The Guild – A Webseries Review

Recently, I was shown a music video on Youtube. The name of the song was Do You Want to Date MyAvatar? It’s a comedic look at MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) players. (For those unfamiliar, games of this nature include EverQuest and World of Warcraft.) The song is pretty funny, particularly if you’ve played games like this. “I’m craving to emote with you, so many animations I can do. Be anything you want me to be, come on, come on, share a potion with me. Do you want to date my avatar? She’s a star, and she’s hotter than reality by far…”

 

After seeing the music video, I was curious about what it was actually for. I clicked some links, and ended up at the home page— WatchTheGuild.com.

 

The Guild, as it turns out, is a webseries with three seasons, consisting of 3-8 minute online episodes that follow the interactions of a group of people in a guild on an MMORPG. All of the characters are extremes—there’s the socially anxious shy girl, the balding, obsessive-compulsive older man, the negligent housewife, the clingy, smother-by-mom boy… you get the picture. Having each character be a complete extreme makes for some pretty darn funny situations.

 

Mostly, the episodes focus on Codex (played by Felicia Day, of Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog fame) as she tries to keep her guild together and get through life. Each episode starts out with a video blog from her, and then delves into the actual happenings of the day. It’s quite fun to get to know Codex, and the rest of the guild—The Knights of the Good, as they call themselves. The first two seasons in particular are pretty hilarious, though the end of the second and the third get a little bit more serious. (Luckily, there are still very entertaining gag reels and holiday episodes, too!)

 

Felicia Day not only starred in the webseries, but wrote it all. She herself is a gamer, and you can tell from the details that are put into each episode. Having been a former EverQuest addict myself (and leader, at one point of a dying guild) I could relate, and really get into the series. I could see aspects of myself, and my old gaming friends, in the characters (though thankfully not to those extremes!) and while it really made me miss those times in my life, it also was really entertaining to see such a well done, witty portrayal.

 

For anyone who has found themselves in a MMO, I’d highly recommend watching this webseries. I sat down to watch a few episodes and ended up watching all of them in one go; it really hooked me. And even if you haven’t played, this might be an amusing way of getting a little insight to those friends or family members of yours who do play. While each character is a bit over-the-top, you can still get an understanding of the bond that ends up forming between players of games like this.

 

So check it out—www.watchtheguild.com

 

And just for fun, here’s that music video! Careful, it’s catchy!