Line #22 Series/MythicQuest


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mq.png]]
2	''Mythic Quest''[[note]]Subtitled ''Raven's Banquet'' during season 1[[/note]] is a comedy web television series that premiered in 2020 on Creator/AppleTVPlus. It was created by the team behind ''Series/ItsAlwaysSunnyInPhiladelphia'', and is co-produced by video game studio Creator/{{Ubisoft}}, who also created the game content shown in the series.
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4	The show follows the behind-the-scenes exploits of the game studio behind ''Mythic Quest'', the world's most popular MassivelyMultiplayerOnlineRolePlayingGame. The creative and business sides of the studio are in constant conflict as Ian Grimm (Creator/RobMcElhenney), the creator and creative director, is distracted with whether or not their work is establishing a worthy legacy for himself. Lead programmer Poppy Li (Creator/CharlotteNicdao) prioritizes making the game an enjoyable work of art, lead writer C.W. Longbotton (Creator/FMurrayAbraham) pretends he's got a handle on the game's story, while head of monetization Brad Bakshi (Creator/DannyPudi) just wants to keep the money flowing. In the midst of it all, affable but exploitable EP David Brittlesbee (Creator/DavidHornsby) tries to assert his authority, including over his slightly psychotic new assistant Jo (Creator/JessieEnnis), while recently-recruited testers Dana (Creator/ImaniHakim) and Rachel (Creator/AshlyBurch) try to keep their heads above water.
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6	As all this is going on, the team struggles to remain in the good graces of their player base, terrified at the very real possibility that millions of people will turn away and result in the studio's closure.
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8	Three seasons have been released, and the show is confirmed for a fourth. A spin-off series, ''Mere Mortals'', was [[https://deadline.com/2022/12/apple-tv-orders-mythic-quest-companion-series-mere-mortals-1235200235/ announced]] during the third season.
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11	!This series provides examples of:
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13	* ActorAllusion: [[Creator/DannyPudi Brad]] discusses his dream to own [[PooledFunds his own money bin]] just like [[Franchise/DuckTales Scrooge McDuck]]. His actor previously played Huey Duck in the [[WesternAnimation/DuckTales2017 2017 reboot]] of ''[=DuckTales=]''.
14	* AdamWesting: Season 3 features Creator/JoeManganiello, who makes no secret of his many nerdy interests, as the overzealous potential lead actor in a planned ''Mythic Quest'' adaptation.
15	* TheAlcoholic: C.W., who's rarely seen without a bottle or flask in hand.
16	* TheAllegedBoss: David often fills this role. Despite being the game's executive producer, and thus, in charge of managing the entire studio, he's shown to not only be woefully ineffectual at controlling his team, he knows it.
17	* AntiClimax: In-universe as episode 2 is all about avoiding this. For years, the game has built up a mysterious Masked Man armored knight with fans buzzing on his identity. Ian has hyped it up as "it'll blow you away" when fans find out his identity. The problem is, despite what Ian and C.W. tell everyone, they have ''never'' had any plan for who the Masked Man is and now realize if they don't come up with something big, the backlash will be huge.
18	* AxCrazy: Jo is perfectly OK if her actions result in someone else's death.
19	* BadInfluencer: The fandom of the titular in-universe MMO is represented by Pootie Shoe, an influential teenage streamer with millions of followers. He's also bratty and very crass, and the developers frequently call him a "piece of shit" even as they await his opinion with bated breath.
20	* BatmanGambit: Brad is an absolute ''master'' of this:
21	** When it's revealed through a Kotaku article that Neo-Nazis are using MQ as a gathering ground, David decides to put together a statement denouncing the Nazis, and have them banned from the servers. Brad, not wanting to lose the revenue stream that the Nazis generate, instead hamstrings David's announcement by insisting that David put together a committee to decide which racial and social groups are acceptable and which aren't, all for the sole purpose of distracting David from producing the statement.
22	** When C.W. refuses to write a backstory for Dana, Brad replaces him with a robot that apprently uses AI to create stories. He even produces a couple of pages purportedly written by the robot, and leaves the machine in his office to taunt C.W., who slips into eventual despair after reading the pages and acknowledging their brilliance. Brad eventually reveals that the pages are actually C.W.'s own work, and the "robot" nothing more than an air conditioner - the whole point was to make C.W. beg to be allowed to write anything the company needs, which is totally successful.
