[@Gowi]
Well... I've got the very basic groundwork of a character in mind -- something I already told you over Skype. Like I also mentioned though, [@Ailyn Evensen] is technically more the .hack person than I am, since she's actually role-played on a forum based around it and has actually played the games.

I honestly don't recognize the names of any of the franchises you mentioned in the opening post apart from .hack (which I've only seen small parts of and most of my experience with comes from getting spoilers), but I understand the premise of these sorts of settings well enough and I like the sound of the spin you've given it - to make it stand out more - since I'm a big fan of concepts that centre around 'consciousness' and I use such concepts all the time in my own work.

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this 'guild' concept that I've skimmed across a few times, since I usually play characters who are solo experts by nature -- I'm not the type of person who has a problem working in a team but unless my character creates a party themselves and leads it they usually don't work with others until they find their 'true companions' (if you're familiar with this trope) per se. If I developed enough interest in taking part in the game I could probably work around it though, since role-playing obviously means I could do something outside my own norm -- assuming I even have enough time to get involved.

Haven't exactly had time to read over all the discussions yet, and I don't know whether this character idea in my mind will end up developing beyond the groundwork phase and become something I'd actually like to role-play with (like the two other characters I've made for this site so far have managed to), but I'll keep an eye on this when time's available to me. I might have a few questions, but I figured I'd save them until you've got more of the official thoughts on this setting deciding on -- unless you'd prefer I bring them up here for everyone, that is (it's entirely possible someone has already asked and I haven't seen it).