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Total Members Voted: 15

[IamanElfCollaborator]

There HAVE been total-immersion VR games pre-SAO as mentioned in the OP, they were just complete shit until Kayaba drew up his stuff.  Also, the cost of moving over to Japan to play a game for two months is....kinda shit compared to pirating that crap or something. Unless you're rich as hell, just wait for it to come over to your country.

And we're never told in the light novels about gamers outside Japan because they didn't exist there; this is an AU, so it's a given there are different things to begin with. Kayaba's characterisation might just be that little different to justify international servers, or it could even be someone who isn't Kayaba in the first place.

Finally, why would you waste time to draw international players in by making SAO English? There's a perfectly large playerbase in Japan alone without immigration.

[Adragis]

What's a light novel?

[SOLDIER First]

Manga under a different name, AFAIK.

[IamanElfCollaborator]

In a nutshell, short novels suitable for reading by young teens.

[Patrick Hunt]

Hey Twin, what's the recharge time on my charge attack?

[Flying Dice]

That's the point, though. If he only launched in Japan (which matches with "10k players" and him being in the game personally), "lel torrents" wouldn't matter because the server architecture wouldn't exist outside of the region -- that, or you'd be playing on a constant 300+ ping.

What I'm saying is that this needs to either frame itself with canon (no players outside Japan are mentioned because they don't exist), or else reject canon entirely and be firmly in AU territory (which means that, as you said, Kayaba either needs to have a radically different motivation, or else needs to not exist in the same role). It seemed like a lot of people were pushing for "just AU enough" where the setting was identical except for being an American server "'cause roleplaying is hard". :|

What's a light novel?

What SAO is based on.

Manga under a different name, AFAIK.

Nope. You're looking at an average of ~1 illustration for every 10-15 written pages.

It's a written medium which tends to use illustrations and relatively brief language, roughly equivalent (as Elf said) to Western YA fiction. A number of anime series are adaptions of LN series, particularly the harem-trash Gary Stu power fantasy genre to which SAO belongs. If you're looking for an actual good written series about MMO players, look for a translation of Nam Heesung's Legendary Moonlight Sculptor. 

[Adragis]

Different as they may be, I will always call SAO .hack//simplified

[IamanElfCollaborator]

It can safely be AU to begin with, as I don't think anyone actually depends on, say, Kirito or any of the canon characters or elements existing to have their backstory, no matter how funny it would be to have Sachi and Klein somehow meet Tzouboi and Shiina.

Different as they may be, I will always call SAO .hack//simplified

this

[BlitzDungeoneer]

But then how am I supposed to justify the Kirito Appreciation Club?
No but seriously, what Elf said. Kirito and co. are only truly important towards the second half of Aincrad, and that's waaaaay off. We can safely start as an AU and go from there.

[IamanElfCollaborator]

Fuck, I dunno, have Bob be SAO's Deadpool?

[SOLDIER First]

_{"This guy is freakin' me out, Shiina. Why does he look so much like me?"
"I know what you mean... They are very similar to us."}
"So, you guys comin' or what? I wanna introduce you to my friend--"
"Our friend."
"...our friend, Kirito."
"Uh, s-sure, Klein... Sachi..."

To be legitimately honest, I both really want us to meet the canon SAO characters, even in passing, fortehlulz. And I don't. Like. Anime AU's focused on America.
But it's your call, dude.

[Twinwolf]

The one true defense against canon: The AU.

[IamanElfCollaborator]

_{"This guy is freakin' me out, Shiina. Why does he look so much like me?"
"I know what you mean... They are very similar to us."}
"So, you guys comin' or what? I wanna introduce you to my friend--"
"Our friend."
"...our friend, Kirito."
"Uh, s-sure, Klein... Sachi..."

the world immediately explodes
never shall the twain selves meet

[BlitzDungeoneer]

Fuck, I dunno, have Bob be SAO's Deadpool?

That sounds fantastic!

[SOLDIER First]

No way are Tzoushi/Shiina/Idita the same characters as Klein/Sachi/Kirito! They don't have the same hair or eye colors, dummy.