"comparable quality to SAO, not fully immersive" means:
this questions focus is on the game-world aspect, not fully-immersive features like feeling in the virtual world as if it was real (e.g. simple VR headsets and controls would also count)
so comparable quality means: will the boss AI, npc AI, world-generation detail, physics, ... be on par with that of SAO?
SAO didn't seem that amazing
it had a generic starter town and generic-looking bosses.
the full-immersion was the only appeal
in my head I'm only looking at the first season, since later seasons are in different game worlds not named SAO.
right now you have many interesting game worlds: Minecraft, Outer Wilds, Dark Souls and friends, WoW, Stellaris, Dwarf Fortress.
Is there anything special about SAO that made you ask this question?
@Jono3h Also only talking about first season:
The game had quite sophisticated NPCs and the game-world is incredibly vast and detailed. The simulation was on a level which was indistinguishable from the real world.
This includes:
graphics
physics
game AI
gameplay (e.g. you can master any skill you could master in the real world)
While I am confident that we'll make enough advances in procedural world generation, physics simulation, AI, graphics & co, I was wondering what other people think.
Especially, because of how many people voted >10 years on this question: https://manifold.markets/MaximilianWolf/how-many-years-until-a-game-like-re?r=TWF4aW1pbGlhbldvbGY