Hollow Area



The Hollow Area is a location that had been used by Sword Art Online developers and the Cardinal System to run tests on new elements, such as enemies and items, before introducing them to the game proper. The Hollow Area is not considered part of Aincrad, although it is possible for specially-authorized accounts to teleport to the site from Aincrad. However, errors in the Cardinal System have led to some players being forcibly teleported into the area, as well as being given permission to access it through the Teleport Gates existing on Aincrad. Kirito is one such player, indicated by the special glyph that appeared on his hand.

In order to ensure a thorough testing regime for new elements being added to the game, the developers added artificial intelligence (AI)-controlled recreations of real players to the game. These AI players, referred to as «hollows», generally acted as if they were normal players due to lacking awareness of the fact that they were just recreations, although it was possible for hollows to become self-aware. It was also possible for real players to enter the Hollow Area if they were designated as test players, which would, under normal circumstances, prompt the system to remove their corresponding AI duplicate when they entered the area. Test players were also permitted to bring one non-test player with them.

Notable Locations
The Hollow Area region consists of six primary regions. There are also other special areas. However, there are no towns or shops in the Hollow Area.