Forum - View topicEP. REVIEW: Recovery of an MMO Junkie
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DuskyPredator
 Posts: 15466 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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Except as far as I understood, that was not what happened because it was clear that Lily may well have used real money to buy the gift, not a case of just getting things from higher level areas. Yuta has clearly been using some of his disposable income for equipment including gifts, and it is awkward for Moriko who although she plays more, she cannot afford so much. |
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Squidslinger
Posts: 76 |
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Love this series. Wasn't sure I would at the start, but as a former MMO player, it just connects in a way that SAO or Log Horizon don't. Log Horizon connects in with the hardcore endgame player. SAO connects more with the RPG player (It really isn't very MMOish). Net Susume connects with the more social aspects.
Episode 3 even hits on a very major part of what female players have to put up with. I saw this going into MMOs and was told by friends to play a female toon if you want to get help in game. But just beware of the number of lonely delusional boys who fall in love with 3D female toons. Reminds me of the time back when I started when I quested with this one guy for awhile. Was fun, was real helpful. Then the moment I mentioned real gender, disappeared off server. Never saw them log in again. This series presents it so well. If you play female toons, you'll get loads of help, everyone wants you around. But you'll also get harassed often. I've had girls in my guilds who wouldn't talk over voice for a year because they feared the attention and behavior they'd attract. I've managed to get quite a few real female friends in games because I'd just treat them like human beings and stand up for them when man sluts would start harassing. Never ask or think more of it in return. No ulterior motive. Just, playing a female toon in MMOs let me see what they have to deal with. No one should have to be treated the way they get treated online. Neither SAO or Log really hit on this. Bravo Net Susume for speaking the truth about MMORPGs. Online harassment of women is real. |
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meiam
Posts: 3442 |
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Pretty sure there was no mention of real money, actually that even contradict big part of the conversation. It mostly centered on the inability of low level player to return the favor to high level player, but if you can buy stuff with real money, then a low level player can easily repay the high level player by just getting out there credit card. |
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michizure
Posts: 177 |
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To be fair, this was part of Akatsuki's back-story in Log Horizon. Her avatar was originally male, and she didn't use the voice-chat to avoid giving away that she was cross-playing. The way she continued to play the ninja, even after reverting to her own appearance, suggests that this may have been an aesthetic choice rather than due to harassment, but her reaction to Naotsugu's casual harassment (although played for comedy) is pretty definite. And then there's Tetra. So much going on in this episode: * I'm intrigued that there are guild members we haven't met yet, and particularly Nico. The possibility of other members undermines some of my real person/avatar inferences, but it appears from the preview that we will also meet the girl in the peephole from the end credits next episode. * It also appears to me that the other woman with Morioka in the news release Koiwai had on his tablet is the second woman we see behind Sakurai in the end credits (~22:50). Not sure what that would mean, besides yet another connection. * Speaking of connections, I do find it interesting that both Sakurai and Morioka had people that they trusted and cared about online but lost touch with. Again, we see the angels from the previous MMORPG on Morioka's side. I can't decide if I will be disappointed if it turns out they are talking about each other. The show has done a good job thus far with nuanced writing (e.g., how Sakurai figured out who Morioka had been in her corporate life), so I'm willing to give them a chance to make more of this than just a coincidence if they go that route. * I like that Lily is wearing the rose Hayashi gave her on her new black outfit. Now it's not just the bracelets that are matching. * Store clerk (Kanbe?) had an interesting reaction to Morioka in the store. First, he blushes just to see her walk by. Then he comments that she's in a good mood, which suggests that he's been noticing her. The other customer in line prompts him to not ask her about Fruits de Mer, but I sense a romantic complication brewing. |
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Agent355
 Posts: 5113 Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready... |
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That's a really great comparison! Both those movies and the Broadway musicalShe Loves Me were based on the 1937 play Parfumerie by Miklos Laszlo. The basic plot idea is that a couple that falls in love via writing don't realize that they know one another--and bicker constantly--in person. I gotta admit that the coincidences in MMO were starting to bother me, too, but if I think of it in the vein of a beloved 80-year-old romcom, it doesn't seem so bad.
