.hack//Ch

[Bullet Biter]

I didn't see a post regarding this on the forum, I apologize if I missed it.

So CC2 has been holding this little video podcast for a while now and before they really just kind of covered information we've known before, but in the last couple of broadcasts they've revealed some information that wasn't covered before (the biggest one announcing who the "protagonist" of Versus was) and other interesting little facts that clear up some things.

Does anyone else tune in to watch .hack//Ch? I'm curious because it seems like a nice little wealth of information that I've really only seen the Japanese and Chinese fandoms care about.

[Kuukai]

I skim it but I never saw anything interesting in the earlier episodes. Aside from tiny things like why they changed Cubia's weapon, I never got much from it. The  Tanaka thing explains a lot, what else is there?

[Bullet Biter]

My buddy and I lurk the JP wiki where they update the articles with any new info obtained from .hack//Ch instead of watching it since it's easier to just translate the text than listen in.

So far they're revealed minor details on Mama, some info regarding the company that created the virus in Sekai no Mukou Ni, Tanaka of course, some depressing news on Indou if we translated it right, and there was a chart that caused a stir in the Chinese forums but there was too much kanji on it for me to read it, eheheh...

But it seems like since they're now hitting season 3 in the chats they're revealing more useful or at least interesting info.
(I only wish I could understand more but I'm still a beginner)

[Kuukai]

Can you link the wiki and chart? The chart is probably just the one that says Player=TANAKA though.

[Bullet Biter]

Here's the wiki:
http://wiki.livedoor.jp/theworldpurasu/

The chart I can't seem to find again and the file I had saved is lost to the depths of my computer, sorry.
Hopefully I'm not making an ass out of myself by falling for a fake wiki though...that'd be embarrassing.

[Kuukai]

Holy cow I used to follow that wiki until it totally died and had absolutely no pulse during Link. I will read up and see what I find.

[Keyaki]

You guys mind sharing with the rest of class?

Tried reading it myself but Google Chrome's translator sucks.

[Kuukai]

 The main two things are that there is infighting in Mama, with Veronica Bain heading a faction that believes Twilight should/can be accomplished without Aura, and that the main character of .hack//Versus is actually Tanaka.

Tanaka's story begins in the movie, after this he becomes involved with various other characters looking for the truth behind The World. In Versus, Balder mentions what happened to him and notes that he's probably still playing under an alias. In reality Tanaka is the character you're playing. Tokio discovers that Tanaka possesses the ability to resist real digitalization and asks for his help. In Thanatos Report, Tanaka's dreams from Aura (much like Tokio's dreams of AIKA) guide him to the location of the chip containing Aura. If the story continues, it will be about Tanaka and his allies fighting against Mama.

[Keyaki]

The main two things are that there is infighting in Mama, with Veronica Bain heading a faction that believes Twilight should/can be accomplished without Aura

Yea, got that when I saw Thanatos Report(The fan translation was deplorable but better than nothing)

In Versus, Balder mentions what happened to him and notes that he's probably still playing under an alias.

Alias? For what reason?

Tanaka's story begins in the movie, after this he becomes involved with various other characters looking for the truth behind The World.

So basically their a new generation of the .Hackers. Tanaka, Tokio, Balder, and others?

[Kuukai]

That's actually different. Eleanor's group is still pro-Aura, I think

Who knows? Returning coma player?

Every season has a new group of recurring characters.

[Keyaki]

Who knows? Returning coma player?

Returning...wha?

Tanaka was the one that went comatose not Tomohiko.

[Lindz]

 and that the main character of .hack//Versus is actually Tanaka.

Aww! I'm not sure if I should dislike this or not. I rather liked the idea of  the MC being me! the player! This also tosses out the whole theory of  him being a Doubleware huh?

[Kuukai]

Who knows? Returning coma player?

Returning...wha?

Tanaka was the one that went comatose not Tomohiko.

That's what I was saying. Tanaka not using his real name was a result of that.

This also tosses out the whole theory of  him being a Doubleware huh?

Not really, it could just be a new kind of doubleware.

[Keyaki]

Not really, it could just be a new kind of doubleware.

So what? Instead of Doubleware being someone who CAN be Real Digitalized, you saying that a Doubleware is someone who CAN'T be Real Digitalized.

That's what I was saying. Tanaka not using his real name was a result of that.

And I ask, why would he want to hide himself just because he fell comatose during Beyond the World.

I get how he can fall into a coma, don't see any reason why a someone who can't be Real Digitalized can't Soul Digitalized(would've made more sense if it was called "Mind Digitalization").

[Kuukai]

Because CC Corp wheeled him and others like him to their own hospitals for experimentation and keeping quiet

A Doubleware is just good at synchronizing with their surroundings. Seemingly anyone can be real digitalized, only Doublewares can be real digitalized easily. Tanaka may just have a greater ability of control.

[Keyaki]

Should be obvious by now that I'm not gonna quit 'til I'm satisfied.