23	** The most simple gambit for Brad occurs during the quarantine episode. David wants to make a $100,000 donation to charity, but Brad refuses on the grounds that he doesn't do charity, as he gets nothing out of it. David offers to play him in ''Franchise/StreetFighter'' as a bet; if David wins, Brad has to make the donation, but if Brad wins, David has to shave one of his eyebrows. After David loses, he begs to go again, so Brad ups the stakes to $300,000, and if David loses, he also has to shave his moustache. Brad wins, resulting in David shaving; Brad then reveals afterwards that he made the donation anyway, and in fact, was ''always'' going to make it - he just wanted David's dignity for it, and knew that David wouldn't be able to refuse the bet.
24	** Poppy also launches a good one of her own in her attempt to distract Ian so that he doesn't discover that someone hacked the Masked Man. She moves new programmer Paul, who stands at 6'6", into the main office, knowing that Ian's ego will be threatened by his mere physical ''presence'', and result in Ian spending all his time trying to prove himself the office alpha instead of paying attention to the game. It works.
25	** Poppy manages to play both David and Ian in season 2, by manipulating both of them to give her exactly what she wants when forced to give a speech at a women in gaming conference.
26	* BeleagueredBureaucrat: Carol, the studio's HR manager, whom everyone treats like a therapist (despite her protestations). She tries to get everyone to understand that their behavior is ''not'' OK, but no one will listen.
27	* BerserkButton:
28	** For Jo, it's anyone she deems to be challenging or disrespecting Ian. In season 3, because Jo is making an effort to be a better assistant to David, the same thing starts to apply to anyone Jo perceives as challenging or disrespecting David.
29	** Do NOT eat Poppy's ice cream sandwiches.
30	* BigBrotherBully:
31	** Zack Bakshi is shown to have been a huge one to Brad growing up. He regularly mocks and manipulates Brad, constantly puts him down by using a cruel nickname (''motu'', which means "fatso" in Hindi), and he terrifies Brad with his general ruthlessness.
32	** Tracy Liwanag is implied to be one to Poppy in the flashback episode "Sarian." What little we see of her shows her mocking Poppy's nerdy interests and calling her a "freakazoid."
33	* BitchInSheepsClothing: Brad's brother, Zach. He seems a genial, loveable guy who doesn't notice his brother's contempt and everyone loves him. When they're alone, it comes out he's an egotistical, manipulative, ruthless bully who cowers Brad into ''begging'' not to ruin his life. Zach also lied to everyone that it was Brad's birthday with a big cake... which is mocking Brad's ''eating disorder''.
34	* BitingTheHandHumor: A rather subtle example: it's mentioned that the game's unnamed publisher is based in Montreal (which is how they're only ever referred to), and that they're known for being picky and controlling. Now, consider [[Creator/{{Ubisoft}} who co-produces this series, and whose flagship studio is in Montreal...]]
35	* BlandNameProduct:
36	** The titular game is the show's stand-in for ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft''.
37	** ''Dark Quiet Death'', the game published by Mythic Quest Studios' predecessor, which went from an indie survival horror game to a massive franchise including a bad movie adaptation, contains elements of both the original ''VideoGame/AloneInTheDark'' and ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil''
38	** ''Playpen'', Poppy's solo project, is a game with simplistic graphics and massive addiction potential which allows the players to create their own minigames, just like ''Platform/{{Roblox}}''. While the game is a huge success in RealLife, [[ItWillNeverCatchOn Poppy's investors are having none of it.]]
39	* BottleEpisode:
40	** The quarantine episode, [[RealLifeWritesThePlot by necessity]].
41	** "Please Sign Here" is entirely set in the MQ bullpen.
42	* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Happens a lot, usually with Ian completely forgetting he once angered someone who's turned it into a vendetta.
43	* CallForward: The flashback episodes each season have a few of these.
44	** In the season 3 flashback episode, "Sarian:"
45	*** 10-year-old Poppy uses the same hand gesture that her adult self used to talk about the "Dinner Party" feature, to talk about getting a bicycle.
46	*** Poppy's tendency to call the other Mythic Quest programmers "freakazoids" is referenced and implied to stem from the fact that her older sister Tracy used to call her a "freakazoid" all the time.
47	*** Ian's dad uses the same thinking pose that we regularly see Ian use throughout the series.
48	*** Ian's [[ItsPronouncedTropay unusual]] pronunciation of his name is referenced when Ian's father corrects it with the more standard pronunciation of his name.