I relate, too, and I think her self declared "eliteness" comes from her financial independence (probably from savings), not a lack of mental health issues. It's clear she has some social anxiety, and probably depression. |
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Dardre
 Posts: 166 |
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"Lily-san can already buy something that costs this many points. She must have quite a bit of money." We are shown, for the second time, that Moriko buys "Web Money" specifically for Fruits de Mer (value 5000 points). It's unclear if this is a free-to-play MMO or if it's sub-based. Considering that most Asian MMOs are now FTP, it can be assumed that FdM is as well; add in that an in-game shop window is shown when "Hayashi" discovers the price of the present, I'm confident that FdM is FTP. Web Money points = an unknown amount of special in-game currency, or the game might let players out-right buy normal currency to use in game; whichever it is, the outfit cost 20 million "G" (whatever that is). Even by Asian MMO standards, that's a LOT of currency. So I can certainly believe that she would feel pressured by such an expensive gift. It's pretty clear that she's over-reacting to the gift due to her own social hang-ups, though. Now, as for the show, I adore it. It's been cute and sincere, with adult characters (thankfully) without doing the whole "we've been sucked into the game world" or the much rarer "the game world is somehow bleeding into the real one" tropes. Honestly, this is the closest I've seen anime get to what it's really like playing an MMO. |
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DuskyPredator
Posts: 15466 Location: Brisbane, Australia |
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My take was that they were talking about "level" as in level of in life, the assumption that he (she) is a student, while she (he) is able to afford such things. |
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#876114
Posts: 5 |
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Pretty sure there was no mention of real money, actually that even contradict big part of the conversation. It mostly centered on the inability of low level player to return the favor to high level player, but if you can buy stuff with real money, then a low level player can easily repay the high level player by just getting out there credit card.[/quote]
Translation says that the cape was bought through "points".. As u play through MMO's youd know this is a clear referrence that the cape was bought using the games cash mall (reference of webmoney being used go far as ep1 with the rose brooch) .. because if that wasnt the case the author would have just said it was bought with gold not points.. Or just say it was a rare drop but it isnt. Also dont know what u mean by low level/hi level loot. Hayashi is already level 80 played by a NEET who games non-stop compared to Lily who is played by someone with a full time job even with the headstart their gap couldnt be huge in lilys favor. The owe moriko is referering to is definitly more of a social debt between friends. |
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Megiddo
 Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
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If you play a support class like Lily. I played a (male) druid way back in day on Dark Age of Camelot and I would constantly get barraged as soon as I logged in with group invites since people always need buffers/healers. So yes, if you play female toons (and play them convincingly female) you will get a ton of help. And you'll definitely get some harassment as well. If you play a support class then everyone wants you around, no matter if you're male or female character.
So far Morimori has only ever eaten potato chips/snacks and guzzled down beer from what I've seen. That doesn't strike me as a diet of someone who has a nest egg of savings and is taking a breather from work. It strikes me instead of someone who never matured and lacks any sense of responsibility. So far Morimori doesn't seem at all different from Umaru except for being even less responsible somehow. I don't see how you can believe her to be financially independent in any way whatsoever. |
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meiam
Posts: 3442 |
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The item price is shown at 20 000 000 G, while the point brought were "web money" with no reference to "G". If we assume the 5000 point she brought were worth something around 20$ (I don't see it being worth it to print and physically sell those for anything less), the cape would have costed 80 000$! If somebody gave me something of this value my reaction wouldn't be "oh boy I'm embarrassed", it'd be more "Holy shit, am I playing with Bill Gate?!". You'd need to assume that the 5000 web money can be converted to G in game at quite a high markup (say 1 web money is worth 10000 G), and that both web money and G are essentially the same things (a premium currency that can only be brought with real life money) which would be very strange for a game to work trough such a roundabout way, why not just sell G directly then? And once again, the entire conversation was framed in games terms, at no point did the character wonder about real life money or implication, if someone just give you something of high value it's pretty natural to wonder if this is a big amount for them, maybe with some sort of "Gee I hope they have a good job so they can afford this". |
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#876114
Posts: 5 |
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Y. Ur comparing a teenage brat who achieves a neet life from the money given to her by her supportive parents/brother.. Against someone who actually worked their own ass off to finance their own vice. Sure umaru attends school and has good grades and all but its not like she worked midnight shifts everyday on a soul draining office job that Moriko did before she broke down and became a neet(which by the title of the show clearly tells she will recover from). Edit: Also Moriko cleans her room on her own. 
