Sword Art Online

What type of player do you honestly think you would have been if you were one of the original players trapped inside Aincrad?

A stay-in-town hoping it gets cleared?

A low-level player that was very safe but tried to grind a little?

A smith?

A PKer (who's the murderers out there?🤣)?

A front-line player-or at least try to be?

And would you have believed Kayaba at the start about the dying?

Also, guild or solo player?

I would have personally stayed a solo player for as long as possible-just too untrusting and wanting more freedom.

Later in the game though, I'd probably be forced to join one.

I would grind non-stop off fairly safe spawn points and not take too many risks going into unknown dungeons, etc. Boss fights I would probably participate in, but it would be a go-by-feel thing on each one.

And I'd have probably believed Kayaba-or at the very least, wouldn't be willing to test him being wrong.

(Don’t come in with the petty “no you wouldn’t” stuff to everyone that says they would fight—just because you wouldn’t doesn’t mean others wouldn’t.)

So, I've wondered why the SAO players only found out later in the day of launch that they couldn't log out.

It seemed strange to me, since there were thousands of players online, and not even one tried to log out just a bit early?

Were you able to log out in the beginning? Did players just brush it off?

If someone early on realized that they couldn't log out, surely word would spread, although, this wouldn't change much as they weren't able to communicate with the outside world, but maybe it would've caused panic earlier, instead of people spending the first few hours enjoying the game.

The panic just came a little later, but nobody ever talked about the logout button being missing until Kayaba gathered everyone and told them himself.

Most likely it's just suspense for the story, but it's just a random curiosity anyway

I love Klein but I’ve been wondering how he become one of the strongest players in SAO?

Klein wasn’t a beta tester like Kirito, nor was he properly trained, for a while, by a beta tester, like Asuna.

Klein’s only advantage was the short amount of time Kirito spent, teaching him the basics.

So how did Klein become strong enough to lead a guile that fought on the front lines & suffered 0 casualties?

I'm just curious, did the anime make it that much worse or was it always expected that FD would be that disliked?

I don't think it's as bad as most but it's definitely the weakest arc to me as an anime only.

Was it better in the LNS?

Is it wild to anyone else that Sword Art Online never got a legit, serious, massive MMORPG? I know we’ve had a bunch of SAO video games of different types, but I always thought it was crazy that no major company ever capitalized on making a true large-scale MMORPG. The possibilities for features and content they could’ve added with the theme were endless—and the genre has needed new life breathed into it for years anyway.

Everything now is super quick, flashy, and built around immediate gratification and microtransactions. But imagine a grind-, skill-, and trade-based MMORPG—something like old-school RuneScape, where cooking, smithing, fishing, and woodworking all mattered, where everything was earned and took time. Now add modern graphics, deeper lore, more complex missions and battles, and a tower-based progression system with multiple floors and levels—all fully SAO-themed. And that’s without even factoring in all the unique features you could implement.

Use a subscription-based model—say $15 a month—to avoid microtransaction shortcuts and focus purely on grind, time, and community. Keep microtransactions cosmetic only, and they’d still make a killing.

Then there are all the cool systems and features they could’ve tried—some that might work, some that might not—but all adding depth and flavor. Here’s just a sample of what could have been

1. Perma-Death / Hardcore Mode Servers

Optional servers where death means starting over—emulating SAO’s life-or-death tension (or at least resulting in major penalties). Normal servers would use traditional respawn mechanics.

2. Progressive World Structure (Layered Floors)

100 explorable floating floors, each with unique biomes, architecture, and ecosystems. Floors only unlock globally when players defeat that floor’s boss, encouraging true community cooperation. (Though admittedly, this one could be tough to balance.)

3. Player-Driven Economy & Town Expansion

Players rebuild and expand towns on each floor—constructing housing, NPC shops, blacksmiths, etc. Crafting, cooking, smithing, and tailoring are all deep, viable professions. With no microtransactions offering shortcut gear, some players could literally choose to be blacksmiths, chefs, or traders rather than warriors.

4. Guild Fortresses / Territory Control (Aincrad Tower Defense)

Guilds can build and defend outposts on various floors from monster invasions. PvE raid battles or PvP tournaments determine control over limited floor-specific resources.

5. Reputation & Titles

Everything you do affects your reputation: dueling, crafting, helping NPCs, or even PKing. Earn dynamic titles like Famed Beast Slayer, Master Smith, Laughing Coffin Member, etc.—each unlocking cosmetic perks and unique NPC interactions.

6. Romance & Friendship Systems

Bonding mechanics that grant combat bonuses when fighting alongside trusted allies. “Switch” attacks and synchronized skills become stronger the closer your bond.

7. Real Weapon Decay & Repair

Weapons wear down over time—especially powerful ones. This keeps the economy relevant and gives blacksmiths real purpose. Even legendary gear can break if not maintained properly.

8. Presence Level (Time-Based Activity Meter)

A hidden "Presence" meter rises with consistent activity (combat, crafting, socializing, etc.) and daily logins. The more connected you stay, the stronger your character feels—boosting XP gain, drop rates, and weapon skill precision.

