BlizzCon 2009: The Guild Panel Live Blog

The Guild was at our meetup last night (bloggers and Internet stars -- guess who's who above), and now they're about to take the floor at BlizzCon. We're standing by to hear what Felicia and the cast have to say about the new season, the upcoming comic book, and the geeky tour de force that is The Guild.

Liveblogging starts right after the break -- newest at the top. Should be fun!

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4:33PM That's the last question. Felicia thanks everyone once again for all their support, and now they're showing off the music video on the big screen as well.

That'll do it for our liveblog of this panel -- stay tuned all weekend for more news straight from the floor of BlizzCon.

4:32PM Q: How far ahead do you plan this stuff? Do you have season 4?

A: Felicia: I had writer's block during season 3, it takes about three months to write a whole script. But as I'm writing, I have ideas for stories and lines, but no, I don't have an overarching vision. I wish I did, it would be easier. Sean: So if anyone has any ideas for season 4... Laughs.

4:31PM Felicia: We were doing one of those scenes, trying to explain to Amy why she wanted the ingame item, and Felicia said "tell her that the Orb is a Marc Jacobs bag." Sean: And she nailed it. Amy: I have a handbag fetish.

4:30PM Q: I liked the dynamic between Tink and Bladezz -- the player and the wannabe player. Amy, you really owned that dynamic. How close is that to your actual personas? Were you even acting? The crowd is shocked at that.

A: Vincent: I'm just like that, total wannabe loser guy. No, I'm kidding, that's not me at all. Amy: Vince actually sends me packages every other week. What are you talking about? I promise I'm not a golddigger, I'm not a bitchy player. Vincent: I think you're boyfriend's in the audience somewhere.

Amy: No, that doesn't matter. I like nice things. I like Tiffany's.

4:28PM Michele: My favorite was in season 3, there's a scene in the first episode where Wil does his reveal. There's a bug from Mars that came down and buzzed his head. I've never seen or heard a guy squeal like a little girl. I don't blame him at all, but it was the funniest thing I've ever seen.

4:27PM Robin: I think the end of season 2 at the party was probably the most fun acting. My favorite scene in season 2 is when Jeff finds out my character is killing his character off, and he does the shower scene. I love that.

Sandeep: I do a cartwheel at the end of season 2 as I fight, and the woman I cartwheel into is a real stuntwoman. She was just one giant muscle, just ripped, but wearing a hoodie so you can't tell. As I'm cartwheeling into her, we did some takes where I lightened up, she'd fall, and she said you know, you can stop being such a pussy and just lay into me. "I didn't want to hurt you, and she's like psh, as if."

4:25PM Jeff: The most fun I had was at Cheesy Beards -- that was the time it was all of them together. Really fun working together with everyone at the same time. More people you have, more chance you'll ad lib something funny.

Amy: Felicia and Sean took hers about Jeff stealing stuff from all the table. Vincent's laughing was funny -- sometimes he'd laugh at Jeff without even seeing what he was doing. About the dancing thing, I played basketball for like 10 years, got injured, and that's when I started in entertainment. I was dancing, then was told to start acting because they make more money. Except in web series of course.

4:23PM Felicia: There's a scene at the party where Vork is in the backgroud just stealing stuff from the party. They could hardly keep from laughing while filming. Jeff never broke character, he was really into taking that stuff from the party.

Vincent: Two shoots. Season 2, in the house with Jeff and Sandeep, I ruined every other take because I was laughing so much. Takes an hour to get one shot, because they keep improving and I can't keep up with it. When you get used to it, they change it again.

4:21PM Q: Any favorite behind-the-scenes moments? And Amy, what's your dance background?

A: Season 2, there's a scene where they had to do stunts -- the stunt guy had to run down the stairs and jump off the balcony. Sean really enjoyed directing it. The stunt guy said "I can do a backflip." Sean: Great! Stunt guy: but backflips are played out now, I can do parkcoeur. Sean: Great! The scene where he fell down the stairs, he actually fell down the stairs, and he did quite a few takes. "I can do it better!"

4:19PM Q: Will you have other people try writing the episodes?

A: For season 3, every character has a strong arc. The complicated thing is that I wrote them like a movie script, so they're movie scripts divided into episodes. It's all preplanned out. I'm not opposed to other people writing episodes in the future. Also working on the comic with Dark Horse based on The Guild. It's really fun to do different things to get the show out there.

4:17PM Q: The guildies actually seem exactly like my guild -- were there specific people you based the characters on?

Felicia: You have a Zaboo? They don't, but they do have a Vork. Felicia: It came from Sandeep and Jeff, the funniest people I've ever worked with. For the other ones I just wrote down different types of people, since I was gaming on Compuserve back in the day. Same thing with the rival guild -- it was fun to invent new characters, based on people I worked with. Sean: The cool thing about the new guild is that it's not the anti-Guild, it's all new personalities.

4:14PM Sandeep: I saw the script I'm like ok, my jaw's going to get a work out. "It was good. There is 'hot girl' in the 'stupid tall hot girl' name."