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Dardre
Posts: 166 |
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Asian MMOs do it all the time. WM is converted to that game's specific special currency by using it to buy that currency. I've seen it in Aion, Tera, and Blade&Soul; even Final Fantasy XIV has it, called Crysta (with 1 cent = 1 crysta) that can be used to purchase in-game items and even pay for a month's subscription.
Please see my previous post. I quote, verbatim, the subtitles. "Hayashi" specifically mentions points. Not "G", points. The implication is quite clear to people that have frequently played Asian MMOs. This is a high-end cosmetic item that can only be acquired with real money. You can buy such cards in the US too, come to think of it. It's most frequently used by parents for their under-age kids, but some adults use them if they're mostly paid in cash (like waitstaff in a restaurant). Or just prefer to pay for such things with a pre-paid card rather than directly with their credit/debit card. |
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Megiddo
Posts: 8360 Location: IL |
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Ah, but that is incorrect. The title of the show is "Recommendation of the Virtual Life" or "Net-juu no Susume". There's no "recovery" implied by the title of the series, only someone recommending the virtual life in a video game over actual life. |
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Agent355
Posts: 5113 Location: Crackberry in hand, thumbs at the ready... |
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Too me, it looks like a diet of someone who can't be bothered to cook (she's also bought fried chicken and presumably anything else she can get easily from the convenience store.) She doesn't bother to go grocery shopping, she doesn't cook, she doesn't go to restaurants and doesn't get together with any friends or family members in real life. She barely wears street clothes, sticking to pajama-like sweat pants and sweat shirts or T-shirts for the most part. Her only social supports (that we know of) comes from the game, and she's remarked that in 30 years, a guy has never asked her out (at least, not via email). She often stays up all night and sleeps most of the day. Those are all indicative of depression and/or social anxiety. How can we tell she's financially independent? 1. We've never seen her contact, or be contacted by, any family members (compare that to the main character in ReLife, who gets a phone call from his mom in the first episode telling him he's being cut off from the family budget). 2. Living alone in even a tiny apartment in a big city can cost a fortune all on its own. 3. She's frugal, but she's not panicking that she's going to end up homeless. She has enough money for her cell, net access, her fancy gaming computer, Fruits de Mer gaming cards, enough (junk) food to live + beer (beer isn't cheap--maybe in Japan it is?) And her rent, which is probably her biggest expense and nothing to be sneezed at. Not caring about the quality of her food could have as much to do with depression (and/or even eating and drinking away her negative feelings) than money or lack thereof. |
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Dardre
Posts: 166 |
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I'll do that with a single question: Have you seen her bank statements? No, you haven't. You have not a single solid point in your criticism of the show or the character. Everything you claim makes Moriko a terrible person is based entirely on an assumption. An assumption without a single shred of evidence. Unless you know how the series ends, you can't even claim that she never returns to the work force, or ever finds another way to earn money. By the way, overworking in Japanese corporations is so bad they have a specific word for deaths caused by it: karōshi. Japanese companies damn near invented "crunch culture". Even cute shows like "New Game!" make references to it; why do you think several characters sleep under their desks at times? Burn out is common in Japan, so Moriko getting burned out is perfectly understandable. And before you accuse me of making a baseless assumption like yours, I'll point out that she broke down crying while on the phone with a complete stranger over a mere 30 minute delay in giving him the evaluation on a write up he requested. That is a pretty damn clear indicator of someone on the edge of a complete breakdown. |
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