49	* TheCameo: "Everlight" is narrated by [[Creator/AnthonyHopkins Sir Anthony Hopkins]], of all people.
50	* CelebrityParadox: Rachel has a statue of Aloy from ''VideoGame/HorizonZeroDawn'' behind her during the quarantine episode. Aloy is voiced by Rachel's actress, Creator/AshlyBurch. Doubles as an ActorAllusion.
51	** A few quick snippets of unaltered Horizon footage are even used as scene transitions in the season 2 episode, Juice Box.
52	* ChildProdigy: [[spoiler:Pootie Shoe, despite being a 14-year-old kid, is actually smart enough to hack MQ, take control of the Masked Man, and use him to give away thousands of dollars worth of loot, attack characters with admin privileges, and level the character up with ''every single spell'' in the game.]]
53	* CloudCuckoolander / EccentricArtist: C.W.
54	* DidntThinkThisThrough: In the season 2 finale, Jo agrees to a deal from Brad's brother Zach on getting cash for stocks after sharing problems with the company. It's only then she realizes what she did constitutes insider trading and at least ten years in prison. Both Zach and Brad mock Jo on failing to see such an obvious problem.
55	* DistancedFromCurrentEvents: InUniverse example. After triumphantly implementing adding the Blood Ocean plague to Mythic Quest at the end of Season 1, Poppy is almost immediately forced to patch the plague out of the game after [[RealLifeWritesThePlot the COVID-19 pandemic.]] [[spoiler: She ends up adding a vaccine to the game instead.]]
56	* DudeWheresMyRespect: Poppy is perpetually frustrated because she's responsible for the actual work that goes into the game but Ian gets all the credit and glory. On top of this, many of the ideas she suggests are either dismissed or outright laughed at by Ian and the crew.
57	* EveryoneCallsHimBarkeep: Rachel and Dana are only known as "Tester" to those who even notice them. This frustrates the two, as they want to move up in the company and be known for other things.
58	* FiveTokenBand: {{Invoked}}. Brad manipulates well-meaning and white David into forming an ethics committee that's as diverse as possible to figure out how to deal with hate groups on the platform (as a way to buy time since the Nazis are paying customers — Brad's priority). David initially recruits Brad himself (Indian-Polish), Jo (white woman) and Dana (black woman). He also includes Rachel and C.W. after considering they're a lesbian and old respectively. The show itself also qualifies, as that group is most of the show's main cast minus Ian (White Male Lead) and Poppy (Filipino woman).
59	* TheFriendNobodyLikes:
60	** Everyone hates Brad but they tolerate him because his money-grubbing ideas work and he controls the company's finances.
61	** To a lesser extent, Rachel's tendency for speechifying and attempts to push social justice issues often result in disdain from most of the MQ staff. The only reason it's not as pronounced is because most people don't remember she exists.
62	* FromTheMouthsOfBabes: "Sarian" shows that as 10-year-olds, Ian and Poppy had surprisingly foul mouths for their ages. Their parents didn't seem overly concerned about this: Ian's principal scolded him for his language but Ian's mom didn't seem to mind, and while Poppy's dad scolded her for saying "shit," he was more approving [[DoWrongRight when she said "shit" in Tagalog.]]
63	-->'''Young Ian:''' Dennis Hogan is a stupid dick!
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65	-->'''Young Poppy:''' Eat shit, Tracy!
66	* GentleGiant: Tall Paul, an employee at ''Mythic Quest'' played by the 6' 7" [[note]]2,01 m[[/note]] Humphrey Ker who also happens to be a really nice and easygoing guy.
67	* GilliganCut: A common trick.
68	** Prepared to fight someone in the game, Ian boasts "I can beat anyone at any time." Cut to his character being blown up by Poppy who laughs at just how bad Ian is at his own game.
69	* GoneHorriblyRight: In Season 3, Carol wants to fire a couple of people to stop Joe from filing a discrimination lawsuit. Brad and Rachel point out that thanks to her diverse hiring practice, just about every part of the company has employees who fall under a diverse category. Carol lampshades "I'm a victim of my own success." She does end up managing to fire two testers and replace them with over-40 year olds.
70	* HollywoodGameDesign: The show features a massively popular MMORPG developed by a handful of programmers - the director is emotional and obsessed with masculinity, the lead engineer fights to add features against his wishes, a head writer seems to be in charge of the story and trying to create a cohesive plot without any of the characters' interference, and one character's job seems to be simply finding new ways of getting players to spend money through microtransactions.
