Announcements
- If you donate, Get this! 12/24/2016
  
  Hello everyone! We are becoming a huge community and that doesn't come cheap. All staff here are volunteers and do this because they love the site. Right now, everything is paid out of pocket, by Erroneous. We would love for you to donate in order to help out with the site costs (i.e. Forum License, Domain Name, Hosting) so that we can keep Security and Forum Software up to date and possibly add some new features. If you do decide to donate, we have some fun, snazzy gifts of appreciation for you ;) Please message me (Shark) so we can get you the gifts of appreciation! We thank you for your support! HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!! Please use this link for more info _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ How To Donate Scroll to the bottom of the screen and click the donate button.
- Notable Donors! 01/04/2017
  
  Here is where we honor the donors who go above and beyond the call of Aincrad!
  Top Tier Donors! Row Teayre Percival Nezumi Zandra Alice Atzo Azrael Baldur Dominion Ignavus_veneficus Lee Mack Macradon Nocturn Piera Ruus Sarial Hawke Unyeilding To express our gratitude, here is a picture of the iconic duo for all you wonderful supporters!
- The SAO Staff Team! 02/22/2017
  
  Hello members of SAO-RPG!
  
  I'm sure most of you (if not some) have noticed or heard changes were made to the staff team. If you are applying to staff, you may have noticed that the application process has recently changed. This has all happened because of a reformation of the staff team and the way it operates. The staff now has separate teams for development. These teams are: Floor Creation Team [Floors, Quests/Events, Bosses], Systems & Clarifications Team, and Player Support Team.
  
  "Who is on these teams?" Well the answer to that lies below! Floor Team Systems & Clarifications Team Player Support Team * - Denotes Team Lead
  
  We also have a team to work on and develop the current systems but that team will search for its members and is not allowed to be applied to.
  
  Now you may be asking, "Shark, how does one apply to the Staff Team?" And I have but 1 simple answer!
  Go read this thread and it may answer all your questions!
  
  If you have any more questions, send me a PM and I will answer your questions about staff. (Only the format of teams and/or the application process)
- SAO 2.0 May Patch Notes 05/16/2017
  
