After 12 years with Blizzard, World of Warcraft's community manager bids adieu

After 12 years with Blizzard, World of Warcraft community manager Bashiok has announced he is leaving the company.

According to Micah Whipple, he is leaving the company for a "new opportunity" he decided to take.

He started out on the WoW forums as Drysc, before moving to the Diablo 3 forums under his current moniker, before heading back to the WoW forums.

Below is his goodbye post in full.

"I could pretty easily write a few thousand words right now, but I did my best to keep this brief.

"I began working at Blizzard way back in October of 2003, and every day of my experience here has been shared with you, the players, and content creators, artists, bloggers, AddOn authors, podcasters, streamers, forum trolls, and— man, anyone remember the old Off-Topic forum back in the day? That place was just absolutely cuckoo bananas.

"Anyway, Blizzard—and the community that surrounds it—has defined almost my entire adult life, and I am just so absolutely grateful to all of my friends here for having such an incredible and positive impact on who I am, and who I am yet to become. I don’t think I’ve had to make any decisions as difficult as the one to leave Blizzard, but a new opportunity has come my way, and I’ve decided to take it.

"While I think it’s all still sinking in, the other day I realized I actually get to be surprised by Blizzard announcements and releases again. Which, as a lifelong fan and rabid gamer it makes me giddy thinking about being able to sit in the audience at BlizzCon, watching a stream, or reading the newest blog posts, and seeing whatever’s in store next—for the first time.

"I’m looking forward to what’s next, and wishing you a life of joy, insatiable curiosity, and happy gaming."

Happy trails, Bashiok, and thanks for everything.