Today was bittersweet for me as a player & content creator. While, I was gearing up for a BRAWL WITH THE BLUES with some awesome Heroes of the Storm people, I saw a link on twitter from our Favorite World of Warcraft Community Manager, Crithto. It was his farewell on the forums! Yes, the Perky Pug is moving on from his position on the World of Warcraft team to new and exciting challenges. I cheered because I was stoked for him as he embarks on this next journey professionally, but there was also some sad feelings too.
Crithto is an unsung hero for The Starting Zone! He was the Community Manager that helped us out in so many ways! He was our ‘in’ with Blizzard and without his support and kindness to our show, we surely would not be where we are at today.
The success of The Starting Zone encouraged me to continue on with creating Spazbot Studios. Every success Spazbot has had with shows like Stormcast, Dead Fans Talking and Super Heroic, originates with TSZ, and Crithto was a big part of our story. He was the PUG behind the scenes who helped us achieve things we at times felt were far beyond our reach. But Crithto was always there to say help us along.
A fansite’s ability to provide top level content is ultimately tied to their relationship with the product or subject they cover. I believe with so many podcasts covering World of Warcraft, it is tough to rise above the din sometimes. However, Crithto heard our show, and he encouraged us. He jumped into our Chat Channel during shows, retweeted our posts, and unabashedly promoted us! I will never forget Bilzzcon last year at the ‘Mixer’ where Crithto dragged me around to YouTubers and Developers and said, “Do you know, Mick? He does this show called the Starting Zone! You should check it out!” That was the kind of guy he was! And one of my high lights at Blizzcon was spending Thursday night hanging out with him.
I have the privilege of knowing the ‘man behind the pug’ for many years, and I am thrilled that he is getting to take on a new challenge and embark upon a new adventure! However, one cannot help but breath a sigh of sadness as well.
Thank you Chad. You are the best, and your work will be missed!
Mick-