11-11-2012, 11:02 AM
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#1677 (permalink)
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Otaku
Join Date: May 2011
Location: North Florida REPRESENT!
Posts: 1,014
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Re: Sword Art Online
Quote:
Originally Posted by valondar
Episode 19
Mechanics time.
Race names: Caith Sith, Salamander, Spriggan, Sylph, Undine. Have I missed any that have been said in the show so far (not counting Alfs)?
I like having to memorize spell names and shout them out appropriately. Given the Nervegear's focus on doing things rather than just hitting buttons, it seems a good way to gameify the otherwise impractical nature of magic.
This said Alfheim Online is a little unclear about how magic, class and race work. For example, that the tracer was a fire elemental confirms to Leafa that it was sent by the Salamanders, and Undines obviously have a benefit from being in water. We're reminded again that Spriggans basically are known for illusion magic. But we also see that Salamanders are capable of earth magic, so any hopes that maybe there are four of the nine races who each have an element is out the window.
There's also a clear distinction between Slamander 'mages' and their infantry. It seems that I guess players specialize in one or the other based on their talents (as some RPGs have you do) rather than choosing set classes, but would that mean that lancers and infantry have some basic Salamander fire spells, as Kirito had a pretty practical illusion spell?
Speaking of. While Leafa dismisses the illusion spell as useless in combat, the leader of the Salamanders explicitly says that what the Minotaur spell gave Kirito was greater reach, and a melee player getting greater reach is totally a worthwhile combat thing.
Also, this episode confirms that you respawn at your capital city. This means if Kirito dies he'll return to the Spriggan town he never really landed in. It also confirms part of the reason why there's no NPCs - in many MMOs, non-player characters serve as the 'faction leaders' for the different races, but here in Alfheim Online apparently there are players who serve in this role.
This may explain why they have 'parties' but not 'guilds', Sigurd may represent a faction of Slyphs which Leafa and Recon were both once members. And while I was surprised that there seemed to be no encouragement at all to raid enemy cities, that hostile races can lord it over rival races after killing their appointed leader makes the PvP framework have a lot more sense.
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