Web Review: The Guild Season 4 Premiere

Well, it's finally happened: The Vault has been around so long that we're reviewing a sequel. You may recall that last September we provided you with an in-depth look at the viral sensation that is sweeping hard drives all across the world (kind of like Norton only without the malware) -- The Guild. Back then, we were discussing the highly anticipated premiere episode of Season Three, which introduced a whole new level (no pun intended) of intrigue by adding the guild's evil rivals, the Axis of Anarchy and their asshole leader Fawkes (played with verve by the legendary lord of all geekdom, Wil Wheaton himself).




Well, that was then. And if you followed through with the rest of season three (which I'm sure you did, considering I gave the series a good review and I know how much my opinion influences your daily choices), you know that following the epic PvP throwdown between the Knights of Good and the Axis of Anarchy, things got even stickier between Fawkes and Felicia Day's main character, Codex (okay, that time the pun was intended). So how would this play out when season four finally rolled around?

Well, that rolling has finally commenced, and like a fat man falling down a ski slope, it's already picking up serious momentum. And no, I don't know that from personal experience, thanks for asking, you douche. Codex makes the typically upriught yet incredibly naive and ill-advised decision to immediately tell the entire guild that [spoiler alert!] she slept with Fawkes. As you might expect, this goes over like a ton of bricks, or at least it does right up until the point when...

You know, what the hell. Just watch it yourself. That's what all this fancy internet code nonsense is for right? Take a looksee and after you're done, rejoin me on the other side for some insightful analysis and the all-important final grades:


<br/><a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-us&amp;vid=9c194351-975c-4b54-9462-e85b3e87af8e&amp;fg=sharenoembed" target="_new" title="Season 4 - Episode 1 - Epic Guilt">Video: Season 4 - Episode 1 - Epic Guilt</a>


So, what did I think? To be honest, it was just a tiny bit flat for me, but then again, it serves to set up the entire season so generally speaking I'm not expecting fireworks until we get a little ways into it. Vork (Jeff Lewis), as always, is a highlight for me and I have to say that during season three I thought Clara (played by Robin Thorsen) really got much stronger to the point where she had some of the best deliveries of the season; that looks likely to continue this year as well. And as always, the more you're into online gaming and MMOs in particular, the more you're likely to appreciate this episode; I, too, want a virtual guild hall, something that World of Warcraft has foolishly not implemented. Maybe during Cataclysm...

So what will happen? Will they manage to get the gold to build their guild hall? Will Fawkes and Codex stick together, or will their fling destroy them both? Will Felicia Day read this review and send me an email that leads to a hastily planned Mediterranean wedding? One thing's for sure: I'll be hooked to my internets waiting to find out the answer.

My Grades: This gets a solid B, though I am expecting it to pick up at it dgoes along, so no worries. Last season as a whole (since I only had a chance to review the first episode) gets an A-, with special props to breakout star Bruiser (J. Teddy Graces). Good stuff.

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Web Review: The Guild Season 3

Now, I know what long time readers are thinking: didn't he already review The Guild? Isn't that the web series about weirdos who play video games all the time and stuff? Firstly, gamers aren't weirdos, they are just like you and me, though probably more like me than you if you get what I mean. Secondly, that review was only for the first episode of season three. Now that the entire season has aired, however, I thought it would be a good idea to go back and review the whole darn thing if for no other reason than to give you guys all a nice sense of closure. You're welcome.

So how was season three? Actually, it was pretty good. It did start off a little slowly; the first two episodes contained a lot of (necessary) exposition that progressed everyone from the dramatic confrontations at the end of season two and set up this season's major conflicts, both within the guild and without. While these first couple episodes did have some funny moments, mainly thanks to the appearance of the new rival guild, the Axis of Anarchy, they were a bit of a slow go, which is too bad considering the series was bringing in a ton of new fans thanks to their viral music video hit "Do You Wanna Date My Avatar" (which actually topped some Eurpopean download sites when it was released over the summer as a tease for season three).




Once the setup was done, however, the season really hit its stride, deftly showing the breakdown of the Knights of Good as internal pressures reduced the guild to almost nothingness before Codex (the alarmingly awesome Felicia Day), thrust into an unfamiliar and unwelcome leadership position thanks to Vork's soul searching walkabout, managed to start pulling things back together, rallying the tropps from their individual meltdowns for an epic PvP faceoff in the final two episodes.

