Developer Blog"

«ALfheim Online» ( usually abbreviated as «ALO», is the VRMMORPG successor to «Sword Art Online». The game features nine races of fairies, whose goal is to reach the top of the giant World Tree, in order to meet the Fairy King Oberon. It was said that Oberon would turn the first starting race to reach the top of the World Tree into the legendary race of ALFs, with the ability to fly for unlimited time, but this later proved to be a lie. After ALO is acquired by Ymir, after the events of the Fairy Dance arc, unlimited flight is now granted to all fairy races (though it is still impossible to fly in dungeons).

It is the setting for the Fairy Dance Arc of the series as well as the setting for Mother's Rosario, Calibur (and its alternate ending, Calibur SS) side stories. Instead of the level system that Sword Art Online emphasized, ALfheim Online pursues skill development and encourages killing other players. This kind of system tries to eliminate the enormous gap that exists on level-based games between new and old players. ALfheim or ALO is loosely based on both fairy lore and Norse mythology, drawing elements from other legends as well for its setting. Upon opening signing in to ALO, a player must first select a race, each of which has special attributes and skills unique to their race; however, the appearance of the selected character is randomized. Customization of the visual aspects of the character are allowed later on, but every change requires an additional fee. After the race is selected, they will be spawned in the race's hometown. List of races below A navigation pixie is a non-playable race in the entire game.
 * Cait Sith (ケットシー?) : Skilled beast tamers with improved eyesight. They are recognizable through their cat ears and tails.
 * Gnome (ノーム?) : Largest fairy race and users of the earth. They are styled in brown.
 * Imp (インプ?) : Masters of night, great night vision. They are styled in purple.
 * Leprechaun (レプラコーン?) : Blacksmith race, their wings have a mechanical appearance.
 * Pooka (プーカ?) : Users of music which is used to confuse, attack, or support.
 * Salamander (サラマンダー?) : Considered the strongest race in terms of attack, they have superior fire spells and are styled in red.
 * Spriggan (スプリガン?) : Masters of illusion and treasure seeking. They are styled in black.
 * Sylph (シルフ?) : Considered the fastest race and users of wind, they are denoted by the color green regularly.
 * Undine (ウンディーネ?) : Healers and masters of water. They are styled in blue.