The universe in which a story is told requires a set of rules. A system of guidelines by which everyone and everything lives and interacts. In real life, we call this physics, science, and culture. And a fictional world needs rules too; even a virtual world like the one of Sword Art Online.
Since we are dealing with a series of events that take place in a different setting than the physical universe, some of the rules are inherently different from what we are used to. Unfortunately, we don't always know what those rules are, or how they work, as we only have a few canon sources to draw from.
Due to a significant lack of information on the workings of the game Sword Art Online, we the authors have decided to attempt to fill in the gaps, both from mechanics never explicitly stated but partially shown, and from things never touched on at all, with what we deem to be logical possibilities.
We place the light novels as the highest level of canon, followed immediately by the anime, followed by the Progressive Series, followed by the manga and video game adaptations. In cases in which these various mediums conflict, we will always default to this order. We will always attempt to find an explanation of events or the workings of the game from the highest possible level of canon, but we will look to the lesser sources when no information is available from the top canon sources.
The following contains the observed rules of the universe in which we write. And when observation fails to provide us with answers,we have resorted to assumptions.
Avatars: We assume that all players had the chance to calibrate the NerveGear, and to create their avatars before the game launched, either via a website, or a partial dive with the NerveGear itself. (Or in-game if they didn’t do so before. We assume that most people who worked so hard to get one of the 10,000 copies of the game took the time beforehand to work out their avatars so that they could play the minute it launched, instead of having to create a character, since Full Dive was so new and exciting.
Sensing and Pain in The Full Dive Experience: We believe that in game, one has access to all of their five senses, although things may seem slightly different from reality. (This is supported by Anime canon.) We also assume that while there is no pain per se, the game still alerts a player to damage being caused by an unpleasant sensation. We suspect that a player’s mind may translate this, and the fear associated with danger, into a sensation of actual pain that can be overcome if one stops and thinks about it.
We also believe that even when no damage has been done at all, a player’s brain may still trick them into believing that they are feeling pain if they expect to, much like an amputee’s mind may still give them the sensation of feeling a limb that is no longer there. This would explain why we see Klein react as if in considerable pain one moment, only to realize that he isn’t actually hurting the next.
Sleeping, Eating, and Drinking: We suspect that players lose stamina, and may regain stamina more slowly, if they do not eat, or drink. (As stated in the Video Game canon.)
We believe that sleep may not be an actual game mechanic, so much as it is a necessity for the human brain to function properly. Even though a player’s avatar is merely a digital recreation of their body, and as such does not need sleep, both their actual body in real life, and their brain, still require rest in order to survive.
We suspect that sleep patterns may change in some cases, with some players becoming depressed and sleeping more, while others may find that without a physical body in need of the rejuvenating effects of sleep, that they require significantly less sleep in game than in the real world.
Items: Possession and Durability, or Hit Points:
Based on canon, we have concluded that any equipped or held item can be given to, or taken by, another player, and that said player then becomes the owner; whether it be a food item, a healing crystal, or a high level weapon.
We have decided to act on the basis that all combat items (armor and weapons) lose durability in combat, but not due to the passage of time (whereas food loses Hit Points over time.) We have concluded that potions, crystals, and non combat/non consumable items do not lose HP at all.
We have further decided (based strongly on many events seen in high level canon) that any item a player is wearing or holding is destroyed upon that player’s death. And in the case of a weapon, if the appendage that is holding it is severed, we have decided that the weapon is destroyed.
However, because it does not conflict with canon to our knowledge, we have arbitrarily decided that for the purposes of our story, any item that is equipped, but not held or worn at the exact time of a player’s death, is not destroyed, but remains at the same HP level as when the owner was last alive, even if the owner was down to only one HP at the time they dropped or lost the item.
Hair and Hygiene: We know from the light novels that hair style and color can be changed. We also see hair color changes with the anime in Aincrad.
We also see that hair reacts to a player’s movements.
We have personally concluded that while one’s hair in game behaves like real hair for the most part, with the ability to play with it or tousle it, that there are some changes in game. We have decided, based on observing the show, that hair does not remain “messed up” and that it is impossible to get “bed head.” While we do see Liz checking her appearance in the mirror, she seems to have no need to make any adjustments to her hair. Lack of messy hair could be a limitation of the art style, (hair is complicated to draw and has lots of minute movements) however it seems quite likely that rearranging one’s hair to keep it in place would be an unlikely inclusion in a game that is intended as an escape from reality.
While we have no proof of this, we have personally decided to treat hair styling as something that can be accomplished at a barbershop or hairdresser, but that it is possible for a player to make at least some (realistic) changes to their hairstyle by hand.
With the topic never mentioned in the light novels or anime, we have opted to go with the games take on personal hygiene. Personal hygiene is not included in the game as players didn’t pay top dollar to brush their teeth to avoid bad breath, or have to bathe in order to remain clean in virtual reality. One exception to this is optional baths, which can be taken for relaxation or bonuses, rather than for cleanliness. Interesting enough, the games depict different soaps as having different effects.
We assume you can sweat (but don’t stink) in game.
