Sword Art Online: Yuri Edition -Take 2 (f/f, Bon)

[Daril]

Edit: I'm still interested in potential players since games often shrink a bit when they actually launch.  However it's getting a little crowded here at the moment so I want to see how things pan out with the current set of proposed characters before I start adding a lot more.  That being said, if you're interested in the game send me a PM.

I managed to get a yuri (f/f) themed Sword Art Online RPG started a few months ago, but two of the key players had to drop out due to their real life schedules.  I am currently attempting to gather some new players for a reboot.  Ideally I would like to get three or four players, but can start with less since additional characters can join in later on.

My plan is for this RPG to start right at the beginning on the first level of Aincrad and timeskip ahead later on.  I'm not keen on doing a lot of low level grinding but I do want to take the time to establish the characters and how they interact with each other.  Classification will be BON in case some of the girls prove to be kinky.  :P

This is my character, Sara McMillan (screen name: Artemis), a foreign student studying at a Japanese university.  She was an archer in the previous game, though she might be something else this time around.  It may depend how the overall group shapes up.

Artemis

NSFW Image

I'm hoping to get a group of characters that is nicely balanced in terms or roles, personalities, and appearance.  I'd also kind of like it if one or two of them were people Sara knows from university, as that would put them together right off the bat.

Here are some nice images that players may be able to base characters on.  Players may want to use their own images but I wanted to put these ones out there as possibilities.  I've tried to match some of them to form "real life" and "in game" pairs, even though I don't necessarily require both types of image.

Images (Warning: NSFW)

*Warning*: Almost all these images are on NSFW sites even though the images themselves are not necessarily NSFW.

A beautiful bookworm. (A player in the last game was going to use this one, but didn't in the end.)
This could represent the "in game" appearance of the girl above. There's a smiling version as well.
I will admit her clothing doesn't look very practical for fighting in though.

An albino swordswoman?
Could represent the same character.

A girl armed with a spear. Presumably green is not her natural hair color.

A cute girl in a rather questionable pose.

Maybe this one's a model in real life or something.

Another girl armed with a spear.  I'll admit her armor doesn't look very practical but she is rather cute.
Think this could represent the same girl?

A girl with a shield.

A sporty looking short haired girl.

A beautiful nude redhead.
Okay, maybe not the best "in game" image for the above, but it might work...

Is anyone interested in joining in?

[Lynnette]

Interested. I'm not the biggest fan of SAO, but the idea is nice, so I'm in. I like the top set of images <3

[SmilingFox]

Count me as interested. I'd probably play the petite/independent/tomboy archetype if anything. Sort of a fragile speedster dagger-user combat wise, with a very distrustful personality. She'd be willing to work with others, but wouldn't open up very easily and would have a rater abrasive personality.

She'd also be the kind of person that takes gaming very seriously, even before the whole 'death game' thing. The kind of person that puts effort into mastering skills and not just relying on numbers, and who would seek out difficult fights purely for the challenge. The whole 'if you die you die' aspect would curb some of that, but she'd still be a bit of an adrenaline junkie.

If this sounds okay, I'll try and find a decent picture and come up with a name.

[Daril]

@Reaper -Is it the writing you don't like, or the setting?

@SmilingFox -The main thing I'm not sure about is whether a character like the one you're proposing would be inclined to join a group.  A character who occasionally encounters the group and eventually gets persuaded to join could be interesting, but right now I'm looking to establish a "core" of sorts.

I suppose I should provide a bit more detail about Sara/Artemis.  She's not much of a gamer, she got convinced to try SAO because of how cool it is. She's a fairly practically minded person, so her initial reaction is probably to wait and see what happens rather than immediately rushing off to start leveling up.  She's also rather assertive by Japanese standards.  She might be an archer again this time around but I've also been considering a polearm like a halberd.

[SmilingFox]

I could imagine the character I'm proposing joining the group, at least initially, out of convenience. She's set ground rules, of course, and would probably be rather difficult to work with at first, but the benefits of grouping tend to outweigh the downside of working with others in MMO's. As time passes she'd probably start to stick with them out of habit if nothing else, and eventually grow attached to them, but she still wouldn't be the lovey-dovey sort except under very private circumstance.

Thinking on it a bit more, for background purposes I was considering her being rather sickly in real life, hence her fixation on video games. She puts so much effort into them because she can't do so many things others take for granted, and so it bothers her immensely when people say things like 'It's just a game.' or 'You should go out more often' or 'Get a life'. A part of her is actually glad that she can pass for normal in SAO.

Also, she isn't exactly comfortable with her sexuality yet. She knows she's gay, but actually telling the people in her life that, or even outing herself in a relatively anonymous setting like SAO is a bit much for her. (I'm not sure if it was possible in the original SAO, but if you allow it I would even have her go as far as making a Male avatar before Kayaba's whole 'you now look like yourself' trick. She chose it so she could have a shot at maybe romancing a girl without outing herself. I wouldn't actually spend any time in the Rp with her pretending to be male though.)

