What Was the End Goal of Sword Art Online

This article is about the VRMMORPG. You may be looking for the series.

Spoiler Warning: This article or section contains details about plotlines not covered in the anime. Do non keep unless you wish to be spoiled.

Sword Fine art Online (ソードアート・オンライン , Sōdo Āto Onrain ^? , abbreviated equallySAO) is the commencement ever VRMMORPG produced by Argus for the NerveGear, with Kayaba Akihiko as the development manager. The online game takes identify on a hundred-flooring floating castle called Aincrad.

1 Background
2 System
- two.1 Virtual Reality Feel
- 2.2 Environment
  - two.2.ane Global Setting
  - two.2.two Seasons and Atmospheric condition
  - two.2.three Physical Surroundings
3 Gameplay
- 3.ane Initiation and Character Creation
- 3.2 User Interface
  - 3.2.1 Visual Interface
  - 3.2.2 Touch Interface
  - 3.2.three Chief Menu Window
- 3.3 Equipment
- 3.4 Level Organisation
four Combat
- four.1 Parameters
- 4.2 Status Effects
- iv.iii Monster Battle Mechanics
- 4.four Political party Boxing Mechanics
- four.5 Thespian vs. Player Combat
5 Trivia
6 Notes
7 References

Background

Prior to official launch, «Sword Art Online» Closed Beta was bachelor to 1,000 beta testers for a one month period from August to September 2022. During that catamenia, «Sword Art Online» was lauded as an incredible experience, and it received extremely positive reviews despite the actual difficulty of the game. After the Airtight Beta Testing ended, the Beta Testers were given the opportunity to pre-order the game.

Hardcore gamers, having waited three days in line to receive the much-predictable starting time upshot of Sword Art Online

Merely 10,000 copies were printed in the showtime batch of the game, and online sales sold out within seconds. Hard-core gamers waited in line for days to purchase the first few difficult copies from many stores.

«Sword Art Online» officially started server service at 13:00 on Nov half-dozen, 2022 and obtained infamy when the creator succeeded in trapping 10,000 people in the game, and making it so that decease in-game would mean actual decease for the player. During the two-year flow the game remained agile, «Sword Art Online» evolved into an innovative yet complex society of individuals with mixed feelings about the possibility of immigration the game.

Psychologically, many players experienced extreme despair, grief, insanity and sadness during the form of the death game. Of the full iii,853 deaths, over half occurred in the commencement month of SAO. Combined with lethal dungeon traps and bosses, Histrion Killing (PKing), crime, suicides, a slowly dwindling population, and increasing difficulty on the higher floors, the prospects more often than not looked very bleak.

The game was prematurely concluded on the 75th Floor, instead of the intended 100th Floor, when the terminal boss, Heathcliff, revealed to be Kayaba Akihiko himself, was defeated in a duel against Kirito.^[1] A full of half-dozen,147 survivors were supposed to be logged out from it at 14:55 (Aincrad Standard Fourth dimension) of Nov 7, 2024.

System

The game operates similar to nearly MMORPGs with a level system and eventual skill mastery with some limits placed on information technology. The entire game is monitored and maintained past the «Cardinal System», which self-corrects any issues.

While the Sword Art Online mainframe is capable of incredible graphical and rendering capacities, it does not actually return the entire environment in full particular unless a certain region is specifically observed by a player. SAO uses a «Digital Focusing Organisation», which brings out the finer details of an object simply when a player shows interest and focuses their visual field on it. This reduces the strain on the SAO mainframe processor, which, despite its loftier performance power, is incapable of rendering all marginal details of the environment simultaneously. This around produces the illusion that the SAO graphical and VR experience is incredibly detailed. Notwithstanding, the SAO mainframe has a difficult time rendering the awareness of h2o in baths or showers.

Virtual Reality Experience

As a complete virtual reality MMORPG, the SAO system is capable of rendering the entire Aincrad environment with incredible realism. By stimulating nerves in the brain, it is possible to gustation food, feel the air current and weather, move ane's body, and live in SAO as if information technology were an alternate reality. However, there are several major differences that set the Sword Art Online environment apart from the real-world experience.

Kickoff, no hurting is actually felt in whatever situation. As a result, players tin undergo severe injuries and still only feel an uncomfortable tingling sensation. 2d, there is no blood; in its place are cherry-red virtual gashes that are seen in the place of injuries. 3rd, Sword Skills permit attacks to be performed with normally incommunicable speed, dexterity, and power, based on the histrion'south stats. Fourth, there are some everyday actions that simply are not washed in the SAO world, such equally changing clothes by hand or attempting to wield two items at the same time.