Desync Penalties (for being away too long):

Reduced Sword Skill accuracy or cooldowns

Degrading player housing

NPCs forget you more quickly (reputation loss)

Pets or companions may become disobedient

9. Marriage System – “Soul Bond”

Modeled after SAO’s emotional ties. Players can form formal, game-recognized unions after reaching max friendship, completing co-op quests, and playing together actively for at least two weeks.

Bonding Ceremony: Held in custom chapels or floor shrines with friends/guild invited. Special ring items are exchanged to mark the bond.

Perks:

State boosts when fighting in the same party

Unique partner skills

Teleport-to-partner ability with a cooldown

Shared housing and inventory

10. Basic Attack Timing System – “Edge Flow”

Even basic attacks are rhythm-based. When you attack, a timing meter (like a rhythm bar) appears near your blade or HUD.

Hitting the “sweet spot” = clean hit, no stamina cost, smooth animation

Missing = whiff, stagger, or opening for enemies to counter

Each weapon type has a unique tempo to master (rapiers = fast bursts, greatswords = heavy pauses, etc.)

Chaining perfectly timed attacks builds a "Flow State" that boosts crit chance, skill charge speed, and parry windows

While VR could be included using current vr, I’d honestly lean away from it in favor of stronger in-world immersion through things like:

In-game proximity and party voice chat

Realistic animations and reactions etc.

Vr just isn't there yet.

It would be pretty fun, but I think it would be really expensive.

To this day, my favorite thing about Sword Art Online is the main characters' romance arc. Everyone always focuses on Kirito being overpowered, like that's not a trope in 75% of anime from the past decade. What I love is that they actually had Kirito and Asuna start dating early in the series and stay together casually showing their relationship and letting it grow over time.

I'm so tired of 99% of anime, even literal romance anime, making you wait until the last few episodes (if at all) for the characters to finally get together, after teasing it for the entire series. And when they do, it's barely realistic or satisfying. (I know other ones here and there also do it but Ive watched nearing a 1000 anime and 99% dont)

I obviously love other aspects of SAO too, but the thing I appreciate most is how they handled Kirito and Asuna's relationship. It actually makes you connect to them and their relationship instead of doing the usual "will they, won't they" edgy dragged nonsense, constantly finding random plot devices or unrealistic reasons or even having them do out of character stuff to keep the protagonists from dating like 99% of anime do. It's so annoying to me, I don't know if mangeka can't or are just afraid to write actual couples but I'm so tired of an entire series of forced build for a episode if that of them actually getting together. This is something SAO did extremely right in my opinion especially being a power fantasy. (Tho I do dislike that in following seasons to an extent they kinda tossed Asuna aside for the majority of the run time)

So I’m fairly new to the scene and I have finally taken a dive into SAO after all these years and I am not sure how to feel about it. Not in a bad way or anything, but it’s been an emotional rollercoaster from the first couple of episodes from the first season I have what feels like my heart crushed and filled with so many emotions that I can honestly say never felt before from any tv shows. It’s taken me a while to come to terms with the first season but I made it to season 2.

All started so great until the end… I won’t say anymore since I’m sure everyone here probably knows what I’m on about. The point I want to ask is why do I feel so viscerally about the feelings and emotions from this one anime? Why does it feel like this show is able to bring me to high to the point that I am giggling like when I was younger and at the same time evoke such emotions of despair, utter sadness that it brings genuine tears and I would argue borderline depression so much that it feels painful to watch some episodes.

Did anyone else have this reaction to this anime or am I the only one who feels about SAO in this particular way?

It’s way off—if it’s ever even going to be possible—but if a real-life copy or mimic of SAO, Aincrad, or a similar version finally did happen, realistically, would you actually enter it if the “if you die in game, you die in real life” factor was still at play?

You’re not trapped like in the original SAO, but the effect still exists—if you die in the game, you die in real life. Do you still go in, and how often?

I personally would still risk it. I’ve always found life boring and loved escapism and fantasy worlds. I’m not looking to die or anything, but I feel like I’d still have to risk it to experience a world like that.

Rules are you have to log in at least once a week to keep access and every time you log in you must stay logged in inside the game for at least 2 hours and you must be outside of the towns, safe zones for at least 5 minutes every log in.

The seed is basically like a game engine to make it easier for vrmmo qame creation.

Can u imagine how valuable that is like it literally a goldmine.

I know he uploaded it on the internet so the seed would sprout and new games can be created but i feel like he should've sold it at a price like all the other game engines we have in real life so that at least he made money after all the shit he went through.

Idk, i just feel like the seed "asset" was a money making machine and he just let out in the wild for free. Miss an opportunity to get rich tbh.

Can you imagine how much money a game like gun gale online will make if it actually existed in the real world? Just look at how much money games like Csgo or Pubg makes and then imagine what a full dive vr game like that would've sell in real life.

All those games developers and game companies hit the jackpot when kirito release the seed for everybody to use for free lol.

