So the new episode of The Guild is out, kicking off its second season, and all in all it’s pretty damn good. Here’re my first thoughts, cross-posted from their forums.

Admittedly this is only the first five minutes of the season, so it’s tough to draw a robust conclusion, but I do feel the above statement is accurate. In many ways it feels like a totally different show – the increased production values are obvious in everything from the lighting and makeup to the direction, soundtrack and even the opening credits. The performances have also become less low-key and understated, erring more on the over-the-top side (Codex’ fall onto the bed would’ve been a good example if not for hitting her head, which was a nice touch. Better is the largely visual scene towards the end with her and Zabbu, which used much more exaggerated visuals and frankly minimal dialogue). Other people have noted that the dialogue’s also shifting away, at least a little, from authentic gamer terms – it doesn’t shy from “raid dps”, but does avoid “dkp” for some reason. It’s a strange mix.

But all these things just mean that it’s different, not worse. The show is still roaringly funny – I was laughing pretty much from the moment of Codex’ double-take in response to the T1 until the end of the episode. In and of itself, I really can’t fault it – it did what it set out to do, which was be a really entertaining way to spend a few minutes. I just think you need to be careful if you’re expecting more in the same vein as Season One, because it’s certainly moved forward in the intervening space. If it gets better as quickly as I hope it will, the next few episodes will be awesome.

Oh, and one other thing: XBL making me install Silverlight to download a video onto my PC is a joke. Bollocks to that, I’d rather just stream it.