While playing Sword Fine art Online, players still experience fatigue and hunger, regardless of the state of their bodily bodies. Every bit a upshot information technology is an absolute necessity for all players to eat and slumber within the game; however at that place is never a need to go to the bathroom.

Decease or deletion in the game is visualized by fragmentation into thousands of polygon shards. All monsters, items, and players that have their HP or durability reduced to zero, disappear and fragment into polygons in such a fashion.

The SAO system by and large censors mature content, such as sexual intercourse, merely it is possible for players to disable the censor if «Moral Code Removal» is selected in the options menu. Selecting this pick also temporarily increases the quantity of tactile data, only this effect only manifests itself when all the equipment of a player is removed.^[2]

Environs

Global Setting

Sword Art Online is set in Aincrad, a floating castle of 100 floors. At its base, it is approximately 10 kilometers in diameter, and it is completely rendered in all dimensions. Considering of the nature of Aincrad as a floating castle, at that place are no invisible barriers or no-access regions at the edges of the map. Aincrad'due south perimeter is merely surrounded by guard track that can be jumped off of, but any player doing then will exist deemed every bit dead afterward two minutes of falling.

Each individual flooring has its unique climate, geography, fauna, and environment. However, each floor shares the principle of having a Labyrinth Tower that connects to the next floor, every bit well as the principle that the summit of each tower is guarded by a Floor Dominate, which has to exist defeated before players can accelerate to the adjacent floor. Some floors are known for being adequately cold, while others are known for flowers and forests. Most floors on Aincrad accept a theme.

Seasons and Atmospheric condition

Sword Art Online has its own «Aincrad Standard Time»^{[citation needed]}, and its own «Aincrad Calender» with specially named months. Known calendar months include:

«Calendar month of the Sakura» (サクラの月 , Sakura no Tsuki ^? , April) ^[3]
«Month of the Ash Tree» (トネリコの月 , Toneriko no Tsuki ^? , Oct) ^[4]
«Month of the Cypress» (イトスギの月 , Itosugi no Tsuki ^? , November) ^[v]
«Month of the Holly» (ヒイラギの月 , Hīragi no Tsuki ^? , December) ^{[half dozen]}

Globally, Sword Art Online has seasons and atmospheric condition settings that are constructive throughout the floors. Aincrad'southward season correlate with the seasons of the existent globe, but they are generally much milder. Every bit a effect, it is not e'er snowy in the winter, or scorching hot in the summer. Conditions settings are generally random and quite realistic.

Physical Surround

In Sword Art Online, physical environs such as walls, buildings, monuments, and major features are considered "Immortal Objects". An error beep and a notification volition sound if immortal concrete objects are struck, even if by accident.

All non-immortal objects have a «durability» value. Durability is an important feature of Sword Fine art Online, and is a measure of how much an detail or object has been used (like to HP), and how much it will last before it expires and shatters into polygon fragments. Clothes, equipment, weapons, potions, crystals, and nutrient are all subject to gradual loss of durability.

Oft, players must invest significant resource into repairing and buying equipment. Many characters carry actress back-up weapons into dungeons (Asuna in Aria in the Starless Night carries five rapiers in her inventory due to durability concerns in solo dungeon-hunting), others rely on merchants and smiths who regularly repair and upgrade equipment. Food always declines in durability with respect to time, and freshly prepared foods volition disappear if not eaten soon plenty. But dropping food can cause nutrient to lose its durability and fragment into polygons.

Gameplay

Initiation and Character Creation

Logging onto «Sword Fine art Online» is done past using the voice control «Link Start» after powering-on NerveGear hardware. A brief few seconds of tunnel-vision colors are seen while the NerveGear intercepts signals from the player's brain, before the powerup screen is seen. A pre-game status check then confirms the link connection of the 5 senses: impact, sight, hearing, smell, and taste. Upon logging on, a linguistic communication-select is prompted, and so the login screen appears. Subsequently a welcome screen, a vivid light ensues and the thespian can begin creating their character.

The outset time a histrion utilizes NerveGear hardware, he or she is prompted to impact various parts of the body in order to calibrate the machine. While players were given an choice to cull their in-game advent however they liked (gender, height, girth, etc.) at first, the game avatar customisation characteristic was removed when Kayaba Akihiko fabricated an announcement during the first day and changed everyone'southward physique to their real-world appearances, though the pick to customize their eye colour, hair color and style remained.