While the individual plotlines for each character were interesting, though, the scenes were routinely stolen by the deliciously evil Axis of Anarchy members during their brief times onscreen. Led by geek king Wil Wheaton as the smarmy and obnoxiously self-satisfied Fawkes, the Axis added a new level of awesomeness to The Guild, particularly in episode four when Codex wanders into their vent channel in the middle of a raid and gets ripped into.

That may be a little bit of inside baseball for those who don't play MMOs, but then again, that's the audience the series is designed for. Another in-joke that kills is episode five's application process, which features clips sent in by fans of The Guild as they apply to join the Knights of Good.

Overall, then, I have to say I thought this was the strongest season to date despite the slow start. The climax nicely ties up the individual plotlines for each character while setting up next season and -- thankfully -- leaving open the door for more Wil Wheaton and, even better, breakout star J. Teddy Garces, who plays in your face cop and in-game healer Bruiser.

More Axis vs. Knights? That's one raid encounter I think all fans of The Guild are looking forward to seeing.

My Grade: The slow beginning was well worth it; as a whole the season gets an A-. You can check out the cathartic final episode for yourself here:

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Web Review: The Guild

Finally, after what seems like an eternity, September is here to deliver millions of Americans the kind of hard hitting game play and entertainment that they’ve been craving. But we’re not talking about the NFL here; we’re talking about the freshest nerdnip on the interwebz: The Guild.

For those of you who wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between Kirin’s Osode and Baron Rivendare’s Deathcharger if we spotted you a dozen Emblems of Conquest, The Guild is an online show that focuses on the online and offline lives of a group of gamers who are obsessed with an MMORPG (that is, online role playing game) similar to World of Warcraft. Created and written by lead actress Felicia Day, who you may otherwise know from her stint on Buffy the Vampire Slayer or her role in Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog, the series just released the first episode of their third season.

Their timing couldn’t have been better, of course; though the season premiere has been available to Xbox 360 gold members for a week, today is the first day it’s available to the wider audience and I think it’s no coincidence that Tuesday was chosen as the drop date for it. After all, Tuesday is maintenance day for World of Warcraft and (as usual) today’s maintenance was extended due to technical problems, meaning that the 11 million plus WoW players who comprise The Guild’s primary audience have essentially nothing else to do all day to pass their time. And with future episodes also coming out on Tuesday, this is likely to continue.

This is just one example of how Day’s savviness in both gaming and internet promotion has paid dividends. When The Guild was launched two years ago, it was essentially a shoestring operation put together by Day and friends to film the first three webisodes she had scripted parodying her own online gaming addiction. The show clearly struck a nerve with viewers; donations sent in by fans actually financed the rest of the first season, and the resulting DVD sales were enough to fund the entire second season as well. Since then, The Guild has only become more popular, thanks in large part to the viral sensation caused by The Guild’s promotional music video “Do You Wanna Date My Avatar?” Co-written by Joss Whedon’s brother Jed, the video scored over a million hits on youtube in the first two days of release while the song itself soared to number one on the UK iTunes chart. Plus, at Comic-Con, Day announced that she will soon be doing a Guild comics for Dark Horse as well.

With so much hype building over season three, then, the question is whether Day and company can live up to expectations. That’s a bit of an impossible goal, though; with the music video and Xbox distribution creating a huge new audience for the show – some of whom aren’t gamers at all, much less MMO fans – there is bound to be some griping about whatever product comes out, from one side or the other. However, Day has proven so far that she has a good feel for the community that has grown up around The Guild, and I think the first episode of season three is proof that she’s on the right track: as long as she continues to write for gamers like herself, the show will continue to be successful, it’s only if she tries to change to fit her new audience that problems would arise. And that doesn’t seem likely.

Indeed, the only thing in the season three premiere (and trailer) that hints at The Guild’s new status as a cult hit is the presence of the King of all Geeks himself, Mr. Wil Wheaton, a.k.a. Wesley Crusher. Wheaton guest-stars in season three as the leader of a rival guild, but his appearance here is less of a stunt than a coronation; an acknowledgment of the fact that, like himself, The Guild has begun transcending its humble roots and has reached the top of the geek heap.

Or to put it more plainly, after two seasons of questing, the Knights of Good have finally reached the level cap and are now ready for some serious raiding. And that means one thing: epic drops for all their viewers.





My Grades: Season one gets a B+ for spirit; season two gets an A- with a special A+++ for Vork; and the season three premiere only gets an A- for reminding me what it’s like standing in one of those lines waiting for an expansion to come out. Not cool, guys.

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