Do You Wanna Date My Avatar? Do you?

If you’re not familiar with, or a fan of, The Guild I have one question for you: What the heck are you doing on a site dedicated to gaming with a bent toward MMO and RPG? I mean, seriously? Come on. That’s just ridiculous. Fine! Go ahead and take your FPS and RTS! See if I care. Really. I mean it. Just go.
*ahem* Sorry about that. I… I’m not sure what happened there. We’re still friends, right? Ok. Good. Anyway…
The Guild. Probably (at least one of) the best web series out there is getting ready to premier their new season (August 25). To keep everyone interested, they have created a song and music video called “Do You Wanna Date My Avatar”, which frankly asks the question that’s on nearly everyone’s mind when it comes to immersive MMORPG gaming.

The video stars the cast that we’ve all (at least those of us that watch the series) grown to know and love: Codex (Felicia Day), Vork (Jeff Lewis), Zaboo (Sandip Parikh), Tinkerballa (Amy Okuda), Clara (Robin Thorsen), and Bladezz (Vincent Caso). And, as previously mentioned, the ultimate question is asked ‘Do you wanna date my avatar’? The burning question of online gaming (and online interaction in general, really).
The Song: A catchy little technopop ditty that is innocuous enough. Not too poppy, not too heavily tech’ed out. Just enough to keep us listening, and maybe get the toes tapping.
The Video: This is where the whole thing really shines. Each character, which we’ve grown to know only by their real-life appearance, is presented in their gaming persona, each showing both their idealized and real personality.
The Smarts: One of the things that The Guild always got right was the pain with which socially-awkward individuals interact with each other in the real world. For many people, the ability to create an idealized representation of what they feel to be their inner-self has allowed them to interact socially with people on a level greater than was ever possible before the advent of the Internet. On the Internet, anyone can be beautiful.
What I love about this video:

  • Codex (Felicia Day) in full-on hotness mode: I always thought of Felicia Day as ‘That cute, kinda nerdy actress that does some bit parts in shows I like’. In the video, we see Codex’s (and I think a little bit of Felicia’s) idealized self as the fire-haired vixen ready to take on the world. If you’re even remotely a fan of Felicia, the final few frames will make your heart skip a beat.
  • Vork (Jeff Lewis) and Zaboo (Sanip Parikh) rapping: This is really my favorite part of the video. There’s not much I can say more than that I simply love it.
  • The Lyrics of the Chorus, which sum up the entire idea of the song:

    Do you wanna date my avatar?
    She’s a star
    And she’s hotter than reality by far
    Wanna date my avatar?

So, if you’re not a fan of The Guild, or if you’ve never heard of it. Check out the vid. I believe it will change your mind or hopefully get you interested. If you get interested, hop over to their site and watch the first two seasons, it will only take you about an hour. I guarantee you’ll find at least something to like about it.