"The Guild"

[furtech]

Amongst the many things I've been working on lately, I've been researching "webisodes" (aka: video series made for the web). Not as fun as you might think. Not as fun as -I- thought. I think there is a new circle in Hell consisting of low-bandwidth and having to watch every webisode ever made. They range from interminable to unwatchable.

The few exceptions include the big-budget shows, like Dean Koontz's Odd Passenger, which has production values that rival studio pictures. A lot of coin spent there, probably in the six-digits (but I wouldn't be surprised to see it in the seven or eight digit realm).

The other exception are funny shows with good gags and decent acting and production values. I was surprised and amused by "The Guild". The first episode hooked me and the second was just as funny.

Anyone who plays World of Warcraft (or knows someone who does) will find this hilarious (or painful, but in a funny way):

Comments

[okojosan.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately I find the Guild annoying and unwatchable. I still have yet to make it through the first episode. I just don't "get" any of the characters. People keep saying it's hilarious, but I guess it's just not my kind of humor, which tends more toward the absurd.

[furtech.livejournal.com]

Try watching or listening to the first two episodes: they set up the premise and flavor of the show. You don't even have to watch it-- most of the humor is in the dialogue.

This is clearly a labor of love: the creator of the series (also the main character?) has pegged stereotypes and gets the whole, "I know people like that!" bit. There are so many in-jokes and homages to WoW/EQ type play that she had to have logged a LOT of hours playing. To me, at least, that's why it comes off as funny and not mean-spirited.

The stalker-gnome is great! So is the clueless mom-with-kids ("So THAT'S why they smell like ham and crayons!")

Still, YMMV.

[okojosan.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've tried twice now, and I can't get through the first episodes. I'm not really fond of characters just sitting there talking to each other. I'm more of an action-adventure type person. Can't watch Friends or Sex in the City either, ugh. If the characters aren't going somewhere or doing something, it's a snorefest for me.

I don't identify with the characters because I just don't experience that in game. The guys I run with are early twenties, like to get a beer and have girlfriends. They aren't really geeky or socially maladjusted. And the broken people I've met in WoW are so very much more broken than the show portrays.

So, yeah, a lot of people think it's hilarious and funny. I just don't "get" it.

[furtech.livejournal.com]

Well, at least you gave it a try. I don't WoW, but I can picture these characters in mosaic from my mucking days. Plus there were things that I've done, to a greater or lesser extant (like the note limiting online hours that goes from one hour to six...).

When you mentioned the comedy shows you don't care for I now understand that you don't care for that format as much as anything. So it's all good or something.

I love your comment: "And the broken people I've met in WoW are so very much more broken than the show portrays." That's what makes this a loving spoof rather than a mockery piece: velvet gloves.