  Praise thee to @Teion, in which spent her time creating all these patches. <<May 2017 Patch Notes>> Hello players! The following are complete notes on the upcoming patch that will be released once Floor 21 has been unlocked. These rules are not yet in effect, but an announcement will be made once they are officially implemented.
  As always, any threads that are in-progress when the patch goes live will follow the same rules as when they were started. Skills, items, new threads and evaluations, etc., must adhere to all new rules once the patch has been released.
  General Rule Updates:
  First off, there are a few general rule changes and clarifications. These have been amended or added to the relevant guides until the 2.0 rewrite has been completed. Post Count Requirements: A completed page of roleplay is 20 in-character posts. Thread summaries are mandatory, but they may be posted either in a separate post or together with the last IC post. Rules on Vanity Potions: Cannot affect a player's psyche. Cannot manipulate a player's will. Cannot alter an avatar's appearance in drastic ways (missing limbs, transmogrification, etc.) Cannot affect any systems that would be directly controlled by Cardinal (pain dampeners, language or speech, players' senses, etc.) Alcohol in SAO: While alcoholic drinks exist in Sword Art Online and can be created by Cooks, players do not actually ingest any alcohol they may drink. It is not possible to become drunk, however some players could be prone to a placebo effect. Regardless, it is important to note that players cannot become intoxicated by drinking alcohol.
  Dice Roller Tutorial Update:
  The Dice Roller has been updated with some new rules regarding the "Roll Purpose" section: Rolls must clearly state the full action in the Roll Purpose field. When attacking: targets, sword arts, skills, etc., must be included. When crafting: tier and item type (not enhancements) must be included. Any loot, crafts, etc., that do not abide by the new rules must be submitted for evaluation before the end of the Floor 20 boss fight. Evaluations that do not meet the new criteria after the patch's release will not be able to be approved.
  Appraisal Rework and Loot Changes:
  The Merchant's Appraisal system has been reworked to Identify: The loot table and treasure chest guides have been rewritten. Permanent items obtained through chests or from killing mobs are now "Unidentified". Unidentified items are not submitted for evaluation by the person who looted the item. These items must be brought to a Merchant to be identified. Unidentified items cannot be used or equipped. Merchants will use their crafting rolls to identify items, similarly to the appraisal system. The Merchant who identifies the item is responsible for submitting the item for evaluation before it can be used.
  The Loot Guide has been rewritten: There is now a Floor minimum and maximum for standard parameters. Monsters may not be spawned below or above these stats. Players must use a post action out of combat to inspect unidentified weapons and armor to determine their type. Players may not search for materials in safe zones, shops, etc. Separate Loot Die rolls are required when facing multiple enemies.
  The Treasure Chest system has been revamped: Chests can be searched for every 20 posts. Sub-dungeons and chests cannot be searched for closely together. The Picking skill is no longer required to open chests. It is still the only modifier that affects rolls to open chests. Treasure chest rewards have been changed. Items found in chests are also unidentified. Check out the complete updates in the new Loot & Treasure Chest Guide and Merchant Guide sections.
  <<The Gemini>> Quest Rewrite:
  <<The Gemini>> quest and the skills it awards (Concentration and Disguise) have been rewritten: Players that have already completed <<The Gemini>> may re-take the quest in order to switch the skill they received in their initial completion. Players may not repeat the quest if they are not switching their current skill. Repeat completion will not award the col or additional SP from the quest rewards. Concentration (5 round cooldown): Gives +1 to the BD result for a single action. Can be applied after the roll. Can only be used against monsters. Disguise (5 round cooldown): Gives +1 to the BD result for a single action. Can be applied after the roll. Can only be used against players/NPCs.
  New Beginner Quest: <<The Venomous Warg>>:
  A new beginner quest has been released! With a level cap of 15 or below, this quest can be taken solo or with a party of 2.
  Skill & Mod Changes:
  Support players rejoice! First Aid has been reworked and given a few new mods. A new skill/mod focused around energy is being added. Focused Howl and the Dismantling mod have been adjusted. Fighting Spirit and Picking have been reworked. First Aid: No longer requires a roll to use. Healing amount has been reduced to 4% max HP per rank, down from 8%. Now has an energy cost based on the amount of healing done. Field Medic (Mod): No longer requires a roll to use. Energy cost now scales with user's total energy. New Mod - Sharpness: Increases your target's damage for a short time. Does not stack. New Mod - Barrier: Increases your target's mitigation for a short time. Does not stack. New Mod - Purify: Removes a status effect from your target
  New Skill - Energize: Spend energy to restore another target player's energy. New Mod - Hyperactive: Increase a target's passive energy regeneration for a short time.
  Focused Howl: Now generates 5 hate on a single target. Fighting Spirit: Increases Hate generated from attacks by 1. Missing an attack will generate 1 Hate, successful attacks will generate 2, and critical hits will generate 3 before other modifiers. Picking: No longer has ranks. Provides a flat LD bonus to opening chests. Dismantling (Mod): Reduced SP cost to 8 from 9.
  Enhancement List Update:
  The Enhancement List has been completely rewritten. We recommend checking out the link above and reviewing the full list. For some quick notes, the following has been significantly changed: Cook/Fisherman enhancement names have been normalized. Light Momentum: Gives temporary Accuracy instead of damage after an unsuccessful attack. Regen: Reworked. Now provides a healing over time effect after taking damage. No longer stacks with Battle Healing. Recovery: Now scales with Tier. Taunt: No longer unique. Can be applied to weapons, shields, and trinkets. Skill Rank: Renamed to "Expertise". Alcoholic: Renamed to "Protein". Reworked. Now reduces mitigation instead of evasion. Energize: Renamed to "Vitality". Now scales with Tier. Monster Call: Reworked. Monsters spawn at minimum loot requirement stats. LD bonus scales with slots but does not stack with other consumable LD bonsues. Misperception: Damage reduced from enemies changed to 10% (rounded down) from a flat 4. Fallen Damage: Now triggers on successful attack rolls of 6-8 (before modifiers) rather than any non-critical attack. Phase: Reduced the slot cap to 1 down from 2. Removed the second slot effect. Freeze: Attacks against frozen enemies now removes the effect and deals additional damage. Life Mending: Reworked. Now increases the user's healing done to other targets through the use of skills and consumable items. Absolute Accuracy: Reworked. Allows natural attack rolls of 1 to no longer automatically miss. Gives +1 to the BD when attacking (stacks with regular Accuracy). Caps at 1. Flame Aura: Reduced the mitigation received to (6 per slot * Tier) down from (9 per slot * Tier). Reduced the damage dealt to (5 per slot * Tier) down from (8 per slot * Tier). Combat Craft has been removed. Paralyze Water has been removed.