The Guild

Walk by actress Felicia Day at Comic-Con and you're sure to see the geek culture icon surrounded by fans — maybe even one dressed as Codex, her character on the long-running web series The Guild. After making her name on Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, Felicia launched the series in 2007 as an ode to her love of online role-playing games. The show returns for its sixth season today on the Geek & Sundry YouTube channel.

I caught up with the It girl of geek culture to talk the latest on The Guild, the rise of mobile gaming, and what it means to be a geek girl.

What's new in season six of The Guild?
I’m really excited about The Guild this season as far as Codex goes, because she starts to work at the game itself. And for those new to the show, if you start from season one, I know sometimes it can seem a little too "inside gamer-y" for people; so, season after season we’ve been broadening our scope. Geek culture has been broadening over the years, and people who aren’t necessarily MMO [massively multiplayer online role-playing games] players will really love this season.

Have you seen the online gaming world The Guild is based on change with the growth of social-media-based games?
I definitely think gaming is much more mainstream now because of social games as well as mobile games. People are casually playing a lot more games, and that's probably echoing up the gaming food chain. There are still your triple A titles that took five years of work, but a lot more people are considering gaming just a part of their lives. As the seasons of The Guild have gone on, the show has grown past just being about MMO players playing with each other online. The characters have full lives, and in season six, we see Codex go into the actual game to have a job for the first time; so it’s about expanding our world, which is an interesting parallel with gaming, as well.

Keep reading for Felicia's all-time favorite video games and her advice for geek women after the jump.

We've loved Felicia Day even before she made us LOL during her first The Guild music video last year. Not to mention the fact that Felicia has starred and guest-starred in several geek-worshipped shows like Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and of course the online sensation The Guild (Season Three is available for download on iTunes now, and DVD on Feb. 15 for those of you who want to relive the magic), which makes her one of the more recognizable figures in geek culture today.

Felicia is not only a fabulous actress, but she's also an inspiration for geek girls everywhere — talented, beautiful, and knows her way around an MMO. Truth be told, we've got a bit of a girl crush.

Why do you think online gaming (and World of Warcraft in particular) is so close to people’s hearts and so widely accepted among such a variety of people?
It's hard to create a community in real life now, most of us don't even know our neighbors, our lives are so spread out between home and friends and work. Online gaming allows you to create a home and community of sorts, as well as provides engaging entertainment. I personally would rather be solving puzzles and finishing quests than passively absorbing a TV show or movie.

Do you think gaming and technology brings people closer together, or creates more of a distraction in relationships?
It depends on the person and how you use it. I certainly have been annoyed by people fiddling with their phones while I'm physically sitting across from them, but at the same time I keep in touch with my brother much better over the Internet than when we ever lived in the same city. I think the thing to be careful of is that technology or gaming doesn't become exclusionary to the people physically in your life.

Find out what Felicia thinks about geeky pick-up lines, her favorite trends, and why she won't be eating any prix fixe dinners with her boyfriend this Valentine's Day when you read more

• BlackBerry users with a TiVo box can now record their favorite shows remotely with the TiVo app — The Boy Genius Report
• Borders will be rolling out free WiFi in 500 store locations across the country — CrunchGear
• Wired chats with Felicia Day about the Guild and what it's like to be a geek in Hollywood — Wired
• A BlackBerry desktop manager for Macs is said to be coming out on Oct. 2 — Engadget
• Zipcar releases a pretty sweet iPhone app that will even unlock your car for you — USA Today
• The Motorola Cliq android handset is coming to stores on Nov. 2 and will cost $200 — Gizmodo
• It's giveaway and game time on GeekSugar! Be sure to log in and play our Best Video Game Ever bracket! — GeekSugar

With the third season of the web based series The Guild starting August 25, the fantasy MMO characters are appearing in a new music video called, "Do You Want to Date My Avatar?" With The Guild star Felicia Day serenading us with lines like, "You'll never see my actual face, our love will be in virtual space." The video basically mocks all of the stereotypes associated with people having really hot avatars in role playing games like World of Warcraft. The beat is catchy and the lyrics are even better.