A Doubleware is just good at synchronizing with their surroundings. Seemingly anyone can be real digitalized, only Doublewares can be real digitalized easily. Tanaka may just have a greater ability of control.

Elaborate!

Yea, its established that anyone can be Real Digitalized. That's a given. Define "easily" and "synchronizing with their surroundings"

[Kuukai]

I'm just saying what the game says. Tokio's ability isn't "game transportation," it's the ability to synchronize well with that process and environment, his teammates' stats, with the spring of memories, with other players' memories, with the stone door created by Aura, etc. That's one of many reasons the game is called Link.

[Keyaki]

I'm just saying what the game says. Tokio's ability isn't "game transportation," it's the ability to synchronize well with that process and environment, his teammates' stats, with the spring of memories, with other players' memories, with the stone door created by Aura, etc. That's one of many reasons the game is called Link.

I don't recall Link stating that and I've watched both videos.

So its really Tokio's ability to synchronize with the game and everything in the game that allows him to Real Digitalize?

[(Phantom) Thief]

EDIT: Answered my own questions.

I'm just saying what the game says. Tokio's ability isn't "game transportation," it's the ability to synchronize well with that process and environment, his teammates' stats, with the spring of memories, with other players' memories, with the stone door created by Aura, etc. That's one of many reasons the game is called Link.

I don't recall Link stating that and I've watched both videos.

So its really Tokio's ability to synchronize with the game and everything in the game that allows him to Real Digitalize?

Hmm. Here, will this help:

Yes, he's alive, and he might be able to recover. His entire being there is some sort of crazy miracle resulting from Aura being fixed, since due to the terminal stage of Outer Dependency Syndrome he had completely lost pattern cohesion and basically died in the game. It kinda sucks, of the five entwined destinies (Jyotaro, Saika, Geist, AIKA, and Tokio) it seems all the humans got it a lot easier than the AIs...

Amagi, Schicksal, and possibly Harald all once sought out real-digitalization as a means to help mankind. Amagi rejected the notion that life's value comes from the fact it's temporary, he believed conversely that because it is valuable it should be protected forever. He discovered that there was a specific frequency of light that could in turn transform matter into light. This could all be transmitted and received as data from any device with a wireless radio. All mankind could be transformed into data and live in a digital world without hunger, disease, or aging. But as Fluegel explained, things don't ever work out that well. The person who invented arrows supposedly claimed they would end war forever, and we all know how well that turned out. In a sense, humans themselves are a wad of bugs, they have no business being in a computer. The virtual space is in fact a very harsh environment for humans, the human mind can't survive being "naked" in it for a prolonged period of time. The first symptom is an irregularity in brainwaves, which gradually develops into a catatonic state and finally total collapse, where the victim dissimilates into something that's no longer human, before ultimately diffusing across the virtual space.

There are other symptoms. Fluegel hints that Tokio's ability to see memories might not be a "power" but in fact a symptom of Outer Dependency Syndrome. Even darker (and I was hoping for this from the very beginning), Tokio has no sense of time and has no idea how long he's been inside the game.

Fluegel believes that Schicksal PCs, which are deeply connected to their user on about the same level as anything else we've seen up till this point (killing one causes a coma), are probably the limit to how far humans can safely enter the virtual space. They were developed as part of his medical research into real-digitalization.

Okay, that's pretty much everything anyone would ever want to know about Outer Dependency Syndrome, when I have time I'll try to answer more of the questions in the main spoiler thread

A doubleware is a kind of human well-suited to real-digitalization. They synchronize well with data around them, including PCs, absorb memories (after reading more this apparently isn't part of Outer Dependency Syndrome, just something Fluegel wanted to confirm), and have various other abilities. These abilities were essential in Geist's plan to open Aura's barrier and gain access to her.

With Amagi's original technology, this is the only kind of human he has any success with. With the "Immortal Dusk," he sought to bypass that using Aura and digitalize every human in wireless range of every P-COM. Unfortunately, by the time Geist completes his work, it's already readily apparently to anyone who isn't a narrowly-focused AI that due to Outer Dependency Syndrome this is a horrible idea that will lead to the extinction of mankind. That part doesn't seem to be something Aura could fix, even if Geist and Amagi had realized it was a problem beforehand, because it's due to the nature of human beings themselves. When I get the chance I'm planning a post explaining Immortal Dusk and Aura to try to clear up any misunderstandings about that...

Interestingly enough, aside from Amagi and Tokio, there's one other success recorded all the way back around the fragment era. It's not entirely clear whether or not this is Lara. It might be Harald, even though there are a few differences his condition in the anime could be explained by Outer Dependency Syndrome + being unwittingly copied from server to server. At any rate, Amagi never quite succeeded in beating Harald at any given thing. He's his Edison.

[Keyaki]

Took me a couple days to get the chance to read this.

I get it a bit more. The synchronizing part is what I'm not understanding.

So a "Double-Ware" is just someone who can make real-digitalizing easier due to that person being able to "sync" with the data around the person, assuming this also means P-COMs or any other device used for real-digitalization as well.