71	* IAmNotLeftHanded: After losing two ''Street Fighter V'' matches against Brad during the quarantine special, David pulls out an arcade pad and reveals that he's actually a lifelong ''Street Fighter'' player. [[spoiler: Promptly subverted, as he still gets his ass handed to him.]]
72	* IdenticalGrandson: Ginny, the daughter of CW's old friend Anne Goldsmith, looks exactly like her mother. CW even mistook her for her mother when he woke up after passing out from alcohol intoxication.
73	-->'''Ginny:''' I inherited my mother's looks and my father's acid reflux.
74	* IntergenerationalFriendship: Ian and Poppy, though it's a more toxic example than most. They're at least ten years apart in age.
75	* IronicEcho: In "Sarian," young Poppy says her mom doesn't know what fun is. Decades later, Ian accuses Poppy of the same thing because so many of Poppy's ideas for their new game involve taking control away from the player.
76	* ItsAllAboutMe:
77	** Ian for sure, called out on it constantly by everyone. Notably when [[spoiler: his own son notes Ian has spent their entire conversation talking about himself in their difficult relationship]].
78	** Season 3 has Ian constantly wondering why he wasn't consulted on some moves by MQ, ignoring the tiny detail he not longer works there.
79	** When he hears a ''Mythic Quest'' movie is being made, Ian asks why he wasn't consulted on it, ignoring the tiny detail he left the company. David then realizes that Ian is under the impression the movie is a ''biography'' of ''him'' not the game's adventure.
80	* ItsBeenDone:
81	** C.W. excitedly comes up with a backstory for the Masked Man, only for Ian to realize that it's just the plot of the original ''Franchise/StarWars'' trilogy.
82	** In his [[spoiler: farewell note, C.W. says he's going to end his life on his own terms by driving his car into the Grand Canyon, "something that has never been done before." Everyone instantly notes that's the ending to ''Film/ThelmaAndLouise''.]]
83	** In Season 3, Ian makes a big deal of a new style of workstation. Poppy has to spell out all he's done is "invent" the cubicle.
84	* JiveTurkey: Some of Poppy's Australian slang is contemporary ("bogan", "sex pest"), but some of it is a century out of date ("drongo", "cobber"). It may be intentional, as Poppy is distinctly "uncool," despite her insistence otherwise.
85	* MagnumOpusDissonance: In-universe. Season 3 has Poppy obsessed with ''Hera,'' which she thinks is the next big gaming epic. She has some coders test it only to be thrown when they say that while the game is technically perfect, it's just not fun to play. Meanwhile, ''Playpen,'' a little puzzle mess that Poppy openly calls "a piece of shit" from unused data, ends up becoming addictive to anyone who plays it.
86	* MaleFrontalNudity: In-universe, Ian strips his avatar down to nothing when fighting the Masked Man, resulting in mass {{Squick}} for the audience watching the duel (and the Masked Man himself).
87	* MomentKiller: Rachel takes Dana to a video game arcade in order to unwind. The two find themselves in close quarters in an arcade racing game, leading to an AlmostKiss... and then Jo, who's been sent to track down Dana, loudly and obnoxiously shows up to break the spell.
88	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Doc gets one near the end of "Dark Quiet Death", when he realizes that he sacrificed his marriage and integrity for the sake of a more mass-appeal marketable product. Unfortunately, he's powerless to stop it at that point.
89	* NewSeasonNewName: Season one was called ''Mythic Quest: Raven's Banquet'', season 2 dropped the "Raven's Banquet" subtitle.
90	* NotSoRemote: A variation in the Season 3 premier as Ian and Poppy seem to have a big new studio set up in some distant location with Poppy complaining on things like "no lines" and such. They meet the rest of the gang, talking as if they haven't seen each other in a while and the long distance between them. Ian and Poppy leave on an elevator...which drops them off at their studio as they're literally just a few floors down from MQ.
91	* OnlySaneMan: Poppy when it comes with dealing with issues in the game itself, David when it comes to the day-to-day management of MQ. Of course, the chaotic nature of the studio often [[NotSoAboveItAll sweeps them up as well]].
92	* OutOfGenreExperience: The episode "Dark Quiet Death" is nothing like the rest of the WorkCom style of the show, playing as a fairly realistic drama portraying the start of a relationship through to its end, as the success of their combined work and the concessions they have to make in their vision ultimately causes them to break up.