[Daril]

Haha, I was actually thinking of doing something similar with Artemis.  Though in her case she would be doing it more for fun.  See what it's like, and get a chance to flirt a bit with her friend(s) from university (I'm thinking her initial avatar is rather bishounen).  Of course it might depend if people are comfortable with that or not considering that I'm billing this as a yuri rpg.

[Lynnette]

@Reaper -Is it the writing you don't like, or the setting?

@SmilingFox -The main thing I'm not sure about is whether a character like the one you're proposing would be inclined to join a group.  A character who occasionally encounters the group and eventually gets persuaded to join could be interesting, but right now I'm looking to establish a "core" of sorts.

I suppose I should provide a bit more detail about Sara/Artemis.  She's not much of a gamer, she got convinced to try SAO because of how cool it is. She's a fairly practically minded person, so her initial reaction is probably to wait and see what happens rather than immediately rushing off to start leveling up.  She's also rather assertive by Japanese standards.  She might be an archer again this time around but I've also been considering a polearm like a halberd.

Ah, it's the writing. The setting and all was really cool, but the writing was shit, felt like some 15 year old's power fantasy.

I'll admit I was planning on doing something along the lines of what SmilingFox is speaking off, so I'll return to the drawing board for now. I'm thinking of having a med. armor curved sword build, or something along those lines.

Also, if SmilingFox want to have his character be a bit more of the resilient kind, then it could work if his character was in the beta along with someone else, (Which would make it easier to skim through the first segments of the game, letting us get to the juicier bits sooner), and then having agreed to meet up when the game was released.

Oh yeah, as a last thing, I don't think bows were a thing in SAO, wasn't it limited to throwing knives, blades, (including axes and maces etc.) and polearm-type weapons, along with shields?

[Daril]

I'll admit I was planning on doing something along the lines of what SmilingFox is speaking off, so I'll return to the drawing board for now. I'm thinking of having a med. armor curved sword build, or something along those lines.

Also, if SmilingFox want to have his character be a bit more of the resilient kind, then it could work if his character was in the beta along with someone else, (Which would make it easier to skim through the first segments of the game, letting us get to the juicier bits sooner), and then having agreed to meet up when the game was released.

Oh yeah, as a last thing, I don't think bows were a thing in SAO, wasn't it limited to throwing knives, blades, (including axes and maces etc.) and polearm-type weapons, along with shields?

Do you mean you were thinking of playing an independent, standoff-ish Beta tester?  I thought you were thinking of doing something based on the bookworm girl in the first set of images (who could be standoff-ish but doesn't really look it)?  Or did you just mean that you liked the bookworm girl's design?

I don't actually want to rush through the initial sections too fast, because I want to establish how the characters interact with each other.  I do agree with not wanting to get too caught up in low level grinding though.

We didn't see any bows in the first arc of SAO, but there didn't seem to be anything saying there weren't any either.  ;)  So I think it's okay if Artemis (or someone else's character) is an archer.

[Lucetta]

This is also relevant to my own interests. I am very capable of playing a female who starts as a male character with great leadership skills against Red Players through Beta but is revealed for their true gender after the "Mirror" item is used. This would be a character who breaks the meta their own unique way.

[Lynnette]

Do you mean you were thinking of playing an independent, standoff-ish Beta tester?  I thought you were thinking of doing something based on the bookworm girl in the first set of images (who could be standoff-ish but doesn't really look it)?  Or did you just mean that you liked the bookworm girl's design?

I don't actually want to rush through the initial sections too fast, because I want to establish how the characters interact with each other.  I do agree with not wanting to get too caught up in low level grinding though.

We didn't see any bows in the first arc of SAO, but there didn't seem to be anything saying there weren't any either.  ;)  So I think it's okay if Artemis (or someone else's character) is an archer.

No, the medical condition thing, not being independent-ish. And yeah, I was planning on using the appearance of the bookworm-girl, it doesn't mean her personality will entirely reflect that.

No, I didn't mean it like that, just not get caught up in low-level grinding. Being able to easily advance, without going too far ahead of anyone. Think in between Kirito and the average player. Knowing where to go and all the good grinding-spots in the lowest tiers, knowing the mechanics of the game etc. Without being too OP.

I think at some point someone asked why there was no magic, and someone said that it was because the game was purely designed around swords. Not that it matters though, there's no big text saying that we are obliged to sticking to canon.

[Sessha]

 Well if we are looking for Archetypes of characters how about the protective big sister type?

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

[Daril]

This is also relevant to my own interests. I am very capable of playing a female who starts as a male character with great leadership skills against Red Players through Beta but is revealed for their true gender after the "Mirror" item is used. This would be a character who breaks the meta their own unique way.

