But you could only walk 100 meters before you hit a wall in that world; it was really a huge letdown. That hardcore gamers such as myself, who had been deeply absorbed with the experience of being within the game, had started waiting for a certain game genre was almost unavoidable. We had started waiting for a network response game—a sort that let millions of players log in and raise, fight with and live as a character of their own, that is to say—a MMORPG. When the anticipation and craving reached its limit, the first VRMMORPG was announced just in time, «Sword Art Online». The stage for the game is a floating castle consisting of 100 floors. The players lived in a world with forests and lakes, relying on only their sword and drive to discover the route to the upper floors and defeat countless monsters and make their way endlessly to the top. «Magic» which was considered to be an indispensable part of fantasy MMORPGs had been boldly cut out and an almost endless number of skills called «Sword Skills» were made. It was part of a plan to let players actually feel the experience of fighting with their own bodies through FullDive as much as possible. Skills were varied including productive skills such as smithery, leather working and sewing, and everyday skills such as fishing, cooking and playing music, allowing the player to not only adventure the huge game but also actually «live» in it. If they so wanted, and if their skill levels were high enough, they could buy a house and live as shepherds. As the information steadily kept being revealed, the gamers’ enthusiasm only got higher.