93	** Season 2 has "Backstory!" which recaps C.W.'s life and career arc, from an aspiring writer in the 70s to how he ultimately ended up at MQ.
94	** Season 3 has "Sarian," a WholeEpisodeFlashback split between Ian and Poppy's childhoods, ending with their meeting.
95	* PetTheDog:
96	** Despite being an egomaniacal {{Jerkass}} most of the time, Ian has his moments. The biggest comes at the end of the first season, when he [[spoiler:gets David his job back, secures overtime pay for the dev team, and makes Poppy his co-Creative Director]].
97	** A non-altruistic version occurs with Brad. [[spoiler:After Dana is outed as MQ's in-house streamer, and subsequently fired, Rachel begs Brad to get Dana her job back. She asks him if he cares about anything, with his response being that he cares about money, but only as a means of "owning" people. He then does get Dana her job back by promoting Lou the replacement tester... purely to emphasize to Rachel that he now "owns" her too.]]
98	* PlatonicDeclarationOfLove: In "Buffalo Chicken Pizza," [[spoiler: Ian's speech to Poppy includes "I love you, you love me, and everything else is semantics." Poppy, touched, admits that she loves Ian too, to which he matter-of-factly replies, [[MomentKiller "Yeah, I know. I just covered that in my speech."]]]]
99	* PoorCommunicationKills: Thanks to being on the phone to Jo about a meeting with an actor, David accidentally ignores another call that inadvertently allows David to push putting NFT's into the game.
100	* PopCulturalOsmosisFailure:
101	** The second episode reveals that C.W. has never seen or heard of ''Franchise/StarWars''.
102	** Subverted for laughs when Ian tries to explain to Poppy who the Beatles were. When she snaps she knows full well who one of the most iconic bands in history was, he replied "I couldn't be sure, you didn't know what ''Film/WeirdScience'' was!"
103	** Dana and Poppy play a game on ''Playpen'' that has their avatars picking chocolate off a treadmill. When Dana notes it's like the classic scene from ''Series/ILoveLucy'', Poppy says "I'm not hip. I don't know queer culture."
104	* ProductPlacement: [[https://www.razer.com/ Razer]] products are used prominently throughout the series.
105	** The scene transitions in season 1 look suspiciously like VideoGame/ForHonor animations, an Ubisoft game. Although somewhat subverted by the fact that the episode doesn't otherwise call them out.
106	** One season 2 episode has Ian refer to Hyper Scape (a free to play competitive multiplayer FPS made by Ubisoft) as a "mega franchise." However, by the time the episode aired in May of 2021 the game had already flopped and been forgotten by most gamers, making the apparent attempt at promoting it unintentionally hilarious.
107	* RealAwardFictionalCharacter: It's noted several times that C.W. Longbottom won the prestigious Nebula Award for Best Sci-Fi Novel in 1973. (The actual winner was Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''Literature/TheGodsThemselves''.) [[spoiler: CW’s work that won was a rework draft Asimov did for him. Meaning Asimov still won.]]
108	* RealLifeWritesThePlot:
109	** [[UsefulNotes/COVID19Pandemic COVID]]...
110	*** The shot-at-home BottleEpisode "Quarantine"
111	*** Rachel's hair goes gray in "Quarantine" because Creator/AshlyBurch could not get it dyed during quarantine. The character's hair remains gray even after the return to the Mythic Quest office.
112	*** C.W. is only shown through screens for much of season two due to concerns of the octogenarian actor Creator/FMurrayAbraham contracting COVID onset.
113	** On a darker note, Creator/FMurrayAbraham's firing between seasons two and three due to accusations of sexual harassment necessitated [[spoiler:[[KilledOffscreen killing off]] C.W. at the beginning of season three]].
114	* TheReveal: Episode 8 reveals that [[spoiler:Pootie Shoe is actually Ian's estranged son, Brendan]].
115	* RootingForTheEmpire: In-universe and literally with Brad.
116	-->'''Rachel''': Why are all your ''Franchise/StarWars'' references villains?
117	-->'''Brad''': They're the heroes.
118	* RevenueEnhancingDevices: InUniverse example. Brad is head of monetization for the titular MMORPG, and every decision and stance he makes is to increase their revenue stream. In the first episode he suggests tying Poppy's proposed digging mechanic to a {{fanservice}}-y {{loot box\|es}}, and in the second he suggests basing an NPC identity reveal around the launch of an in-game casino (which Poppy derides as artless).