User Interface

Visual Interface

In a role player'south display, without accessing any skills, one can run into several interfaces.

The hitting point bar is located on the upper left corner of one's field of vision. Information technology displays the histrion's proper name, a visual hit bespeak gauge, forth with numerical hit points (electric current/maximum), and level. It too shows the striking points and names of all other members in the player'due south political party in a smaller bar.

A clock displaying Aincrad local time can be seen in the bottom left corner of the visual field.

A Color Cursor can exist seen over every NPC, monster, and player in the game. This cursor is either dark-green (for players), orange (for players with criminal infractions), yellow (for NPCs), or various shades of red (for monsters). During battle, the health bar of monsters tin can exist seen around the targeted enemy, as well equally the proper noun of the monster. Bosses typically accept multiple health bars. As for a monster that level is too far apart, striking betoken bars of that monster will be unable to see and instead indicated with 'unknown'.

Touch on Interface

Players can interact with the environment by tapping diverse primal objects, including door knobs and items. Doing so either performs the default function, or brings upwards a floating dialogue that has several options, similar to the "right-click" on a PC.

In Sword Art Online, the Affect Interface replaces many actions and simplifies the process of actually performing an action. For example borer on a jar of cream to "apply" the cream. Tapping again on bread automatically spreads the foam on the breadstuff.^[7]

Chief Menu Window

The main menu is the primary means of accessing a player'southward items, maps, skills, and inventory. The menu window can exist summoned with the role player's correct hand by extending its index and middle fingers together and swinging them downwards in a straight line, parallel to the axis of the role player'due south avatar. Due to the strict motion requirements, it may be difficult to summon from a supine or lateral decubitus position. Hence, it is recommended to perform the gesture command from a continuing position.^[8]

One time the gesture command is performed, a ringing sound is heard and the carte du jour appears. In the novel, the menu is a shining purple rectangle window, while in the anime, the main menu has a white layout, and is structured with the summary diagram on the left, circular category buttons in the centre, and the detail dialogue to the right. At that place are five category options: inventory/equipment, friends/guild, Communications, maps/quest, Settings. These five category icons scroll, and the category existence accessed moves to the top.

Inventory/equipment:^{[citation needed]} The icon for the category is a character icon. This is the default screen when opening the Menu interface. The left screen is an image of the torso, with multiple points that let the gamer to equip items or clothes. The right screen has three sub-menus:
- Equipment:^[9] Selecting this sub-card will open another iii sub-carte du jour:
  - Weapons:^{[citation needed]} The icon for this category is a sword like the ane used in Equipment.
  - Equipped:^{[citation needed]} The icon for this category is a piece of armor.
  - Accompaniment:^{[citation needed]} The icon for this category is a necklace.
- Items:^[9] Selecting this sub-menu will open an additional scrolling screen on the left that lists all items. When an particular is selected, it materializes in front end of the player. The inventory turns ruby when a role player has as well many items.
- Skills:^[ix] Selecting this sub-menu will open additional scrolling screen on the left that lists all skills of the player.
Friends/Guild:^{[citation needed]} The icon for the category is two character icons together. The right screen has three sub-menus:
- Party:^[10] Selecting this sub-carte will open three additional options. The first is «Create» (作成 , Sakusei ^? ), the second is «Invite» (招待 , Shoutai ^? ), and the tertiary is «Dissolve» (解散 , Kaisan ^? ).^[11]
- Friend:^[10] Selecting this sub-menu will reveal a list of a actor's friends. Selecting a single friend will produce three boosted options: «Message Box», «Position Check», and «Profile».^[10] The names of fallen friends turn grey, disabling the ability to contact them.^[12]
- Guild ^[10]
Communications (コミュニケーション , Komyunikēshon ^? ):^[13] The icon for this category is two conversation box icons together. The icon flashes automatically whenever a player receives a message.^[xiv] Messages cannot exist sent to a role player who is currently in dungeon.^[15]
- Befriend:^{[commendation needed]} This option allows the player to send a friend asking to another histrion. The other player is added to the Friend List if the request is accepted.
- Trade ^{[citation needed]}: This option opens a trade window with another player. Trading tin exist used but to testify another player items, or complete a merchandise subsequently both parties take the offers put forth.^{[commendation needed]}
- Duel ^{[citation needed]}: This choice allows the player to send a Duel asking. The player being challenged has the privilege of selecting one of the available duel modes.
- Marriage:^[13]This option, located at the very bottom of the Communications category, allows the role player to transport a marriage request to another player. Married players take uninhibited admission to the other's equipment window, and their inventories are merged.^[16]
Maps/Quest: The icon for the category is a balloon location icon. The correct screen has three sub-menus:
- Dungeon Map:^[17] Selecting this sub-menu will reveal a map of the dungeon that the player has explored.
- Quest:^[17] Selecting this sub-menu will open the player's quest log, which displays data on electric current quests and their progress.
- Field Map:^[17] Selecting this sub-menu will reveal a map of the floor that the player has explored.
Settings/Principal menu: The icon for the category is a gear. The right screen has three sub-menus:
- Option ^[eighteen]
- Help:^[eighteen] Selecting "Help" will telephone call a GM (Game Master) in the left screen.
- Logout:^[18] The logout button was disabled as of the showtime mean solar day of the official SAO launch. Consequently, the left-screen is also completely blank.