Is everyone in this game planning to play their character as a guy before the big reveal?  :D

No, the medical condition thing, not being independent-ish. And yeah, I was planning on using the appearance of the bookworm-girl, it doesn't mean her personality will entirely reflect that.

No, I didn't mean it like that, just not get caught up in low-level grinding. Being able to easily advance, without going too far ahead of anyone. Think in between Kirito and the average player. Knowing where to go and all the good grinding-spots in the lowest tiers, knowing the mechanics of the game etc. Without being too OP.

I think at some point someone asked why there was no magic, and someone said that it was because the game was purely designed around swords. Not that it matters though, there's no big text saying that we are obliged to sticking to canon.

Okay, so I was looking at it from the wrong angle...

If you're dropping the ill girl angle, would you be up for your character being one of Sara's friends from the university she's studying at?  And if that's the case, would you mind if Sara tries to flirt with her when she's in her pre mirror reveal bishounen guise?  :D

Speaking of the ill girl thing though, it could potentially lead to some tension between the ones who are really eager to get out of the game and someone like SmilingFox's character who has less reason to be eager.

Well if we are looking for Archetypes of characters how about the protective big sister type?

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Could work, though I'm a little unsure whether we've got any "little sister" type characters for her to protect right now...

[Sessha]

 Eh she's an older big sister type. Anyone not within like a year or two possibly even three is younger sister material for her.  ;D ;D ;D

[Lucetta]

Is everyone in this game planning to play their character as a guy before the big reveal?  :D

Or I could just go with my character being a solo huntress and leathercrafter that every male wants to chase, but can never catch up with.

Spear Berserker?

[Lynnette]

Or I could just go with my character being a solo huntress and leathercrafter that every male wants to chase, but can never catch up with.

Spear Berserker?

Fixed :D

Well it was broken for me anyways, dunno about everyone else.

Is everyone in this game planning to play their character as a guy before the big reveal?  :D

Okay, so I was looking at it from the wrong angle...

If you're dropping the ill girl angle, would you be up for your character being one of Sara's friends from the university she's studying at?  And if that's the case, would you mind if Sara tries to flirt with her when she's in her pre mirror reveal bishounen guise?  :D

Could work, though I'm a little unsure whether we've got any "little sister" type characters for her to protect right now...

I'm not planning for it.

Indeed you were.

Sure, I don't mind having ______ be a friend from university. I'll likely have her be a maths major or something. And no, I don't mind, by all means go ahead <3

Big sister is just a trope for someone overly caring, basically combining awesome with even more awesome, combined to the ultimate being of awesome. A person perfect in every way shape and form, personality-wise anyways, it won't necessarily carry on to video games, but it could to a non-super-OP-extent.

This is also relevant to my own interests. I am very capable of playing a female who starts as a male character with great leadership skills against Red Players through Beta but is revealed for their true gender after the "Mirror" item is used. This would be a character who breaks the meta their own unique way.

Interesting, because I'm pending on having my character be a red player, in the beta anyways. PvPer, wouldn't carry on to after it becomes a death-game of course though.

[Daril]

Fixed :D

That outfit seems a tad skimpy for SAO.  :D

Sure, I don't mind having ______ be a friend from university. I'll likely have her be a maths major or something. And no, I don't mind, by all means go ahead <3

Okay, so those two will be together at the start.  Now to figure out how to get the other characters into a group with them...

Interesting, because I'm pending on having my character be a red player, in the beta anyways. PvPer, wouldn't carry on to after it becomes a death-game of course though.

Who all is planning to play a Beta tester anyway?  That's not something I was planning to do with Artemis (which might give her some motivation to link up with people who know the game -though I think her initial reaction is going to be "find an Inn for the night and hope this craziness blows over by tomorrow morning"  :P).

[Lynnette]

Who all is planning to play a Beta tester anyway?  That's not something I was planning to do with Artemis (which might give her some motivation to link up with people who know the game -though I think her initial reaction is going to be "find an Inn for the night and hope this craziness blows over by tomorrow morning"  :P).

I could always just have my character pull yours along? And I think it's merely because beta testers are like, the cool kids on the block. And it's convenient in a lot of ways plot-wise to have at least a part-beta group. In a game like this, lagging behind from the start is pretty much just locking you there, at least that's how I took it from the explanations given in the show.

[Daril]

It actually makes sense that Artemis was introduced to the game by a Beta tester friend.  I'm just concerned about having too many Beta testers around her since I may be using her to keep the game moving.  In that sense, I want her to be assertive rather than always being deferential.

I guess overall we need to start getting these characters figured out and then figure out how we're going to get them together in a group.

Edit: Yes, this post is different from what Reaper quoted.  I made some edits for clarity.

[Lynnette]

It actually makes sense that Artemis was introduced to the game by a Beta tester friend.  I'm just concerned about having too many Beta testers around her since I may be using her to keep the game moving.  In that sense, I want her to be assertive, not deferential.

I guess overall we need to start to flesh out the characters so that we can figure out how to start fitting them together.

