(Same anon here, who subsequently pointed out to you that she was nearly as good as he was, and that the two of them would end up being a close to unbeatable team.)

Other females in the series who played this game and were/or would become gamers:

Sachi, you'll learn more about her in the next episode, so I'm not going to write a lot about her.

Lisbeth, one of Asuna's friends and who ended up becoming Kirito's personal blacksmith.

Silica, first seen in episode one in the crowd scene. SAO was her first MMO, but not her last, she's also one of the youngest players in the game.

And in the subsequent games Alfheim Online and Gun Gale Online that Kirito plays he encounters a few other skilled and cute female players.

Yuuki Konno, who actually beat him in a duel in ALO, and Kirito himself admitted that her reaction speed was far quicker than his and that her feel for the VR world was better than his own.

And then there's Shino Asada, one of the deadliest snipers in GGO. And when she transferred over to ALO, she ended up becoming an archer capable of hitting her target from double the normal range. Meaning that if a bow would normally only allow a player to hit a foe from 100 feet away, she can hit it from 200 feet.

Heck, his own cousin/adopted sister Suguha Kirigaya ends up becoming a player of ALO, and is considered the strongest warrior of her chosen race, the Sylphs. (Doesn't hurt that she's a national level Kendo practitioner.)

The "harem" he builds around himself, is big enough that they don't need any outsiders to form a party, and they're all veterans and skilled players.

And even in RL, I've known a number of female gamers. And yes, I've seen pictures of them (holiday ones). Not always my type, but they do qualify for the cute category.

Then again, I don't game to look for ladies, I game to have fun. And if I discover that a player is actually female, I don't treat them any different from how I've been treating them before. Might be one of the reasons why they tend to feel more at ease around me. *shrugs*

Not wanting links is one thing, but I just had to rewrite the above message 5 times, before it was finally accepted. No links what so ever.

If it's a size limitation thing, then at least mention that it's there, so we can try to make our arguments shorter.

Skinny? Well when your main interest is computers, such that you can hack into a national DB at age 10, then it's not very likely that you're going to be rippling with muscles. If he'd kept training in Kendo with his grandfather, that would've been a different story.

Lastly, his sexual orientation? Very much heterosexual. But you'll see more demonstrations of that, with the next bunch of episodes.

Sword Art Online Producers:

Aniplex
ASCII Media Works
Bandai Namco Games
GENCO
SAO Project

...dumbass.

It's a trap.

Anyway, don't mistake a sketch of the geopolitical situation and the general responses from the populations of the First and Second World nations as indicative of the thoughts and opinions of the writer of a comment.

Example, most people loathe Brussels Sprouts. I rather like them myself. But when I'm writing about how most folks find them one of the most loathsome vegetables around, then my own opinion is immaterial.

Even then, they speak with a feign voice, repeating lines written by almost assuredly another guy.

The level of indirection and artificialness hardly could get any further.

Do you think I give a flying fuck if Asuna -a fictitious virtual avatar- could potentially be -fictionally- played by some fictitious male player?

Five Stages Of Grief
1. Denial and Isolation.
2. Anger.
3. Bargaining.
4. Depression.
5. Acceptance

No cute girls play video games. Get to acceptance already people.
Also no cute girls will love alll the anime that you're into, may as well break that to you too. I can go on lol.

Yup, correct translation of the acronym.
Although this may be a side effect/consequence of..

Well, that would kind of be spoiling episode 3..

So I think I'll stop right there. ;)

First two were shown during the first episode, being rather mortified at looking like their real selves in a crowd filled with "gentlemen" who just had some disturbing psychological news handed to them.

Although in case of Asuna, well, he just notices that his "partner" is a girl, attractive, and around the same age as him, and she knows how to wield a blade as well.

Good enough reason to cue the sparkles.
It's like Taiga Fujimura being excited about someone being able to cook well, and that they're willing to make extra's so she can join for dinner.

It's just not something that's going to appeal to the generic anime fan. No different from how most folks who watch action movies wouldn't know the difference between a Beretta and a Sig.