Maybe this is a weird topic but I just love to imagine thw kind of world and economics for different anime if its actually real.

You hear about PlayStations breaking the sound barrier when the fans kick on and Xbox’s overheating/red ring of death, but what about NerveGear?

I was thinking about this today and I’m pretty sure this wasn’t addressed.

Did any of the NerveGear malfunction, have connection issues (packet loss, latency etc), overheating, hardware recalls or was it just the perfect gaming device?

I’m sure Kayaba would’ve ensured to have a flawless machine for his experiment, but surely out of the 10,000 players trapped, as a gamer knowing even a $3000 PC setup still has some issues, there HAD to be some people that died due to malfunctioning equipment is some way.

And Google AI seems to think my question is referring to people who tampered with the NerveGear to save their family/friends, but this is STRICTLY regarding the integrity of the system that is NerveGear.

Figured I would share it again after so long.

And yes, I'm sure that I will get some hate for it.

Link to Subreddit Post

Now, we all know Kayaba does something crazy in his game (SAO) and he always was even after his legacy.

I mean sure that were villains throughout the show that did more damage and evil than they were.

Kayaba though is more evil than Vassago in my personal opinion due to lack of circumstances he’d face etc.

Source

Alicization's one of the most underrated strengths lies in its thematic layering, particularly its references to Alice in Wonderland. While SAO has always been at the center of debates in the anime community, Alicization quietly embeds a powerful homage to one of the earliest "other world" stories in modern literature. The genius of this move lies not only in its subtlety but in how it bridges two legendary pieces of media across time and culture. In doing so, it reframes SAO, not just as a blockbuster anime, but as a self-aware commentary on the isekai genre it helped popularize.

Many fans argue about whether SAO is even a true isekai. Technically, it isn't. The characters don’t die and reincarnate in another world, nor are they summoned to a fantasy realm by divine beings. Instead, they’re plugged into virtual worlds through futuristic technology. But that distinction is largely semantic. The core premise, a protagonist escaping from reality into a richly immersive alternate world where new rules apply, is functionally identical to most isekai stories. SAO’s success in 2012 sparked a wildfire across the anime industry. It opened the floodgates for an entire generation of series like Re:Zero, Konosuba, Tensura, and more. Even though SAO didn’t invent the genre, it proved there was mass-market appeal for it, and studios followed in droves.

Enter Alicization, the third major arc in the SAO franchise. It introduces an artificial world called the Underworld, built not just as a game, but as a simulation meant to grow real human souls. This world operates under its own logic, filled with knights, sacred arts, and a society molded by a mysterious force called the Taboo Index. At the heart of this arc is a girl named Alice, a name that instantly evokes the classic Lewis Carroll tale. And that’s no coincidence.

Like the original Alice in Wonderland, Alicization is about questioning reality. In Carroll’s novel, Alice falls down a rabbit hole into a strange world governed by nonsense and dream-logic. In Alicization, Kirito is thrown into a world where his memories are fragmented and the truth is buried under layers of programming and illusion. Both stories follow protagonists navigating warped realities in search of identity, agency, and truth. The Underworld, like Wonderland, is a place that challenges what the characters know to be real. The characters, particularly Alice, begin to break free of their programmed limitations, just as Carroll’s Alice questioned the absurd rules of the Queen of Hearts' domain.

By choosing “Alice” as a central figure, the author wasn’t just picking a pretty name. He was reaching back to the roots of portal fantasy, nodding to the literary tradition that birthed the isekai concept long before the term existed. Alice in Wonderland is arguably one of the earliest isekai stories: a young girl transported to a fantastical land, where she must navigate trials and absurdities. It's a template that modern anime still echoes.

So when Alicization places “Alice” at the center of its story, it’s not just coincidence or flair. It’s a legend tipping its hat to another. SAO, the anime that made isekai a mainstream genre, is paying homage to the story that arguably started it all. That’s not just clever writing, it’s a brilliant commentary on the lineage of escapist fiction. It’s a statement that says, “We know where we came from.”

It's crazy, when I first watched the show as a child, I thought that 2025 was so far away, and the technology in the show was so advanced because it was in 2025.

Now we're in 2025, and lowkey our technology is more advanced than the show.

His whole gimmick is being a duel wielder, and he was able to afford it (each sword costs 150k and he had 302k).

He def should've just bought 2 swords, but the writers just had to nerf him 😭

Source: https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/129579831

I mean, before knowing who he was in ALO, she fell in love with him... I was watching Extra Edition, and she never tells him, but I felt like it's something Asuna should know. Clearly, Suguha should make it clear that those feelings for her are over (even if she lies to her) and that she now supports Asuna, because it makes her brother happy, but I think Asuna should know xD

I don't know why, but I imagine a Time skip where everyone is a little older and Suguha gets drunk and ends up telling him without realizing it XD

I don't know if this has happened in the novels, although I really doubt it, but what do you think? Will it happen? Should Suguha tell her? I doubt Asuna will have a problem with that (Even more so if it happens after Kirito and Asuna start living together).