Understandable. But, if I remember correctly, beta testers only really knew shit up to floor seven, and new players would get the fancy-fancy handbook that I remember the big black guy complained over nobody reading. So unless people kept their mouth shut about stuff they found (Which would be kind-of-relevant if we decide to make it a plot-point at some point. Say; "I know of this amazing place on floor five, I completely emptied it at the time so nobody else would know about it, it'd just appear as a graveyard, so when we get there we need to quickly get there and pick up the stuff before anyone else does".).

And if she has a more leader-like personality, it would all work out anyways. Some people just work better by having someone tell them what to do after all, and as long as she's not a complete idiot, she should be able to pick up pretty quickly.

Well, you could always make a CS, make it a bit easier to review things should it be relevant to know something about someone.

[Daril]

I guess you're right, it probably wouldn't be a big problem if her friend was a Beta tester.

At any rate, I'd like to get the characters worked out next.

[akirakaneda]

I could join to this too. Well as we are showing the blue prints of our characters I might say mine could be the traditional, strict, not very friendly at first japanese girl, pretty much like the class represantative type of girl; therefore her combat style is closer to traditional kenjutsu. It might be an acquaintance of Sara if you like.

[Lynnette]

I could join to this too. Well as we are showing the blue prints of our characters I might say mine could be the traditional, strict, not very friendly at first japanese girl, pretty much like the class represantative type of girl; therefore her combat style is closer to traditional kenjutsu. It might be an acquaintance of Sara if you like.

It feels like everyone are reading my mind today, because I was planning on having my character's style be something similar to traditional kenjutsu as well >_>

[Daril]

Okay, I'm still interested in potential players as I find groups often shrink a bit before a game is actually launched.  However for the time being it's getting a little crowded here.  So I'd like to see how thing work out with the current crop of characters before I start adding a lot more.

[akirakaneda]

It feels like everyone are reading my mind today, because I was planning on having my character's style be something similar to traditional kenjutsu as well >_>

Uhmm ... they might be in the university kendo/kenjutsu team or being rivals maybe (actually it might be more interesting with 2 traditional kenjutsu fighters)

[Lynnette]

Uhmm ... they might be in the university kendo/kenjutsu team or being rivals maybe (actually it might be more interesting with 2 traditional kenjutsu fighters)

I dunno, I don't think I'm interested in doing the same thing as someone else, if you're set on it, I'll likely find something else to use.

[SmilingFox]

I'd probably pass on my character being a Beta tester. I think it'd fit her better if she struggled and worked hard to get ahead. That, and she probably straight up lynch cactus-boy when he calls out the beta testers at the first boss meeting. Appologize? For playing the game to the best of their abilities? For not gimping themselves to pander to some scrub's bruised ego? She'd consider herself living proof that one doesn't need to be a Beta tester to be good.

That said, while sticking to the group she would help out and offer advice. That advice may sometimes be rather abrasive and useless though. Honestly she'd be the jerk-with-a-heart-of-gold character to a lot of people.

[Daril]

@SmilingFox -I'm not sure our characters are going to be part of the first floor boss raid, so that's not so much a factor.  It depends what you want to do I guess.  But her being a beta tester might give the rest a reason to be interested in her.  Maybe we should see how things shape up?

BTW, here's the code for character profiles, as well as a (incomplete) sample based on my character ( I still have a few things to decide).  If you're using more than one image in the appearance section, please use a spoiler tag to hide the additional (images).  Also, since this is a public part of the forums NSFW images should be linked to with an appropriate warning, though they can be displayed after we move to the proper subforum.

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[b]"Real" Name:[/b]
[b]Screen Name:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Biography:[/b]
[b]Personality:[/b]
[b]Appearance:[/b]

[b]Preferred equipment type:[/b]
[b]Play style:[/b]


"Real" Name: Sara McMillan
Screen Name: Artemis
Age: 20
Biography: Sara is a student from Canada studying at a Japanese university.  While not a major otaku, her interest in Japan is partly due to watching anime while growing up.  Her area of study is (actually I still need to decide on this part).  She has several friends at the university she attends, one of whom is responsible for introducing her to Sword Art Online.
Personality: While not a top tier student, Sara is reasonably intelligent.  She likes to enjoy herself, but also has a practical side.  While generally considered rather assertive by Japanese standards, she's still too modest to be comfortable with group bathing.
Appearance: Sara is about six feet tall with a statuesque build, long blonde hair and blue eyes (in other words, she gets a lot of attention in Japan).  She is proud of her impressive bust, but also annoyed by it.  She favors a white and blue color scheme.



