How an Online-Only TV Series Stays Successful 163
ChronoDragon writes "The Wall Street Journal points out that it is possible to make a successful web series without the backing of a studio. With the release of a music video, Do you Wanna Date My Avatar, and the start of Season of 3, the web series The Guild is ready for even more success. The Guild, created by Felicia Day (Doctor Horrible), is a low-budget comedy series about a group of MMORPG gamers and their interactions both online and off. While there are a lot of references that will be instantly recognized by gamers, the show is still very accessible to non-gamers."
You mean... (Score:5, Insightful)
Simple answer (Score:3, Insightful)
Oh, and wall street journal articles and front-page slashdots don't hurt either.
Re:Eek. (Score:3, Insightful)
Dating a high level elven huntress is fine, as long as she belongs to your RL girlfriend. WoW is also great as long as you can limit your usage so your RL girlfriend and job get more usage than WoW.
Tiny budgets help a lot (Score:4, Insightful)
Don't get me wrong, I enjoy The Guild, and am quite impressed how good the show is with what they have to work with, but if all TV had to be made with the tiny budgets they work with (each episode is like 10 minutes long, very limited sets, etc), you wouldn't get shows like Star Trek, Babylon 5, Firefly, or Battlestar Galactica, to name but a few.
I for one, am happy that at least *some* bigger budget shows are made (yes, yes, not all big-budget shows are any good - some are just big money holes), but I'd like to see a successful larger-budget online show, to pave the way for a gradual move to more television being online.
Re:Eek. (Score:2, Insightful)
Hardly accurate for all relationships. I played with my girlfriend for quite a while, and I must say nothing made her more attractive to me than her dancing as her troll priest avatar.
Here is an idea for your friends, why don't they try to take interest in what their guys enjoy? Then instead of bitching and moaning that their boyfriends don't spend enough time with them, they will want to find ways not to spend so much time together.
Re:Tiny budgets help a lot (Score:3, Insightful)
but I'd like to see a successful larger-budget online show, to pave the way for a gradual move to more television being online.
The main problem is control. With a small-budget show, you have a group of friends who generally agree on most things. With a larger budget you have more roles, more people, with more people becomes more disagreement. With TV you have the network more or less as a moderator, approve the content and distribute it. But with online its different, -anyone- can host it and its usually distributed over many channels, so do you put the content up for free on YouTube? Do you have ads on it? Do you have another site with it on there? Do you sell it? Do you sell it over a channel with DRM? What about iTunes, what if you want different pricing? Etc. This can lead to disagreements and eventually fragmentation.
Re:Eek. (Score:5, Insightful)
FWIW... I'm not sure that fits the definition of in moderation.
I mean, sure, some people watch TV seven nights a week, and compared to that, 4 nights only is limited... but for me, as a married guy with a kid, a hobby done in moderation means once a week, tops.
YMMV, of course -- I have no idea what your life is like, etc. But for me, just the thought of spending more than one night a week playing games makes my skin crawl with the thought of all the chores that wouldn't be getting done.
Re:Eek. (Score:3, Insightful)
World of Warcraft: Destroying relationships with girls since... well, the day it came out.
-- No. I mean this. I've got about six female friends that either bought it as a anniversary or birthday present, or their boyfriend bought it... and the relationship has always ended within eight months after that fateful purchase.
I'd be sold, except for the fact that your math doesn't work. I have six female friends that either bought [insert product here] as an anniversary or birthday present and they all broke up with their boy/girl friends within 8 months! That's almost certainly true for anyone who has at least 8 female friends.
WoW is a time sink, as are all MMOs. If you introduce a time sink into a relationship without an understanding around what you both want out of it, there's going to be trouble. The same is true for any hobby that requires a great deal of time. I've seen hunting and model rocketry have similar influences.
My last friend got so fed up that she took the laptop (with the CD still in it) and smashed it in the driveway, drove over it a few times, then hit it with a hammer.
Your friend is unstable. She needs help. Really.
Then she called all her friends and went to have ice cream. That game is pure evil -- it makes boys think dating a high level elf huntress is better than having a real girlfriend.
Jerks. Level isn't everything, you know!
Legions of geeks coming to the defense of the game in 5...4...
3/10 for the troll. 1/10 for the logic.
Re:Eek. (Score:3, Insightful)
nothing made her more attractive to me than her dancing as her troll priest avatar.
... and this is why geeks have the female stigma that we do. You're saying that *nothing* makes your girlfriend more attractive than when she logs in to a video game and presses a key. I mean, you've seen the girl naked before, right? But you would prefer watching a character dance onscreen than actually interacting with your girlfriend's physical body?
To each his own I guess..
Re:Eek. (Score:1, Insightful)
But you would prefer watching a character dance onscreen than actually interacting with your girlfriend's physical body?
If I had to sit through hours upon hours of shallow, meaningless conversation and gossip delivered in an artificially girly porn-star voice devoid of all personality* and then have to be teased for a week before I finally get to dip my wick into a bimbo who obviously never learned how to fuck in high school, then yeah, I'd much rather interact with a jumble of polygons I can shut off every now and then. But that's coming from somebody who actually gets pussy without having to pander to it. Your mileage may vary, mister friendzone!
*in other words, 99% of women in my age group...
Re:Eek. (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm just curious about what people are supposed to be doing at night after the kids are all in bed. Well, activities that don't involve making more kids aside.
Why is there this sense that we have to be busy doing things all the time? My parents used to watch TV at night, I prefer to play video games to unwind. I think it provides more mental stimulation than popping open a beer and sitting on the couch.
Re:Eek. (Score:3, Insightful)
So she's got you by the virtual balls as well?
She's female. So it is OK (Score:1, Insightful)
Only men can commit acts of violence and domestic abuse.
She is female and therefore, by definition, a victim not a perpetrator of violence.
Really, you didn't learn this in school, or at least college?
Well, I am sure a judge will be more than happy to teach you it someday.
Re:You mean... (Score:3, Insightful)
Amazon.com Sales Rank: #8 in MP3 Songs (See Bestsellers in MP3 Songs)
Popular in these categories: (What's this?)
#1 in MP3 Songs > Dance & DJ
#5 in MP3 Songs > Pop
Oh shi-
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002JEEJ2A?tag=you09f-20 [amazon.com]