119	* RubeGoldbergDevice: The quarantine episode features the entire cast, via video chat, participating in the construction of a video version of one.
120	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: [[spoiler:Subverted. After being dismissed and ignored one time too many, and fed up with the constant chaos at MQ, Poppy decides to accept an offer of employment from a rival game studio as a creative director. Unfortunately, she flip-flops on whether she truly wants to leave; by the time she's finally, truly had enough and decides that she does, the rival studio rescind their offer, leaving her stuck at MQ]].
121	* SelfServingMemory: All over the place.
122	** Ian has a remarkable ability to rework things to always be in his favor.
123	** Brad isn't far behind him. After Poppy spends all day at a convention trying to get them to accept Dana as their new streamer, it takes seeing some girls excited to hire her. At which point, Brad and Ian act like this was always their idea and Poppy never said a word about it.
124	** To be fair, Poppy can fall into this herself, thinking she's the sane person around but just as prone to ignoring the needs of others.
125	** Jo talks over being bullied by a girl in school... who wanted her to play with dolls so Jo hit her with vicious memes to almost kill herself. Even ''Ian'' calls out "You were the bully in that scenario" but Jo insists it was the other way around.
126	* SequelSnark:
127	-->'''Ian:''' Theyv'e made, like, 20 of [''Franchise/StarWars'']. They're still makin' em. \
128	'''C.W.:''' Really? Why?\
129	'''Ian:''' Nobody knows.
130	* ShipTease: Rachel and Dana. They're clearly attracted to each other, and are incredibly close, but they're also both socially-awkward to a degree where during the entirety of season 1, neither had actually done anything about it (although there was [[AlmostKiss one moment...]]). Season 2 finally sees them become official.
131	* ShoutOut: The coat of arms on Ian's shield in "Everlight" is that of [[Series/WelcomeToWrexham Wrexham AFC]], the soccer team that Ian's actor Creator/RobMcElhenney co-owns with Creator/RyanReynolds.
132	* ShownTheirWork: A LOT of work was put into portraying game development in a fairly-realistic way. Of course, it helps that the show is co-produced by Creator/{{Ubisoft}}, one of the biggest real-life game companies in the world, who act as consultants on the series.
133	* SpannerInTheWorks: CW. His treasured Nebula Award is prominently displayed in his office. [[spoiler: After someone spots its reflection in Dana's glasses, it leads to her being exposed as an in-house streamer, and earning her the hatred of those who consider her a fraud and losing almost all of the followers she's built up.]]
134	* StepfordSmiler: Sue, MQ's community manager, has shades of this, appearing bright and perky despite her soul-crushing job dealing with MQ's customer complaints.
135	* StrawMisogynist: Lou, the new play tester, who acts like a walking embodiment of the stereotypical Gamergate-style misogynist.
136	* StockFootage: Season 2 occasionally uses clips from ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsOnline'' and ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'''s cinematic trailers for its transitions.
137	** The pitch trailer for ''Zeus'', Ian's half of the new expansion, is composed ''entirely'' of cinematics from other games (mostly from the Ubisoft catalogue). The fun part is picking out which games were used.
138	* TakeAThirdOption: In season 3, Ian and Poppy are at odds on whether to develop ''Hera'', a polished but bland fantasy RPG, or ''Playpen'', a cutesy addictive sandbox game. Eventually they decide on pitching [[spoiler:''Mythic Quest: Playpen'', a sandbox add-on to their signature fantasy MMORGP]].
139	* TakeThat:
140	** One episode has the team trying to find the most offensive group possible through a tournament-style bracket so they can ban them under terms of service. Nazis top the tournament, but the final round came down to Nazis versus [[UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague New England Patriots fans]]--meaning that Patriots fans beat out [[BestialityIsDepraved zoophiles]] ''and'' [[ImAHumanitarian cannibals]].
141	** ''Dark Quiet Death'''s film version - turning a game meant as slow-paced horror with monsters you can't kill into a schlocky action film about an ActionGirl blowing through armies of monsters - is pretty clearly mocking the ''Film/ResidentEvilFilmSeries'' .
142	** Poppy's planning board in [="YumYum"=] lists ''VideoGame/HalfLife'' as a potential inspiration, only to have "OVERRATED" underlined beneath it.
143	* TeensAreMonsters: Pootie Shoe is a spoiled brat who can make or break a game studio because he has millions of followers. Everyone is terrified that he'll completely turn against ''Mythic Quest''.