Naked Sara/Artemis (NSFW)

Preferred equipment type: Archer?
Play style: TBD

[Lucetta]

"Real" Name: Genji Usagi
Screen Name: Rabbit
Age: 16
Biography: Usagi was named for her incredible rabbit-like energy, even as a baby. She would grow up to a father descended from noble samurai and a beauty queen American mother who she more closely resembles. She grew up as an incorrigible tomboy who colored outside of the lines and became obsessed with parkour. She missed the Beta for Sword Art Online because was cramming to finish High School early and have more time to improve her free-running skills. Her father was very supportive of her choices despite his own father's rage, and decided to spoil his only daughter with a NerveGear and Sword Art Online as a moving out present.
Personality: She can be incredibly friendly and the spirit of moderation instead of conflict, but she honestly doesn't care what others think of her and does whatever she wants when she wants to. Her brilliance sometimes shines through her energetic and blunt personality. She sees no limit to her potential or the potential of others, making her a great team player to have around and someone who can try things out on her own with a high chance of success or at least a survivable failure.
Appearance: While she is only 158 cm tall (5'2"), Usagi sports some intimidating leg muscles and seems wiry and flexible all over the rest of her body. She is clearly built for incredible speed, and her not being afraid to show it off tends to make her a bewitching presence as well. Preferred clothing tends to be the lighter heavy-class plate armors, and she never equips pants. When an armor item has customization fabric, she always turns it into that camouflage pattern nobody else seems to like.



Preferred equipment type: Rabbit discovers early on that taking off the pants of a heavier armor set effectively accomplishes the same thing as wearing light armor when it comes to mobility. She usually carries one powerful pole-arm weapon for dealing sweeping damage over longer periods of time, and multiple cheaper pole-arm weapons to impale into enemies without a care for losing or breaking them.
Play style: High Agility/Endurance with a hybridization of Strength and Dexterity for unlocking the use of better pole-arm weapons. In close quarters, she freeruns to make attacks and dodges harder to predict. In open spaces, she uses spear charges to impale single targets for armor penetration and high bleed damage or pulls out a glaive for sweeping attacks to keep a crowd from closing in. She can also leap onto and off of high ground to deal her fall damage to an enemy instead and stun them. Her high mobility and specialized offense make her good at soloing, but they actually classify her as valuable Support in team fights.

[Lynnette]

"Real" Name: Genji Usagi
Screen Name: Rabbit
Age: 16
Biography: Usagi was named for her incredible rabbit-like energy, even as a baby. She would grow up to a father descended from noble samurai and a beauty queen American mother who she more closely resembles. She grew up as an incorrigible tomboy who colored outside of the lines and became obsessed with parkour. She missed the Beta for Sword Art Online because was cramming to finish High School early and have more time to improve her free-running skills. Her father was very supportive of her choices despite his own father's rage, and decided to spoil his only daughter with a NerveGear and Sword Art Online as a moving out present.
Personality: She can be incredibly friendly and the spirit of moderation instead of conflict, but she honestly doesn't care what others think of her and does whatever she wants when she wants to. Her brilliance sometimes shines through her energetic and blunt personality. She sees no limit to her potential or the potential of others, making her a great team player to have around and someone who can try things out on her own with a high chance of success or at least a survivable failure.
Appearance: While she is only 158 cm tall (5'2"), Usagi sports some intimidating leg muscles and seems wiry and flexible all over the rest of her body. She is clearly built for incredible speed, and her not being afraid to show it off tends to make her a bewitching presence as well. Preferred clothing tends to be the lighter heavy-class plate armors, and she never equips pants. When an armor item has customization fabric, she always turns it into that camouflage pattern nobody else seems to like.

The Pants-Less Lancer

Preferred equipment type: Rabbit discovers early on that taking off the pants of a heavier armor set effectively accomplishes the same thing as wearing light armor when it comes to mobility. She usually carries one powerful pole-arm weapon for dealing sweeping damage over longer periods of time, and multiple cheaper pole-arm weapons to impale into enemies without a care for losing or breaking them.
Play style: High Agility with a hybridization of Strength and Dexterity for unlocking the use of better pole-arm weapons. In close quarters, she freeruns to make attacks and dodges harder to predict. In open spaces, she uses spear charges to impale single targets for armor penetration and high bleed damage or pulls out a halberd for sweeping attacks to keep a crowd from closing in. She can also leap onto and off of high ground to deal her fall damage to an enemy instead and stun them. Her high mobility and specialized offense make her good at soloing, but they actually classify her as valuable Support in team fights.

It looks like a cool character. I would upload the image to imgur though, direct hyperlinking often breaks the images.

[Lucetta]

It looks like a cool character. I would upload the image to imgur though, direct hyperlinking often breaks the images.

I'll keep testing upload methods until I have one that works. Thank you! XD

[Lynnette]

I'll keep testing upload methods until I have one that works. Thank you! XD

It works now <3 Imgur always work, just fyi.