Equipment

A number of equipment exists in Sword Art Online, including armors, weapons, and so on. Players tin can equip them on over ten different parts of their body, including the left and right mitt, head, arm, body, wrist and and then on.^[19]

Equipment in SAO can be divided into two groups: «Player-made» and «Monster-drops».^[20] Player-made equipment were usually the better of the ii, but even a few rare monster-drops rivaled their counterparts. Yet, in that location also exists a third group of equipment, which included those that are purchased in NPC shops.

Level Organization

SAO uses a level-based system to determine the strength of a role player. In one case the player gains enough EXP, their avatar glows a golden hue, and their electric current level is raised by one. 3 stat points are awarded at each level-upward, which the actor can apply to enhance either their STR attribute or their AGI attribute.^[21] SAO did not have a level cap at the time it was cleared, though had the game continued and a cap was needed, the Central System would have generated one.^[22]

As for the near-unlimited number of Skills within SAO, the skills have to be utilized in order to exist leveled up.^{[citation needed]} Later on reaching a skill level of 1,000, that skill is said to be «complete» and cannot exist further leveled.^[23] Sometimes, while training a skill, other skills could be unlocked, such equally the necessity of training the «One-Handed Sword» skill in order to unlock the «Two-handed Sword» and «1-Handed Rapier» skills.^{[citation needed]}

Gainsay

Parameters

Several factors get into the calculation of damage in Sword Art Online. Among them include the efficacy of hits (a direct hit equally opposed to a scratch), the skill level of a role player, the Sword Skill used, and the weapon'due south stats. SAO's harm calculation organization is more than complicated than the system in ALfheim Online.

Weapons have the following enhancement parameters that make up one's mind stats: Sharpness, Quickness, Accuracy, Heaviness, and Durability. When a weapon is given to an NPC or player smith to upgrade, bonuses such as +1 or +2 are appended select categories. Players use an abbreviated notation to describe the constructive bonuses on a weapon. «1A2H1D» for example, has +one Accuracy, +2 Heaviness, and +one Durability.

On a regular basis, these parameters cannot be seen unless a weapon is «Appraised». Selecting a weapon will only testify its name and its aggregate bonuses (the sum of all enhancement parameters). For example, Kirito's «Amalgamate Blade +6» has the parameters «3S3D».

Status Effects

Main article: Condition Effect

Status Effects, similar many MMORPGs, play an important role in combat. Many attacks have a random take a chance of dealing status effects. They are generally not curable, unless the appropriate Crystals are used. Most status effects elapse after a set period of time.

Monster Battle Mechanics

At that place is no «Magic» in SAO except for the different colored crystals that bring instant furnishings. Instead players tin can fight using their «Sword Skills». Execution of Swords Skills are assisted past the organization, and it can fall into any of the four properties: Thrust, Slash, Pierce and Edgeless. SAO has no projectile weapons, with the exception of Throwing Picks, darts,^[24] boomerangs^[24] and chakrams.^[25]

Attempting to battle without Sword Skills is largely ineffective, and it is equivalent to waving one'southward sword around without doing damage. Many beginners make this mistake, and they can lose a large portion of their health if they panic and forget to use their Sword Skills.^[26]

Defeating a monster brings upwards a Congratulations screen with a summary of results: EXP gained, Cor gained, and Items dropped. Distribution of loot occurs automatically, and Cor is automatically divided evenly betwixt the party/raid members while items are placed in the inventory of the person who receives it. Dissimilar the systems of many MMOs, Sword Art Online does not have a battle log or announce to others what items other players receive. As a event, Dominate Battles can end awkwardly as there is no fair machinery of splitting the boodle amid the victors. To forestall disputes, guilds often have set policies dictating the division of loot.

