Sword Art Online

[valondar]

Originally Posted by roriconfan

I don't know about you but for me the ways the players find in order to cheat the game (greens leading players to oranges, luring bosses to towns, dueling sleeping players) are far more interesting than whatever Kirito and his harem are doing. And guess what, they make it look like it's a bad thing too, when it helps you to powerplay and beat the game easier.

Two of the three things you mention here are ways to kill other players. There's no indication that killing other players is actually that useful for clearing the endgame content (the guild of gankers Kirito faced off were nowhere near the level of the elite raiding guilds, for example), and given that it is basically murder there is every reason for the show to present it as objectionable.

At most it's a way for players to improve their standing in the game. But standing isn't (or shouldn't be) what matters, what should be important to players is that the top raiding guilds clear content and they can leave.

The third thing - NPCs - is something the series argues about. If anything Asuna seems to have gotten the better of Kirito in that case because he didn't really have an argument as to why to not kill NPCs.

Originally Posted by roriconfan

There are two types of third person narration, one with the use of a narrator, and one with the use of a character commenting upon everything through internal monologues (think Kyon in Haruhi).

Actually, doesn't Sword Art Online have a narrator? I think there was one at the end of the first episode telling us a month had passed and so on. Narrators are a device that's best used sparingly, however, and the series has told us enough about its game mechanics to be generally followable - it's not enough to replicate the game or to know its exact rules or whatever, but that's not really been necessary.

Originally Posted by Aranneas

Ah. Before my time.

Pish tosh. Gunbuster is timeless - funny, melodramatic, cool as hell - and I'd kill to be watching an anime that good right now.

[Reat]

So am I the only one who prefers to not have everything explained? It's not like the exact details of how everything works is actually important to telling the story - unless you're just looking to nitpick, of course.

[Aranneas]

Originally Posted by valondar

Pish tosh. Gunbuster is timeless - funny, melodramatic, cool as hell - and I'd kill to be watching an anime that good right now.

Don't read in too much meng. Just meant 'it wasn't part of my world when I was growing up'. It's not a comment on the continuing value of the series.

[valondar]

^
When I speculate about game mechanics it's because I enjoy arguing about them and nitpicking series generally (like the long discussion about healing). It's not because I expect or require the series to spell it out for me.

Originally Posted by Aranneas

Don't read in too much meng. Just meant 'it wasn't part of my world when I was growing up'. It's not a comment on the continuing value of the series.

Oh I know. Tongue was firmly in cheek with that comment (otherwise no 'pish tosh').

[Aranneas]

mechanics: It's mostly idle speculation. Whenever I'm presented with a setting that has both clear and unclear rules I find it an interesting exercise to use the available clues to piece together as much as I can about the world. Here we have a setting that's rooted in the conventions of MMOs but has at least a few elements presented in unconventional fashion and I enjoy speculating on how the rest will fill out. It's not something you should feel obligated to participate in if it's not your cup of tea. If it bothers people I can set it aside in marked spoilers.

I do expect the series to make things clear as it becomes necessary for the audience to understand them. This is one of the most basic things about setting exposition. A rather more complex problem is the means to go about this without disrupting the flow of your narrative. It's a meta-discussion that, again, you don't really need to get into if it's not your thing. But I also happen to enjoy analyzing storytelling techniques and point out what's been done well or what could have been done better. It's a part of the value of shows like this for me - not necessarily a huge one, but we haven't been presented with a whole lot else to go over as of yet.

[oninosweeney]

Originally Posted by valondar

Pish tosh. Gunbuster is timeless - funny, melodramatic, cool as hell - and I'd kill to be watching an anime that good right now.

here here.... haven't thought about that show in years.

Originally Posted by Reat

So am I the only one who prefers to not have everything explained?

much like the argument in Gamers: Dorkness Rising, "Story trumps rules!" as long as the story is compelling and does not go back on it's own world building rules, a good story does not matter the setting.

[hoffstyle]

Originally Posted by Reat

So am I the only one who prefers to not have everything explained? It's not like the exact details of how everything works is actually important to telling the story - unless you're just looking to nitpick, of course.

As an avid MMO junkie, I would feel robbed if I didn't get much detail about the way the game works. But that's just me.

[renorxukuth]

I would have liked more of an explanation of the episodes or even episodes where Kirito isnt present. Such as something revolving around Asuna, as to how she gets to become such and such status etc. It might happen later, but that sort of defeats the purpose I think.

So far that's my only gripe.

[Fatestayjedi]

Some nice theories about the murders you got there.Don't really want to get into that just because I'm lazy atm.As a MMO player I agree that getting into details of the game mechanics is quite fun,not really bashing the anime for not explaining more stuff either.

[hoffstyle]

Nope, not bashing either. It just falls under the category of relevant to my interests.