Also, if you apply this code:

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[img height=400]IMAGE HYPERLINK[/img]


Instead of the regular

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[img]IMAGE HYPERLINK[/img]


the image will automatically be scaled and if pressed, will be blown up to full size, meaning that it won't take up more than most screens <3

[SmilingFox]

"Real" Name: Sarugaki Naoko
Screen Name: Acacia
Age: 17
Biography: Naoko's entire life seems to revolve around video games, often by necessity if nothing else. Born sickly, she was always behind the curve when it came to developing. She walked late, and spoke later, but took to reading and writing quite well for a sickly child. Unable to participate in things like sports, and too independent to fall in with many social clubs, she turned to video games to escape from what she viewed as a cruel and unfair world. Though she's known she is gay since puberty, she's kept such a fact entirely to herself. Lacking close friends to confide in, and worried about what her rather traditional parents would say, she is instead content to mostly just fantasize and sneak candid looks at others. She gets along well with her father, who works hard to provide for her family, but her mother makes it no secret that she'd have preferred a more traditional daughter.
Personality: While she doesn't dislike grouping up with others, she views being able to stand on her own as something praiseworthy, and tends to respect those that really put the effort into learning the games she plays. To her, it's not about numbers but skill, being able to tackle challenges beyond one's level and gear is the sign of a true pro. She pushes herself hard and is super critical of her own actions, though she tones it down and doesn't hold others to her standards. People that mock her for playing games, the people who say 'it's just a game' or 'get a life' annoy her to no end. To her, video games are her life. Outside of SAO, all she has waiting for her is more doctors appointments and boring days alone at school. She can be cold and distant at times, but most of that is a lack of confidence. She often doesn't know what to say, or how to act, and is instead content to follow and observe in social situations.
Appearance:
(Without the cat-ears, most of the time) For the most part, she wears light clothing that doesn't limit her mobility. Most often the majority of the weight she carries comes from her numerous pockets and pouches on her belt, containing every useful item she can think of 'just in case'. She's thinner than she should be, mostly due to a lack of exercise rather than any sort of dieting, and as such she isn't as happy with her bust as she could be. Her legs are her best feature, but even they are rather slender and elegant, rather than the fit muscular ones she'd love to have. She dyes her hair to remove herself further from her real world self, partly out of fear that anyone from the real world will recognize her. It's a stupid fear, but she clings to it along with the hope that she may strike up a romance at some point. (Or rather, that a romance may fall in her lap. She's far too cowardly to go looking for one.)

Preferred equipment type: Naoko makes use of light armor for maximum mobility, preferring to avoid hits rather than blocking or parrying. She uses a dagger for much the same reason, and is always over prepared before leaving town, a habit she picked up early and carried over into SAO. No matter what she expects to find on a journey or quest, she's always sure to bring healing items, antidotes, and myriad other useful but situation items.
Play style: Naoko has two main methods of fighting. The first, employed when she encounters a new monster for the first time, is a very cautious and evasive type of combat style. She'll harass a monster with damage while keeping her mobility up, attempting to bait it into using all of its attacks. Once she gets a feel for how a monster functions, what its tells are and how to dodge each attack, then she'll switch to properly killing it. She's a perfectionist, and will often grind the same monster until she has it completely memorized and can kill it without taking damage in return, if at all possible.

[Daril]

 @Fryi

Rabbit sounds interesting, so much so that I'm going to let her ridiculous attire slide (I know it's probably not that much more ridiculous than some of the other outfits but it looks pretty ridiculous :D).  Would prefer it if she was a bit older though.  Multiple polearms sounds a bit strange, but given the inventory system in SAO I guess it works.  Though is there any chance you'd consider using a glaive rather than a halberd?  I've been thinking of switching Artemis' main weapon from a bow to a halberd...

Actually, have you considered throwing spears as a weapon for rabbit?  They seem like they might suit her.

[Daril]

@Smilingfox

Acacia's profile is generally pretty good, but I'd like a bit more from the appearance section.  Elaborate with some descriptive text at least.  Is she "dying" her hair in game like Lisbeth did?  It looks a bit too light to be her actual hair color.

[Lucetta]

Rabbit sounds interesting, so much so that I'm going to let her ridiculous attire slide (I know it's probably not that much more ridiculous than some of the other outfits but it looks pretty ridiculous :D).  Would prefer it if she was a bit older though.  Multiple polearms sounds a bit strange, but given the inventory system in SAO I guess it works.  Though is there any chance you'd consider using a glaive rather than a halberd?  I've been thinking of switching Artemis' main weapon from a bow to a halberd...

Actually, have you considered throwing spears as a weapon for rabbit?  They seem like they might suit her.

She wouldn't equip multiple weapons, really... More like hold them in her inventory and hotkey them because they'd break so freaking often. Throwing spears would be a unique feat, and certainly not one that Rabbit would start with. I'm thinking about saving a really good play style kit for when she has leveled up and broken the meta a bit with her unique build. Which is something I expect all of our characters to eventually do.

Glaive is actually an ideal weapon for Rabbit when she's using sweeping attacks, and I think I'll make that the flavor weapon for her after all. Your character really seems like a good halberd type. Being tall makes it look good, too.

