I'm not really a fan of beating around the bush, much like Joel, so I'm just going to go ahead and say it. July 5th is going to come around, and, well, I’m not going to be here anymore. That’s right, as of July 5th, I will no longer be working for Funcom or be your Community Manager. I know my time with you guys was short, and I am sad that some ideas will not be realized now, but I hope you know that I will miss this community.
First and foremost, it’s of my own choosing! No worries that something crazy went on behind the scenes or anything like that. I totally didn’t have some sort of controversial fling with someone in the office in a leet costume. *cough* So stop thinking about that. I have actually been offered a very cool position on the community team at The Gamer Nation, a company that specializes in YouTube gaming channels, and I have decided that I want to take it and try something new. Instead of focusing on a few games, I can focus on all of the games! And that truly is where my passion lies – not the creation of games, but the support of games and the gaming industry. I can’t code to save my life, but I can support the coders! :P
While I have enjoyed my time at Funcom immensely, and that is the reason this decision was so hard, I feel it is my time to go and try something new. I have a great opportunity to help build another community, and I want to take it. This choice did not come lightly, however, as I have made more friends at this company than I think I’ve ever had in my entire life.
Besides, you guys are just fine without me. You run tons of events without my help and throw great in-game parties while listening to awesome radio stations. But, since I will be gone, and I know I helped support many events, if you are looking for support for your event, you will want to contact Tarib for support from now on. Please understand that with my leaving, he may not be able to respond to requests right away, so no bombarding him! I know that you are being left in very capable hands, and that the Funcom team is going to take awesome care of you. The AO developers are all over the place on these forums – far more than I’ve seen on other MMO forums. You have a great community here, and a great game. And it’s going to continue being great for years to come.
On a sad note, there will be no "Your Voice" this month, and it is discontinued for the foreseeable future.
And with that, I am off on another adventure. Don’t you worry, I’ll be around! Just not as often as before, and not in an official capacity, but definitely around. I would love to get some coverage for Anarchy Online once that new engine comes out and the game's lookin' all pretty.