Want to kill some time online? Geeks like me who favor MMORPGs will appreciate the comedy web series “The Guild,” which follows the on and offline lives of six gamers who play together as a guild. The ongoing story is narrated by the female lead, Syd, in-game name “Codex.” Season one opens with Codex being “dumped” by her therapist for refusing to kick her gaming habit, immediately followed by her guildmate Zaboo appearing on her doorstep to profess his undying- and unwanted- love.

The Guild, currently in its third season, features two central characters of Asian descent (Zaboo and Tinkerballa) and has introduced a new Asian character each season. Although The Guild doesn’t go out of its way to avoid racial cliches such as the overbearing mother and martial artist, these stereotypes seem to be exaggerated and mocked more than upheld. The characters are developed so artfully that the overall effect on Asian image seems to be a positive one- whatever small doubt I had about this in season 1 was crushed in season 2 when a new Asian male character was introduced who was portrayed as cool and “super hot”. Season 3 followed up with the introduction of a mysterious and sexy Korean gamer- hopefully the series goes on and continues to introduce more awesome Asian characters.

As a geek, a gamer, and a socially awkward person, I see parts of myself in many of the characters and appreciate 100% of the humor. Any gamer, even those who aren’t into MMORPGs, will get plenty of laughs out of this series, and I think non-gamers can enjoy it as well, although some of the jokes might not be immediately understood by those who aren’t game inclined.

The Guild can be watched any time, anywhere you have an internet connection (I have personally watched a few episodes while on the clock). Visit WatchTheGuild.com for information on when and where to view new episodes. You can watch the first two seasons in their entirety on YouTube.

Here’s episode one!