The reason I'm making Rabbit so young is because this is actually going to be her first MMO. Between her youth and lack of game knowledge, she is intended to surprise people as a newbie who just stumbles into the game with a lot of beginner's luck. She is meant to be ridiculous, unwittingly defy the meta that was identified in Beta, and seem to not really care. This is kind of what I did the first time I played Dark Souls, which was my first hardcore adventure game. And yes, I had that character remove pants to make them roll faster too. XD

[Daril]

The game has a blade throwing skill, so why not throwing spears?  Or do you mean that you think she'd need to master a basic spear first?  (I imagine something similar might apply to glaives and halberds.)

[Sessha]

She wouldn't equip multiple weapons, really... More like hold them in her inventory and hotkey them because they'd break so freaking often. Throwing spears would be a unique feat, and certainly not one that Rabbit would start with. I'm thinking about saving a really good play style kit for when she has leveled up and broken the meta a bit with her unique build. Which is something I expect all of our characters to eventually do.

This is kind of what I did the first time I played Dark Souls, which was my first hardcore adventure game. And yes, I had that character remove pants to make them roll faster too. XD

Where I see my character's growth just her mastering the art of the single two-handed sword. Taking it to it's full potential. Though I never could get into Dark Souls. Something about the game thinking it's important than my life what with a no pause feature and all.

[catherinehellfire]

I'd love to join if you guys are willing to accept me.  I was thinking of making more of a first timer girl who can be shy but friendly and loyal when you get close to her.  I was thinking more of a light-medium armored sword and shield user.

[Daril]

At the moment we have enough players (I'm worried about what will happen to the game if too many people are involved) but something might become available.  No offense meant to the players who have already signed up, but I've noticed groups often shrink a bit as they get started.

[Daril]

I'd like to have everyone post a character profile by Sunday.  If you don't think you can make that, then please let me know in advance.

[Sessha]

 This is the start of the character so I'll have something coming down the pipeline soon.

"Real" Name: Annelotte
Screen Name: Princess Knight
Age: 24
Biography:
Personality:
Appearance:  IRL Appearance:

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Avatar Appearance:

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Preferred equipment type: Two-handed swords
Play style: Annelotte's style is focused on the use of heavy two-handed swords for maximum damage output. She has a high strength score, but with a customization towards Endurance and Agility to help improve her dodge and ability to take damage by also wearing heavy armors.

[Lynnette]

"Real" Name: Aiko Yamahara
Screen Name: Achima
Age: 21
Biography: Aiko has always been a typical A-grade child. Highly intelligent, studious, and following the normal cultural norms, being a polite and withdrawn person. While it wasn't too hard to keep up in the earlier years, it became more tedious in her later years though. Things didn't just fall in like it was supposed to be common knowledge anymore, hence studying became a more central part of her life. Dead set on pleasing her parents and doing well in school, most wake hours were spent working on schoolwork, before she eventually burned out completely and ended up staying home for a long time, till it eventually left her attendance at a point of which she could no longer could graduate, and hence had to re-do a year. It was during this while that she picked up video games, mostly as a way to make time pass until the next semester.

When the new semester started, She picked up on school again quite well, playing video games every now and then to calm down from the stress of daily life, which was what it kept on being. After graduating high school, she moved from home and went on to college, studying engineering.

Personality: Aiko's personality largely depends on who she's talking to. She can be a bit awkward socially, not being the most sharing person there is, preferring to keep things to herself. Not in an egocentric manner, but more so that she just doesn't like to share her personal problems and the likes. She's undoubtedly intelligent though, both on a school-level and as far as video games goes.
Alternative images: LINK TO ALBUM (NSFW)

Preferred equipment type: Medium/light armor with straightswords and bucklers, or heavy armor and tower shields with straightswords.
Play style: During the beta, she relied on a PvP type build relying on heavy-cooldown hard-hitting abilities, though wanting to try something new, she went over to a counterattack-based build, built around using a buckler for easy parrying and straight swords for damage output. Besides this, it's built to be just strong enough to use tower shields should the situation demand it.

[akirakaneda]

"Real" Name: Akari Miyamoto
Screen Name: Deathshadow
Age: 18
Biography: Akari comes from a very traditional family which can trace their origins to the samurais of the Sengoku age, and since then had practised kendo as a distinctive mark. Therefore, Akari has been taught kendo since she was able to walk but also a very strict discipline as is expected of this almost-aristocracy family.
However, her life has been complicated since her parents died in a car accident and she was adopted by her uncle, the head of the Miyamoto family. Although she is formally his daughter, many members of the clan still see her like a second-handed heir. Then, she has tried to prove she is worthy to be the daughter of the head of the family, she studies hard and its performance in kendo is outstanding to the point she became one the youngest kendo-team captain in her university.
Of course, MMORPG are the scape for he real life world obligations, and those games are her secret enjoyment.

