Fifteen years ago, I discovered the TeamLiquid.net forums and became a part of this amazing family. This site has been around longer than I have been in esports, and a big reason why I’ve decided to make this post here today.
Back then, I was heavily involved in WarCraft III, running my own fan site at WCReplays.com. I played Brood War casually and tried to play WarCraft III professionally. I wasn't good enough to be a pro, so instead I became a team manager and picked up shoutcasting. Some of you might have known me as 'bunny'. I have always been - and still am - deeply in love with esports and its community. The passion, dedication, and camaraderie surrounding the games we love is infectious. Once you become immersed, you never want to leave.
I didn’t know it at the time, but it was the passion I invested into these early projects that opened the doors to a 13+ year career for me at Blizzard. My first role was in development as a producer in online technologies (think Battle.net and game websites). I then went on to business intelligence to work on security, hacks, and anti-cheat, before eventually taking a seat at the table on Blizzard Esports. What a complete honor and privilege it has been to serve this amazing community. I will always remember the moments we created together, the blood, sweat, and tears we all poured in, and the late night hours we spent cheering on our favorite teams and players.
I have watched this industry grow through the support we’ve given one another: the strides we made when we lifted each other up rather than pulling each other down. I have enjoyed following the conversations in these forums, and in so many other venues where we have gathered both online and in person. I am a better person for having been a part of this amazing community, and will forever be grateful for it.
Going forward, I will be pursuing a new endeavor within the gaming industry. My last day with Blizzard was Friday, June 14th. As I hang up my sword and shield, I look forward to a bright future and wish all my Blizzard friends and family the very best.
Thank you for keeping me/us/Blizzard honest. I ask that you never stop. Even when you didn’t hear from us, we were listening. Even when we made decisions you didn’t agree with, we were listening (and learning). Never stop voicing your concerns and sharing what’s most important to you -- it makes all of us better.
I am planning to attend BlizzCon this year, this time around as a diehard fan. I hope to be cheering alongside some of you there.
Thanks for all the hard work that you've put in over the years on not just our favourite games, but all the other Blizzard esports as well. It means a lot that TL, the home of all things StarCraft esports, is the home to your farewell message.
I hope its appropriate to post this interview from yesteryear (featuring some other well known SC faces too!). It was always awesome knowing someone so passionate and with such esports history was behind the wheel.
Thank you for everything Kim. You have an incredibly heart and your presence will be missed. I'm honored that you chose our forum to post your goodbye message. It means more than you know.
@Kim didn't necessarily agree with all your choices with WCS, but still glad you were around. I 100% believe that we both loved the game and the competitive scene equally. Take care, wish you the best of luck!
Thank you Kim for all that you're done for the esports scene and for all the hard work that you put into for the sake of the StarCraft community. You will be missed!
Thanks for everything Kim/bunny. I still remember the WCreplays days and many of your wc3 casts. I really appreciate everything you've done for wc3 and sc2 and hopefully we can follow and enjoy reforged together soon as fans!
It makes me worry about blizzard esport that you also decided to leave, but all good things have to end I guess.
On June 19 2019 09:09 Brutaxilos wrote: @Kim didn't necessarily agree with all your choices with WCS, but still glad you were around. I 100% believe that we both loved the game and the competitive scene equally. Take care, wish you the best of luck!
I don’t always agree with them either, but there are often many factors involved that can’t be discussed. We try our best, and at times, we make mistakes.
On June 19 2019 07:04 kimaphan wrote: Thank you for keeping me/us/Blizzard honest. I ask that you never stop. Even when you didn’t hear from us, we were listening. Even when we made decisions you didn’t agree with, we were listening (and learning). Never stop voicing your concerns and sharing what’s most important to you -- it makes all of us better.
And they told me to stop. Over and over and over again.
It was always a pleasure seeing you at events back in the day Kim! Your passion for esports was always so easy to see. Congrats on such a long and successful career at Blizzard and good luck in your future endeavors, hope you'll stay in touch with the community here!