Michele: She wasn't tall until you cast me, right Felicia? Felicia: No, we cast her, we wanted to make sure to cast a gamer, a real gamer. And the height difference was funny, so we exploited that. Michele: I was wearing three inch heels that day, so that helped.

4:13PM Felicia: There's a little museum display at the booth, including Vork's tater tot fryer. Also a raffle, come by and get a ticket.

Q: Sandeep, how much practice did you do to get ready for season 3 episode 1? (we'll spell it out: he makes out with Michele Boyd the whole episode).

A: Sandeep: We did a lot of rehearsal. Michele: I needed so much help. Sandeep: I had to teach her. We've come a long way.

4:12PM Q: Is The Guild recruiting? Do you guys need fat guys that live with their mom?

A: Jeff: We always need fat guys. And if you live in the basement that's even better.

4:11PM "Vork goes to Israel!" Felicia: He's been campaigning for a spinoff, "It's all Coming Up Vork." Or Just Vork -- he's left the guild and moved to a retirement home in Florida.

Q: Vork you are my hero. I am a guildmaster, and I've been trying to lead by your example. Lots of laughter at that.

4:10PM Q: What other hidden talents do you have?

A: Robin: I can booze it up like nobody's business. I can play the recorder. Felicia: She definitely didn't turn down shots last night. Vicent: I'm learning to dance, learning to sing. I'm going to be so frickin' talented it's crazy.

Felicia asked if they had any special skills for Season 3, Amy can play basketball, so she plays it in the show. Jeff: I can read Hebrew, so if that could come up somehow, that would be great. Shalom!

4:08PM Robin: It's amazing this show has come so far. People ask her if they can take photos and she's like "of course! Let's do a photoshoot! I'm awfully photogenic, so.. right?" The crowd heartily agrees.

Michele: No one knows me unless I'm with them, which is great, because I get to watch all of the reactions as they walk around. It's really cool to watch it all happen. Season 3 was awesome, but it was cool to join the cast, and I'm lucky to be here.

Felicia: Riley has a great role this season, you'll see lots more of her this season.

4:06PM Robin and Sandeep: Let's answer the question together. Wait, this is even more awkward. Epic fail.

Sandeep: It was a surprise and a shock when I get recognized. I was in New York City in the middle of the night.. in my Batman outfit. Yes! It's true! I am Batman! "How can they tell that I was Zaboo, don't all of us Indians look alike?" How did they know it was me? That's a testament to how cool the fans are. It's very gratifying.

4:05PM Jeff: My parents still do not understand the show. My mom calls and says "Jeff what's an avatar? I don't understand the video." It's great. Next show, Felicia should include an old Jewish couple. My parents will understand that!

Amy Okuda: My mom watches the music video 10 times a day. We come to these conventions and feel like celebs, but nobody notices us in the real world, so we still have a normal life.

4:04PM Q: As a girl geek, it's awesome to have someone to look up to admire. The party was awesome last night (the WoW.com meetup!). How was it for you being surrounded by hordes of fans?

A: We can go down the line and say what everyone's experience has been. Vincent: I think the attention is awesome, I'm not going to lie. It's not weird, some people may be put off, but you have to come in expecting this. I've gotten rape threats, marriage proposals, I've been stalked -- this is awesome! I'm 17 which makes it even more fun.

4:02PM Q: Love the Sears commercial. Any other plans for doing another season of Dr. Horrible?

A: Joss is busy, Dollhouse got picked up again. They have plans and a plot, but they're shooting Dollhouse right now. Felicia will be back on Dollhouse, can't say how, but she will be. After the season is over, cross fingers, she'd really love it even if she's not back.

4:01PM Q: You're into math and a violinist. Did you ever imagine doing this or if not what did you want to do when you were young?

A: Sandeep: I'll take this one. Laughter. Felicia: No, I don't think I ever envisioned doing this. "In five years, you'll be sitting in a tent, doing a web series, stirring a pot with rat meat in it." This is something we're just inventing as we go along, and without you guys helping us get here, I don't know that anyone would have dreamed it. I might have been a violinist, but I'm here now, it's great.

3:59PM Q: Any chance NPH would be in The Guild?

A: Felicia: That would be cool. Dear Neil, I heard you're hosting the Emmys. Sandeep: Have you heard of YouTube? Laughter at that. She also says you don't want to just stunt cast: Britney Spears on How I Met Your Mother. "She's a nice girl, I'm sure -- she doesn't have the number one video on iTunes, but..." She wrote the part appropriate for Wil, and invited him to do it. So if she ever came up with something she might be brave enough to ask him.

3:58PM Q: How did The Guild get started?

A: Felicia: I used to raid in the old 40-man raids, my brother recruited me. And I was really obsessive about it, and had to stop, and decided to write a show. There are a lot of people who game, and they're not basement dwellers. There are a lot of hot girls here who play WoW. And I said this is something that people should understand better. The biggest thrill is showing that you can be functional and fun and play online games together. That's how it started.

