I've always thought the IRL Death element of SAO was dumb - as if any piece of equipment is ever going to get past the FDA and other agencies that has any possibility of microwaving the brain of the user even at overamped/max output.
I've always head cannoned it as yet another head game by Kayaba - he just set it up that people who died had their accounts deleted and no new accounts could login. From inside the game it would have the same effect - those news articles at the beginning could be easily faked esp. as they are only shown for less than a minute.
It would explain why there was not a more serious effort to end the game quickly by the outside world - if you actually have a piece of equipment killing people that's affecting people internationally including kids - everything would be thrown at it. But if it just switches off on natural termination then people would be more inclined to let the game run - especially if abnormal or forced termination did risk some sort of brain damage from the forceful ripping of the brain from the nerve gear input.
There's also the reality TV angle; if people knew that people weren't really going to die, but got to watch people act out what they believed to be life or death battles with fantastical creatures, it'd be the most popular thing on tele. People'd be rooting/betting for their favorite characters and the people who came out would be instant villeins or celebrities - offsetting the cost of keeping everything running.
It also explains why it didn't instantly kill the VR industry. If Nerve Gear had the potential to actually kill people deliberately, I don't think anyone would have trusted later claims that it couldn't happen again no matter what manufacturers said.
That said I think a AU based on these premises where SAO basically takes over all Reality TV is a good crossover - SAO/Survivor/Big Brother/So you think you can danc-fight!/MasterChef etc.
I've always head cannoned it as yet another head game by Kayaba - he just set it up that people who died had their accounts deleted and no new accounts could login. From inside the game it would have the same effect - those news articles at the beginning could be easily faked esp. as they are only shown for less than a minute.
It would explain why there was not a more serious effort to end the game quickly by the outside world - if you actually have a piece of equipment killing people that's affecting people internationally including kids - everything would be thrown at it. But if it just switches off on natural termination then people would be more inclined to let the game run - especially if abnormal or forced termination did risk some sort of brain damage from the forceful ripping of the brain from the nerve gear input.
There's also the reality TV angle; if people knew that people weren't really going to die, but got to watch people act out what they believed to be life or death battles with fantastical creatures, it'd be the most popular thing on tele. People'd be rooting/betting for their favorite characters and the people who came out would be instant villeins or celebrities - offsetting the cost of keeping everything running.
It also explains why it didn't instantly kill the VR industry. If Nerve Gear had the potential to actually kill people deliberately, I don't think anyone would have trusted later claims that it couldn't happen again no matter what manufacturers said.
That said I think a AU based on these premises where SAO basically takes over all Reality TV is a good crossover - SAO/Survivor/Big Brother/So you think you can danc-fight!/MasterChef etc.