But at the same time... 10 years... that number hit me like a sandbag to the chest. If I live a long and healthy life, I would now be looking back to see that I gave maybe 1/8th of it to this single game. A worthy thing, surely, but I was uncertain if it was really something to which I could give more. There's so much more world I want to take in and so much more creativity I want to exhale out. I decided I was done making quests. It was time to look towards new challenges.

As these thoughts formed and I pondered where my future should take me, an opportunity arose. Artifacts. A key feature of the new expansion. A chance for me to take a step outside of content and work on systems and reward structures. A chance to work more closely with artists and engineers to create something largely new. A chance to lead a new team, half-full of people I'd never worked with closely before. And a chance for me to offer WoW one last enduring contribution before I stepped away seeking new adventure. I took on the challenge, in the process stating clearly that it once it was done, I would leave, though I had yet to know where.

And we did it. We made Artifacts. Challenging, satisfying. Never perfect, but I'm proud of what we achieved. I owe it's success almost entirely to the brilliant minds I was fortunate enough to work with. And still, on the other side of this effort, I was more sure than ever that it was time to depart WoW and find a new road.