Since her boyfriend has broken up with her, Cyd aka Codex didn't have
much of a real life - which is half as bad, since she has been spending
most of her time with other people who don't have a real life doing an
online-roleplay, and this six-strong community clls itself The Guild.
Everything seems to be working out fine with her new online friends until
one day, one of them, Zaboo (Sandeep Parikh) shows up on her doorstep,
tells Codex he's in love with her, and moves with her in without even
being invited. To get rid of Zaboo, Codex figures she needs moral
support from friends, but the only people close to her presently are the
guys and girls from the Guild - unemployed and pedantic Guild-leader Vork
(Jeff Lewis), cynical Tinkerballa (Amy Okuda), mother-of-three Clara
(Robin Thorsen) and hot-headed teen Bladezz (Vincent Caso) ... and their
first ever meeting in person leads to desaster: Not only do the others not
help Codex getting rid of Zaboo - after all, to them the two have been a(n
online) couple for months now -, it also leads to Bladezz quitting the
guild with all their virtual money and weapons, and now he posts nude
pictures of their characters on the web. Problems for Codex are only
increasing though when Zaboo's mother (Viji Nathan) shows up on her
doorstep too, accusing her of stealing her son and trying all sorts of
things to get Zaboo back ... until Zaboo tries to hang himself and is only
just saved by Codex. With the naked pictures online, the Guild is
threatened with expulsion from their game as such, but Zaboo claims he
knows how to get Bladezz to take the pics down - but only if Codex helps
him escape his mother. Ultimately, the Guild meets again (in person),
and Bladezz is confronted with pictures of himself he doesn't want to come
out, so he quickly agrees to take down the naked pics and even reconciles
with the others ... when Zaboo's mother shows up, and Codex, inspired by
her success with Bladezz, encourages the others to stand firm against
Zaboo's mother the Guild way - and ultimately, the sextet manages to stand
up against the woman, and against all odds, the story ends happily. There's
only one problem left - Zaboo is still not convinced that Codex is not his
girlfriend. Probably one of the first series about
online-roleplaying and written by World of Warcraft-afficionado
Felicia Day, The Guild is still totally accessible to people
(like me) who don't have the first idea about online-gaming as such, as
wisely enough, the emphasis of the series is not on the game (which
remains unnamed) as such but on human interactions - or actually the lack
thereof. Besides an intelligent and witty script, The Guild's
biggest asset is its cast of great characters, first and foremost of
course Felicia Day, who carries the whole series as a highly insecure and
socially challenged young woman who prefers online gaming with all of its
experience points to real life experience, because online, everything is
much more measurable. Recommended.
Ah yeah, The Guild was created as a web-series,
and you can find the entire first season by clicking
here. Enjoy!
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