Personality: Being the kendo team captain makes her well known, although not exactly popular due to her strict and bossy personality, after all in a family full of men and kendokas there is not much place for female interests like dating or going out with friends, she can be a strict big-sister figure, which can be harsh but also caring of keep everything alive, she believes that protecting her partners is what her samurai ancesters would have done. Although she is engaged in an arranged engagement she has not a boyfriend to this day.
Although she looks cold and sometimes aggressive by the outside, inside she is very shy and demure and even naive in matter of relationship, the typical kendo genius/social fool

Appearance:

Preferred equipment type:Light japanese armor, depending on the enemy a kodachi (smaller sword than katana) or a long katana
Play style: Like a member of the Miyamoto family her style is based in speed and skill, rather than power or resistance to attrition. Being a fast warrior she prefers to wait and plan to defeat the enemy with as few attacks as possible, her style could be said is based in the tenken (super fast attack) but also in ni ten ichi ryu style (use of two kodachis to close combat), of course she cant use two swords at the same time at the initial point.

[Daril]

Okay, some of those profiles will need some tweaking, but everyone's got something up now.

So the question is, how do we get these characters together in a group?  With a group this large, I'm inclined to initially form two smaller groups who can link up later.

Reaper, are you still good with Artemis and your character being friends from university?  They could form the core of one group, maybe pick up a loner or a scared newbie after Kayaba's announcement.

Perhaps the other group could be made up of players who formed a group for fun prior to the announcement?

[Lucetta]

Okay, some of those profiles will need some tweaking, but everyone's got something up now.

So the question is, how do we get these characters together in a group?  With a group this large, I'm inclined to initially form two smaller groups who can link up later.

Reaper, are you still good with Artemis and your character being friends from university?  They could form the core of one group, maybe pick up a loner or a scared newbie after Kayaba's announcement.

Perhaps the other group could be made up of players who formed a group for fun prior to the announcement?

I'm all for a group that pushed for fun and challenging early power-leveling and survived before the announcement. It would need a tank and damage dealer with my character (Rabbit) being recruited to run support and pull elite mobs one at a time with throwing spears. If anyone else joined the for-fun group, they could be saved by the trio.

[Daril]

So is everyone more or less good with having two separate groups to start with (one consisting of Sara, her university friend(s), and maybe a newbie or two they pick up, the other a party of players who were having fun together before the announcement)?  Having two separate groups is a bit awkward but it avoids the clumsiness of a scene where a large group of characters are all introducing themselves to each other at once.

Actually with two separate groups, maybe I should let Catherine join in as well (though I dislike having too many different players since it increases the likelihood of the game being stalled because someone gets busy).

[Lynnette]

I dunno, I like having even numbers, it makes it possible to pair up two and two should it be wanted. Odd numbers make that a bit awkward.

[Daril]

Is your concern adding one more person to the overall group, or the size of the two initial groups I've been planning on using?

[Lynnette]

Is your concern adding one more person to the overall group, or the size of the two initial groups I've been planning on using?

Hmm... Yes?

I dunno, as long as groups remain asexual, odd numbers work. If it gets sexual though, it could become an issue.

[Lucetta]

Hmm... Yes?

I dunno, as long as groups remain asexual, odd numbers work. If it gets sexual though, it could become an issue.

My character wouldn't get sexual until much later in the game, so we would be fine. ^^

[Daril]

IC thread is up.  Hope no one is too put out by Artemis playing a guy initially.  :D

https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=228968.0

[catherinehellfire]

Hey, finally got to getting my character up!

"Real" Name: Catherine Mori
Screen Name: Moonlight
Age:18
Biography: Catherine was adopted by a relatively wealthy Japanese family on their trip to the U.S., as they couldn't have kids of their own. As she grew up the other kids stayed separate from her because of how different she was, though they got used to her after a few years and she made a couple of friends.  She never was very popular but as long as she had her friends she learned not to care,even though her friends were really just taking advantage of her for her kindness and her family's money.  She stuck more to her books throughout school and could either be seen following her friends around or in the library and she was well known for her high grades in school.  As she had never played a Virtual MMO or really any video games, her friends came up with a plan.  At the end of the school year they came up with an offer, since they could never get her to play video games with them, they told her that if she got an MMO and played it for a month to give it a chance, they would give her money, she accepted, the game she chose, SAO.
Personality:Catherine is shy at first, but after she gets to know someone she is kind, caring, and a loyal friend.  She believes that love and friendship are the most important things and would give up anything for someone she considers a true friend.  She is quite intelligent, but when it comes to other people she is quite naive and it is easy for people to take advantage of her for her kindness and her deep want for more friends.
Appearance:Real Life:

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide

Game:


Preferred equipment type:She will typically use armor which is medium but with some pieces removed for movement speed.  She uses a short sword and a heater shield as weapons
Play style:She made her character to be fast but defensive when needed and is meant in a party to be able to distract and annoy monsters.