Hello,

About five years ago, I discovered a vibrant and wonderful community and posted my first question. The site was up and running, and everything was all good. It was shortly after this the original site disappeared and I stepped up to the plate: WoW Challenges was born.

Through a lot of hard work, dedication, and very gracious help from the community, we’ve been able to grow beyond the Ironman Challenge and put out numerous other challenges to help folks enjoy WoW in other “non-standard” ways. It was to my utter shock that even Mr. Brack (“call me Jay”) had said he’d heard of us and a Feat of Strength was not so far-fetched (he did quote the “Insane” feat of strength as non-standard ways to play WoW).

Through our community, all of you, you have given us so much. I am so proud to stand up and talk about what we’ve all done and accomplished. I have always thought that the Ironman Challenge was even more difficult than Mythic-Level Raiding (Don’t AT me).

When the original site went away, I vowed to ensure that these challenges would never go away like that again. In fact, I have the challenges in my will and final instructions, just in case.

As some of you may or may not know, I have a slow-progression variant of ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease – think Stephen Hawking). I knew this past BlizzCon was going to be my last (finances). However, I did not account for a potential increase in my progression. Since this February there has been a marked increase in my progression, and we’re not sure why. It has affected my ability to make updates, add new features, and devote the necessary time the site has needed. Due to the progression change, I have already created an end-of-life post for a different, non-WoW project I had been working on since 2006.

I already rely heavily on our awesome team of moderators; however, I feel like the right thing to do is to transition away from the site and hand over the reins while I can. There is a risk in relying on “final instructions” as while they may be clear to me, it might not be so clear to others.

So, while my progression may slow again in the future, there is never any “getting back to normal”: it is always a decline.

I want to thank every single one of you for your inspiration, dedication, and support. You are truly the best of them all. One day, perhaps, we can get that Feat of Strength in WoW.

In the meantime, I’m very happy to know that we’ve been able to provide “something else to do” and given players hours and hours of challenging entertainment in this wonderful game we all love.

Going forward, I will be transferring the site administration and all duties therein JOINTLY to Leeta & Ster. I am completely confident in them and the community to continue to steer WoW Challenges now and in the future.
I’ve truly enjoyed meeting all of you, online and in person (BlizzCon beers!). There have been so many positive, fantastic people and memories; I’m truly grateful. There are too many people to name, so just know that if we ever shared a beer, exchanged a greeting, or hugged it out, you are on this list.

It has been my honour (Canadian, eh) and privilege to represent the Ironman community.

Here’s my awkward good-bye. Peace! See you all around Azeroth (and beyond)!