144	* TerribleIntervieweesMontage: In "Buffalo Chicken Pizza," David invites all the employees in the studio to suggest ideas for a new Mythic Quest expansion, and gets a barrage of vague, cliched, inappropriate, self-indulgent, and half-baked concepts presented as one of these.
145	* TerrifyingPetStoreRat: A rat that's caught in the office is clearly a well fed domestic rat with a white belly. And despite being put in a container with its pups it stays docile even as people are holding up the container to stare at it.
146	* TheThingThatWouldNotLeave: A RunningGag in Season 3 is Ian popping up in MQ, confused when asked what he's doing there and David pointing out Ian no longer works there.
147	* ThreatBackfire: Quite a few times, someone tries to pull the "if you do this, I walk" line. Either A) Ian completely misses it and ignores them or B) they get called on it and forced to go.
148	* ThrowingDownTheGauntlet: After it's discovered that someone has hacked the Masked Man, and taken control of the NPC to cause chaos, Ian releases a streamed message challenging the hacker to a duel in the casino arena.
149	* TimePassageBeard: "The Casino" shows Ian going from clean-shaven to bearded to show how long the Masked Man has been an issue.
150	* TookALevelInJerkAss:
151	** In Season Three, Dana goes from being a level-headed, generally sweet GamerChick to spending most of her time arrogantly ignoring or insulting the people who hired her. Twice, since she goes from working at MQ to working at [=GrimPop=].
152	** Carol goes from exasperated but well-meaning to verbally denigrating/abusing employees to prove how progressive she is, followed by firing the only two who aren't somehow "protected" and hiring two middle-aged men so that [[{{Buttmonkey}} Phil]] can't sue MQ and Carol won't lose her cushy new job. This comes after two promotions, so this could be a case of PowerCorrupts.
153	** {{Subverted}} with Rachel after becoming [[spoiler:Head of Monetization]]: Brad taunts her about how much she likes her new paycheck given her former status as a socialist SoapboxSadie and she's momentarily disgusted with herself, but she doesn't actually change much except that after spending basically the whole series wearing overalls she's now considering buying cashmere pants.
154	* TrainingMontage: Poppy puts Ian through one in MQ, after a) he challenges the Masked Man to a duel in the game; and b) it's quickly revealed that, despite being the game's creator, he absolutely ''sucks'' at playing it.
155	* UndyingLoyalty: Jo is willing to go to great lengths to make Ian happy, up to and including murder if Ian was willing. This frustrates David since Jo is actually ''his'' assistant.
156	** In Season 3, Jo has thrown herself into being David's assistant, often to a degree that visibly unsettles him. She even [[spoiler: lets David "fire" her]] to cement his place as the company's leader.
157	* VictoryIsBoring: A subplot in "Brendan" involves Brad distraught after a $250,000 sword he expected nobody to buy sells out immediately, convincing him that his job is pointless since whales are going to buy anything he offers.
158	* VideoGameMoviesSuck: InUniverse
159	** The adaptation of ''Dark Quiet Death'', a '90s indie game turned survival horror megafranchise, is a lowbrow horror flick that has little to do with the actual game.
160	** In season 3, plans for a ''Mythic Quest'' adaptation come up, and multiple characters are extremely skeptical about it, given the usual fan reception of movie adaptations.
161	* VideoGamePerversityPotential: The show alludes to "Time to Penis", a term for how long it'll take someone to use any given online creation tool to make penises. This is shown off specifically when the devs add terrain modification to the titular game, which naturally results in a lot of players digging penis-shaped holes.
162	* WhiteVoidRoom: In season 3 Poppy and Ian's new, ultra-modern minimalist office looks like one of these. It's a running gag that no one can find anything there, including the bathroom, exit, or button for the elevator.
163	* WholeEpisodeFlashback:
164	** The entirety of "A Dark Quiet Death" is a series of flashbacks that centers on a former game developer, from his creation of the studio that eventually houses ''Mythic Quest'', to his failed partnership with his wife.
165	** Most of "Backstory!" takes place in the early 70's during the early days of C.W.'s career. The episode's epilogue shows Ian and Poppy hiring C.W in 2015.
166	** Season 3's "Sarian" is split between Ian's childhood in the 80s and Poppy's childhood in the early 2000's, and the pivotal moments that set them on the path to making video games and working together.

Context Series / MythicQuest