Alcohol and Intoxication: Alcohol is mentioned as being a part of VR in the anime in the Mother’s Rosario arc. The games mention that it is possible to become drunk in game, and even mention that some bath soaps have a similar effect. Thus we have opted to to include alcohol and intoxication.
Our explanation is that the game interacts with the pleasure centers of the brain, and also induces feelings of dizziness, changes in felt temperature, and that it even alters how one perceives their environment through their “senses.”
Interestingly enough, this would make getting drunk in game completely safe, albeit somewhat different from doing so in real life. Of course, it’s possible that it could still be addicting, as it is still stimulating the same areas of the brain as real alcohol.
As there is nothing in canon that we are aware of about hangovers, we have concluded that particularly strong alcohol, or possibly massive quantities of moderate “strength” alcohol may bring about ongoing effects for five to fifteen hours or so. These could theoretically include similar sensations of “pain” as when one takes mild to moderate damage. However, we believe that it is likely that the ability to live in a world without consequences for actions such as heavy drinking, is likely a major part of a full dive VR game’s appeal to players. In other words, who wants to experience discomfort after engaging in pleasurable activities?
Hospital Move Disconnect: While we don’t know what happens to a player’s avatar (besides that it falls over) when a player is disconnected from SAO to transfer their body to a hospital or long-term care facility, we have decided that Kayaba, being the fair man that he has consistently been shown to be, would protect any players who are not in a safe zone at the time of their disconnection.
We have personally opted to explain this as having a player’s aggro score dropped so low that any enemies in the game view a disconnected player’s avatar as an object, rather than as a player to be attacked. While it’s possible that no such protection was granted, we find that to be unlikely, as the characters are never heard to talk about this event in a traumatized fashion.
As to what the players experienced when disconnected during the move, we personally believe that they simply lost consciousness and were not aware of the passage of time, as they would otherwise have been quite traumatized, and Kayaba, while willing to trap people in a virtual world and let them die, was never shown to be intentionally cruel.
That said, we have no evidence for this, but as there is no canon version, we have opted to treat our plausible explanation as the correct one.
We don’t know for sure when players are transferred to hospitals, but we know it was “a couple weeks” after launch.
We have chosen to ignore the “couple weeks” mentioned in canon as this would mean that the players would have to have received IVs and nutrition through home-care until they could be moved to hospitals.
We personally think that it would be far easier to arrange for ambulances, or possibly even busses, to transfer ten thousand people in a day, than it would be to arrange for independent healthcare CNAs/nurses for the same number of patients for round-the-clock care at home.
Due to hydration requirements, we have opted to place the move to hospitals on day three of the game. Kill us for it, we’re aiming for a level of realism, and the Progressive Novels have far greater inconsistencies with the top two tiers of canon, the Light Novels and anime.
We personally explain the discrepancy as a player simply misremembering whether a one time event that happened two years ago took place on day three, or fourteen, of the game.
Physical Traits and Capabilities: We have determined that things in game relating to a player’s physical characteristics, such as run-speed, strength, and weight, and how they relate to other players are too unclear in the books/anima to make a definitive answer on.
For example, are some players naturally faster, like they are in real life? Or is walk/run speed the same for everyone and determined by level/how much a player has walked/run alone, regardless of their real body? And if speed is a preset factor, then how do players not lose their balance as it would throw-off all of their movements compared to what they are used to in the real world?
Another example is strength vs. weight. Do players have the same physical mass in game as their bodies do in real life? Or do they all weigh exactly the same?
And do players all start the game with the same level of strength, or does their starting strength reflect reality?
We simply don’t know. Thus we have decided to leave the topic vague as much as possible, aside from the canon supported fact that players can become faster, stronger, and run for longer periods of time as they level up. At least the strength aspect of this is supported in canon when Asuna tells Kirito that he “wouldn’t break a sweat” carrying her with his strength level. Thus it seems reasonable to us that speed and endurance would be treated in a similar fashion.
That said, it isn’t always possible to ignore such simple topics, so when we absolutely have to bring them up at all, we have decided that for the purposes of our story, speed, strength, and mass would have at least some correlation with a player’s physical size. (EG, short legs may reduce run speed, while a larger player would weigh more than a smaller one.)
The Culture of The SAO Universe: It is the understanding of the authors that, like a lot of anime, Sword Art Online takes on some decidedly western traits, such as characters being more emotionally open, or tending more towards western beauty standards. (EG, a “curvy” build being seen as desirable, rather than as a sign of a character being “overweight.”)
It was not our intention to ignore Japanese culture, however, we have opted to keep the “feel” of our SAO based work as close to the canon material as possible.
We do not claim to be experts on Japanese culture, nor are we attempting to appropriate bits and pieces thereof in some hybridized mismash.
However, if the original author of a wildly popular series can change some things about his country in his fictional setting, then we feel justified in doing the same with a work based on his.
These are not hard and fast rules, and we might very well end up breaking some of them at times. We may also realize that additions or changes may need to be made. We thank you for your patience bearing with this work in progress.
