Sword Art Online

[Y]

With each episode...

I really don't want this series to reward Kirito's early actions. He SAYS he feels more alive in the VR world than reality, but he treats people as disposable and lives a disconnected, empty life there as well. Rewarding that as some kind of Platonic ideal of action in this situation is a pretty sadistic and ugly ending.

The NPC worry..

Again, you want Kirito's weird moral disconnect - the fact that he cares more for scripted computer programs than humans - to be rewarded as the "correct" viewpoint to take in this situation, and not only that, for it to be a good thing because it most closely conforms to the crazy, evil game designer's ideals. Once again, what a nasty, fucked up main character.

Completely changing gears for a moment....

The sleep-PK thing is a great use of the setting, imo. Simple, gamebreaking bugs like that can't be corrected in this scenario, because it's not as though the game designer can push some server restarts and patch the game up. It does show how crazy disconnected from reality Kirito is: "This game world is fair. That's why you can kill people in their sleep by moving their hands around, and it's never been fixed. I'm fucking retarded."

[Kraco]

The sleep-PK thing is a great use of the setting, imo. Simple, gamebreaking bugs like that can't be corrected in this scenario, because it's not as though the game designer can push some server restarts and patch the game up. It does show how crazy disconnected from reality Kirito is: "This game world is fair. That's why you can kill people in their sleep by moving their hands around, and it's never been fixed. I'm fucking retarded."

In fact it is fair. People can and should be possible to kill more easily during their sleep. What is not fair is that towns are supposedly safe places. Why exactly should it be impossible to slay somebody in a straight-forward manner in a town when you can do it just fine outside of the arbitrary border separating a town from the wilderness? Rather than the sleep duel being an ugly bug, I'd say making the towns safe from direct PvP is a compromise the designer had to make to draw people in in the first place. Whatever method was used to kill the two poor saps in the latest ep was another crack in the unreasonable safety of the towns, and I'd bet the designer left such gaps there fully on purpose.

[Y]

In fact it is fair. People can and should be possible to kill more easily during their sleep.

You're confusing "realism" for fairness here.

[Kraco]

You're confusing "realism" for fairness here.

Not really. How Kirito could just stand still on the bridge while a bunch of guys were exhausting themselves trying to beat his auto-regeneration speed with their lacking damage was hardly fair and even less realistic. Being able to slay a careless sleeper is realism but it's also fairness in the sense it allows a less strong character to get even with a strong one. In my opinion if you aren't wise and watch your back, it's only fair someone will exploit that carelessness without the game engine getting too much in the way.

[Y]

Being able to slay a careless sleeper is realism but it's also fairness in the sense it allows a less strong character to get even with a strong one.

So it's fairness in the sense that it isn't fair. Obviously, pushing someone's hand to accept a duel and killing them in their sleep is not an equitable or morally fair outcome for the victim. Come on.

[Yukimura]

Again, you want Kirito's weird moral disconnect - the fact that he cares more for scripted computer programs than humans - to be rewarded as the "correct" viewpoint to take in this situation, and not only that, for it to be a good thing because it most closely conforms to the crazy, evil game designer's ideals. Once again, what a nasty, fucked up main character.

I agree he'd be a nasty fucked up main character if the series tried to justify his behavior through plot convenience, but even if the creator tried to reward him with the moral high ground or some other sort of vindication, we don't have to agree and decide he's a great guy. That said I would value the show more if they tried to pull something like that than I expect to if it turns out the story is just another rehash of the hero's journey type redemption/maturation story and Kirito learns the value of friendship and teamwork through the adversity of grinding his way to floor 100 to defeat the big bad boss.

[Y]

the story is just another rehash of the hero's journey type redemption/maturation story and Kirito learns the value of friendship and teamwork through the adversity of grinding his way to floor 100 to defeat the big bad boss.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner.