of those teapped in SAO.

Pmost of your questions can be answered in the Q&A thread... Or just wait, the series will eventually answer them. Patience, grasshopper.