#1 - March 10, 2011, 10 p.m.
I miss you.
When you started posting so prolifically during the Wrath era, I was enthused that we the player base were able to get such valuable insight into the minds of developers. To see a developer so ecstatic about the game that they would take the time out of their day and life to share them with us, your (mostly) humble consumers and players. It was something I had never expected to see from any gaming company on any level, much less one so colossal and influential as Blizzard.
And then you disappeared. And suddenly the game, the forums, everything felt a bit emptier. There was no rumbling of new changes except in chance encounters spaced rather far apart. There was the same discussion among players, but it was mostly about current features and less about what the future holds. I continued to play the game, of course, but I couldn't help but wonder about your mysterious silence.
And then I realized in the middle of a dungeon run. A player was complaining about an upcoming class change, and another player said "yeah that's GC for you, screwing up good classes in the name of "balance" (aka homogenization)". I realized then how vile the community as a whole had been to you. I realized then that no matter what sort of news you posted, no matter what changes you brought to the community, you were met with at least some noteworthy degree of hostility. Who would want to constantly put themselves out for a group of people like that? Certainly not I, and I do not begrudge you for doing so.
So I started to wonder. Did people ever say anything but hostile things to you? It is too often with this community that the contented are silent while the angry are vocal. I'm sure you knew at the time that the entire playerbase was not against you, but did anyone ever take the time to say it? I know I certainly never did, and I feel bad for that. For all the good your posts did me, I never spoke up saying "Thanks!" or even "That's an excellent change!" And I regret that.
So, with all of my heart: Thank you. Thanks for giving us a view into the development process, and an ear for our voice. Thanks for caring enough to read, listen, and impart.
I do not ask for you to resume posting, not even to this thread - I simply want you to know that I was incredibly thankful for your posts during the Wrath era, even though I never said it.