Ed. Note: Jenni Powell provides us with an ’embedded’ report from last week’s BlizzCon convention in Anaheim, where gaming comedy web series The Guild was on hand to meet fans. There may be a mild Season 3 spoiler towards the end.
Much has already been written about the groundbreaking deal between Microsoft, Xbox, and The Guild. But another strong relationship exists between the MMO-centered web series and a gaming-related company. Last weekend that company, Blizzard Entertainment, hosted BlizzCon—a convention held in Anaheim, California, that is a feast of all things World of Warcraft, Diablo, Starcraft, and a multitude of other Blizzard creations.
Nestled near the back of Hall C, within sight of the stage where they would later present a jam-packed panel, the cast and crew of The Guild greeted hundreds and hundreds of adoring fans over the course of two days. The reaction to their presence was one usually reserved for rock stars. In fact, the cast’s final signing was during Ozzy Osbourne’s performance and yet the line continued to flow through with no interruption, with fans still hovering to observe as Felicia Day and crew (including myself) happily broke down their own booth.
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The incredibly warm-welcome is unique in the fact that The Guild was the only web series represented at the Con. It’s no secret that the plotline of The Guild centers around an online game that is eerily similar to World of Warcraft but it is never actually called that, being only referred to affectionately as “The Game”. Says Sandeep Parkih (Zaboo on The Guild, creator of The Legend of Neil), “our show is not even necessarily about World of Warcraft specifically and yet Blizzard let us come here and represent ourselves because, well, the president (Michael Morhaime) really loves our show and they see a ton of overlap in our fan bases… So it’s pretty cool of Blizzard to support web content and the creation of independent web content.
That’s pretty amazing. Hats off to Blizzard for that.”
“BlizzCon is kind of a closed ecosystem,” says series-creator Felicia Day. “It’s Blizzard only and the fact that they are fans of our show has meant a lot for us… as well as allowing us to have this booth space and having a cool banner and being able to meet the fans one on one all day, every day. It’s really gratifying. And it’s a huge corporation but their fans care about Warcraft and the games they play and it translates to our show… We are just lucky to have this fan base.”
Vincent Caso (Bladezz on The Guild) had this to say about the differences between attending BlizzCon and ComicCon, “It’s definitely on a smaller scale than ComicCon but we still have a massive turnout because it’s a big concentration of our fans. I just feel that Blizzcon feels homier, it feels more close-knit, more comfy because it’s Blizzard. We know everyone here pretty much, we know a ton of the staff…and that just makes it a ton more fun. And we get to play all these awesome games. Personally, I have been a fan of Blizzard for years. Not to say ComicCon is not fun but this is a whole other scene.”
Those not attending BlizzCon may wonder if all the pre season three spoiler-action was already exhausted at ComicCon a few weeks ago. But The Guild wasn’t about to leave the loyal Blizzard fans loot-free. During The Guild’s packed panel, seasons two and three director/editor Sean Becker world-premiered a 60 second teaser trailer. Among the gems nestled within are J. Teddy Garces‘ pelvic thrusting (I’m only giving you the actor’s name BTW, you’ll have to watch the episodes to find out more) and the revealing of the return of Dena, Bladezz’s precocious little sister, and George, Clara’s mild-mannered husband…at least mild-manned up until now *insert dramatic music sting here*.
Sandeep Parikh also gave everyone proof that he did indeed do that back flip in the Do You Wanna Date My Avatar? video.
Top three photos by katkamin. Bottom photos by Jenni Powell.