3:57PM Q: What server do you play on?

A: Zangarmarsh.

3:56PM Q: Felicia Day has done other work, and Sandeep has done Legend of Neil, but do you all have any other shows you work on?

A: Robin does a show called Movie Mom. Guild is all Vincent does. Michele Boyd does a Machines of Malice show on Discovery. And she also plays an Enhancement Shaman that's getting epics in Ulduar right now.

3:54PM Q: Any more music videos?

A: It'll be hard to top that one, but I wouldn't be opposed to it. Sean: 3D. Vincent: I was all about singing, I was going to dance, too. Felicia: We did have a season one Christmas carol. Maybe we will do it again. Sandeep: My rap career has taken off. Me and Method Man are going to do a thing.

3:53PM Jeff apparently has a trailer on the set, which Sandeep suggests is actually a van behind that building. Jeff: "Well that's where I got my masssage."

3:52PM Q: Will there ever be a TV show based on The Guild.

A: Sandeep: Apparently we don't have enough of a market, as I stare out into thousands of people. Email the networks and campaign for us. Felicia: Every single step of the show, people have said "That's not a good idea." And it's only because of hard work and support that it's up and running. "Nobody's going to paypal to watch a web show, nobody's going to buy a DVD, nobody's going to make it the top music video on iTunes. If we can't do it, we'll show you how to do it."

3:51PM Q: Some dude asks if the carpet matches the curtains. People boo him off -- Felicia wants to know what it means, Sean turns to whisper it in her ear and she is quite shocked and offended. Which, strangely, makes it more funny. Jeff: "I think she has blinds actually." Felicia: "We're never coming back here are we?" The crowd actually loves it.

3:49PM Q: She called the Alliance angry 13-year-olds, and the questioner says they're actually 12.

A: Felicia: "Oh you're dissing Alliance. We might have to wrassle."

3:48PM And as they've played the characters more, the performances have influenced the characters as well.

3:48PM A: When she wrote the script, Jeff and Sandeep's parts were made for them. Sandeep's "kind of a stalker dork in real life." And Jeff is Vork in real life -- he's actually turned into Vork more. They shot season 1, and he started playing WoW afterwards, and now he says he understands what he was saying back then. Michele: He twitters as Vork at @Vork.

3:47PM Q: How much did you let the actors' personalities inflect the characters?

3:46PM A: Jeff Lewis is getting married ingame -- he got married out of game and he's going to be getting married ingame soon. Jeff: "Sorry ladies." He asked Felicia to officiate, and her only priest is a female Dwarf, so she's been trying to race the Priest to 80 and has split her time.

3:45PM Q: Felicia, since you're a gamer, are you wanting to just run around here like crazy, or is it ok just hanging out at the booth. Michele Boyd also calls her out for not having an 80 -- ouch.

3:44PM They're opening up the floor for Q&A -- most of this panel will be questions and answers.

3:44PM Sandeep: Felicia, "you rudely interrupted me." Felicia: It's my show.

3:43PM Sandeep says the drugs were a lot better too, clearly, as Jeff is tripping a little bit. Sandeep also says it was really fun working with Wil Wheaton.

3:43PM Season 3 was very slick, knocked it out fast. Jeff Lewis says the lunches were better on season 3. "The meals were very good. Chicken and sometimes roast beef."

3:42PM Clara drama, Tink and Codex fighting, looks awesome. Showed an August 25th premiere date as well!

3:41PM Becker is showing off some more video. He brought a trailer for season 3.

3:39PM All the cast joins Felicia on stage now, along with director Sean Becker.

3:39PM To be continued with a familiar looking rival guildmaster... (his name rhymes with Bill Beaton).

3:37PM How do we put this? There's some action between Zaboo and his new girlfriend. Probably way too much action, if you know what we mean.

3:35PM The show looks terrific -- they're shooting outside (as the characters wait in line for the expansion), and the video looks really well done.

3:34PM There's an expansion to the game coming out, and Codex is excited ("Most important, new character hairstyles"). New animation in the opening.

3:33PM They're showing the full version of season 3 episode 1. May be spoilers in here.

3:33PM Last year's BlizzCon was one of the biggest cons they've ever done, and it's so much bigger this year. Thanks to Blizzard for being good hosts, and thanks to all of your for supporting our show. Don't know if you've seen the music video (huge cheers), but we are actually the number one music video in the world on iTunes. We totally punched Taylor Swift in the face!

3:32PM Please welcome Felicia Day! Just her on stage right now.

3:31PM False alarm, apparently. Yes, we will have pictures, though probably not during the liveblog, they'll be put in later on.

3:28PM Still waiting on the cast. We're all watching Cory Stockton on the DirecTV stream. All right, lights down, video off, here we go.

3:19PM We're live on the floor at The Guild panel. The cast is going to take the stage in about 10 minutes, and hopefully we'll hear from them about the new season and everything else they're working on.