Guild Structure and Social Structure
When one looks at a video game, one generalizes the notion of “Kill, kill, kill,” “Build, build, build,” or “FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU.” Rarely, does one ever consider the idea of a social structure, or hierarchy. And even rarer is the conceptualization of such an abstract thought being impactful to a freshman college student. While sitting in my philosophy class for the day, absorbing the ideas of Hegel and Marx, I couldn’t help but to build on my most recent reflection of “The Guild” graphic novel. There, I stated the importance of social interaction, complimenting Day’s ingenuity and ability to empathize with readers like myself in such a touching way. Being a massive nerd and sucker for abstract thought, I felt it a duty to sit and think about the social structure within “The Guild”, as well as its correlation to guilds from the various MMO’s on the market.
I just want to flag this segment here and say that I am in no way speaking for the views and ideologies of the cast, director, or any staff involved with “The Guild”. I am simply expressing my own interpretations and viewpoints, whether they are wrong, or spot-on.
From what we’ve seen as far as the four seasons of “The Guild”, we know that there are two primary groups. The Knights of Good, and The Axis of Anarchy. The Knights of Good are founded to do just that, be chivalrous caretakers to each other. The Axis of Anarchy just wants to be the top dog at everything, and will obtain this status by any means necessary. I honestly felt a correlation to the economical structures of Communism and Capitalism.
The idea of TKoG being Communist sounds extreme, and really, within season 4, that idea shatters, but it shouldn’t be neglected from the previous 3 seasons. Indulging into the graphic novel, readers find that the creation of TKoG occurred because Codex wanted to make an official pact of players that would always participate in activities together. It would be one helping the other. That was the original intent of TKoG, and for awhile it was successful. Eventually, viewers could see that human nature would distract from this, particularly when Clara does not receive an item from Vork, losing it to the highest bidder. It only gets worse from there, with the Tink and Bladezz conflict, Vork monopolizing the market, and the competition for creating the guild hall. It is here that the ideals of the original TKoG crumbles, and perhaps The Axis of Anarchy takes a turn to rise up.
TAoA is made up of elitists that serve an obscure combination of themselves, and their leader, Fawkes (I love you Al, er, Wil). What I mean by this is that they do what they do for self-pride, fame, and power, yet they seem to humbly follow the orders of Fawkes, because they really believe that he is capable of taking them to such great heights. Capitalism correlation? Surely. TAoA, are elitists. The individual must work hard and provide for the team, otherwise let them down. In real-world analogies, a salesman who is not providing high levels of profit to a company would essentially be “/gkicked”. Now my comprehension of the Communist ideals is miniscule, but I assume that they also have their form of /gkick’ing for lack of performance. So then, does that not make TAoA just as communist as they are capitalist? To be honest, it would appear that they are more communist. They have an end-goal and attempt to reach it together, as the elite (paradox). They try to be better than everyone else, working together to project themselves to the top. They don’t care how they get there, or who gets what, as long as it happens. They are well disciplined, as ironic as that may be as Anarchists, and they acknowledge their personal roles within the system. I guess it would make sense that they were an Anarchist Communism… XD
Obviously, leadership and responsibility plays a vivid role, and a Fawkes vs. Vork comparison is definitely a large enough topic for another blog post. (First, I will be buying the Vork comic to do more background research…. pitching for a Fawkes one!)
So then, in comparison, has the structure of TAoA dominated because of their ideals? Sure, they did lose to Codex and The Knights of Good in season 4, but any internal conflict afterward has not been as observable. Could they have the ideal social and economic structure that society has been searching for? Could their crudeness be humbled to make it relative to a better social experience?
These are questions that one could ask about current guilds within the MMO market. Every guild could be considered a participant in the grand economic scheme that is the server. There are those that want to make it to the top of the server, providing skill and time that they possess. There are others that wish to only help each other, and build fellowships that last a lifetime. Is it possible to make a successful, classless guild within an MMO? Could society study these social structures for the better of humanity? Are video games allowing us to observe bigger concepts than we allow them to? What if we were to develop a guild experiment, on various WoW servers, and just sit and observe the production and development of these guilds? From the success of their progression to the reputation on the server, if they are not already proportionally related; record and make variables for economic success in terms of in-game currency, the in-game economy, and display in relation to time…maybe we’re closer to answering these “bigger picture questions” than we thought we were.
I’m dying to write a “Philosophy of…” book on “The Guild” >_>
Fight Scene from “The Guild” – Season 3 (episode 11)