In Boss Battles, being the player to bargain the finishing Last Attack produces a rare drop for the individual player.

In general, monsters cannot enter condom zones, such every bit towns or cities.

Party Battle Mechanics

It is mostly much more efficient to battle in parties. While in that location are less emphasis on Classes in Sword Art Online, and monsters tin can merely be engaged by 1 player at a time, the main benefit of battling in parties is the power to «Switch».

Switching allows a young man party member to take the atomic number 82 spot against an opponent at any time. Most monsters and bosses have a short downwardly-time in between attacks, so switching during the gap allows an boosted blow to be dealt when a monster is stunned. Additionally, the AI algorithms are known to run slower when a alter of attack style (which occurs during a switch), so monsters have marginally slower reaction times immediately after a «Switch». Kirito mentions that «Switch» is ane of the skills that are improvised by players without the assist of the organisation, besides dubbed by Kirito equally "a skill exterior the system".

The maximum number of players that tin course a party is six. Eight parties (or groups) institute a complete Raid Group big enough to challenge bosses.

Player vs. Player Combat

In Sword Art Online, it is possible to engage in gainsay with other players. Actor vs. Histrion gainsay can either exist authorized or unauthorized.

Unauthorized combat can be initiated past simply hitting some other player intentionally. This will render the assaulter's cursor icon as orangish, which is visible to everyone for several hours (repeated offenses will render a player's cursor permanently orange). While anyone tin be challenged in unauthorized gainsay, such role player vs. actor battle cannot occur in safe zones. Attacking a player in a safe zone will not decrease HP, but the recoil and touch of Sword Skills can be felt.

Authorized combat is essentially dueling. It is done by requesting permission from another actor to appoint in a duel. At that place are several different duel modes, which vary conditionally past last after the start articulate blow, after HP decreases by i half, after a period of time, or expiry. Attacking someone during a duel will non plough any participant's cursors to orangish.

Like most MMORPGs, Actor Killing (PKing) is frequently a result of unwanted role player-player combat. While death in the original Closed Beta test resulted in respawning in the Room of Resurrection on the 1st Floor, player death is permanent and real in the Official Server Service. As a result, PKing in Sword Art Online has a severity akin to murder.

Trivia

When the Sword Art Online VRMMORPG game was showtime sold, it had a recommended age rating of fourteen+. Nevertheless, there were players who were below the recommended historic period rating on the kickoff day of the official SAO service, such every bit Silica, who was twelve at the fourth dimension, or the children at the church in the Boondocks of Beginnings.
During the SAO Incident, the Sword Fine art Online servers were used past RECT Progress Inc. to create ALfheim Online.
SAO merely allows for English alphabet to exist used for names, therefore all players use English language or romanized names.
Heathcliff revealed that he had acquired a lot of inspiration from a game called Wizardry.^[24] Information technology is probable that this inspiration had an impact on the evolution of Sword Art Online.
In the web version of the story, 50,000 players were trapped in the game. This number was reduced to 10,000 in the published novel.

Notes

References

↑ Volume 1, Chapter 23
↑ Material Edition 12 Function two
↑ Book 8, A Murder Instance in the Surface area, Function three
↑ Volume 1, Chapter seven
↑ Volume 1, Chapter 18
↑ Volume two, Red-nosed Reindeer, Office i
↑ Progressive Volume 1, Aria of a Starless Dark, Role 4
↑ Fabric Edition 10
↑ ^9.0 ^9.1 ^9.2 Episode 09
↑ ^10.0 ^10.ane ^ten.ii ^10.3 Episode 06
↑ Episode 02
↑ Volume 2, Blood-red-nosed Reindeer, Part 3
↑ ^13.0 ^xiii.1 The Solar day Earlier Part 3
↑ Episode 03
↑ Volume ii, Warmth of the Heart, Part two
↑ Volume ane, Chapter 17
↑ ^17.0 ^17.i ^17.two Episode 11
↑ ^18.0 ^18.one ^18.2 Episode 01
↑ A tweet by the author.
↑ Volume two, Warmth of the Middle, Part one
↑ Book viii, First Day
↑ A tweet by the writer.
↑ Volume one, Chapter 5
↑ ^24.0 ^24.i ^24.2 Spider web version, Popularity Contest / Q&A
↑ Progressive Volume 1, Rondo of a Delicate Blade, Role 12
↑ Book ane, Chapter 4

heroldawye1981.blogspot.com

Source: https://swordartonline.fandom.com/wiki/Sword_Art_Online