A few years ago I was a couple minutes into watching a Blizzcon preshow and I remember thinking that your genuine excitement for all the eSports had to be an act for the segment. It always seemed to be the case that people had a favorite eSport, some that they like and then a lot that they aren't very big fans of.. and here you were on screen appearing to be a huge fan of all of them and their scenes.
It did not take long at all for me to realize that I was mistaken, the games could have different presentations, they could be team games or 1 vs 1, they could even be entirely different genres of game and it wouldn't make any difference because you were a fan of eSports and the games themselves were an expression of it.
It occurred to me that it wasn't the games at all, it was you.
So it goes without saying that it is worrying to me and probably most other fans that you are moving on as there is no better person suited for the role of a global eSports director, than a true fan of eSports.
Whoops, I wrote more than I expected! o(^▽^)o
Thanks for all you've done for SC2 and eSports in general!
Sorry to see you go Kim as it leaves a lot of uncertainty for us SC2 lovers in particular. One by one we've seen people like yourself leave. People who we knew always had the games best interests at heart. With you & Mike & everyone else, we knew the game was in good hands. Now? Who knows what the future holds. Maybe you have an idea
Regardless thanks for devoting so much of your life into an endeavor that gave so much joy to so many people. Life is about legacy & yours will be remembered fondly. So thanks for the memories & good luck to this next chapter in your life!
Remember bunny since the wcreplays days along with Newbiee, qazzi, lncinerator and more. Amazing community. Truly the end of an era. As unfortunate as it is Blizzard is dead in the water.
I don't normally post on here, but I felt like I should due to the respect I have for you and what you have done for esports. I remember watching wc3 casts when i was younger in high school and seeing you. I was kind of young at the time and was jealous and thought of things like "ha what does she know, she just got the gig because she was a girl" ect. I am happy to admit I was wrong. Through the years I've been able to see the commitment and progress and the results of your love to esports. I'm saddened to see you leave a company that I had deep respect for but I am happy to be able to share the esports moments with you. I hope your future prospects will be well, I too am attending blizzcon and hope to see you around as a fan .
Thank you Kim, for all the good things you've done for the SC2 scene. If it wasn't for the passion of people like you maybe we wouldn't be able to pursue our own passion.
Sad to hear you are leaving, even worse after realizing all what you have done for competitive StarCraft which i have enjoyed watching immensely over the years. Thank you for your contribution and good luck in the future whatever it may hold.
Oh wow, yeah I remember a bunny from WCReplays, that was my haunt when Warcraft III was my main RTS, before I found the Brood War proscene and TL. I never really followed who took over, just that someone did after Balla got outed (I still have downwhere's audio commentary file regarding that lol).
I stopped pretty much everything SC2 related after WoL, but thank you so much for WCR, those Cecil audio commentaries were a huge part of my childhood.
Good luck with everything ! One thing blizzard still handled well even in last couple years was definitely e-sports. I'm very worried as to what this means for the future of StarCraft e-sports .
I love this game so much.......Thanks for everthing.
I've stolen a lot of strats from that site and credit it with being relatively decent at WC3.
I'd like to thank you for the god-knows-how-many-hours I've spent on that site, watching replays (eventually ending up watching more replays than I played), and SC2
Wow I did not know you went off to work for Blizzard and succeeded in the way you did, I've seen your name before but never correlated you to being bunny from wcreplays. I remember having a few conversations with you back then, you were always active in the community. Glad to see you did so well for yourself and that you kept supporting e-sports and the community since then. Pretty cool.
thank you for everything, Kim. Without you, this whole thing would not be possible. Good luck in your future endeavors, excited to see you do even bigger things!
Thanks for all your work and contribution to the scene. You were great at the various offline events as well : always motivated and positive. Best of luck
Thank you so much for your hard work I hope you will find your future endeavors equally rewarding. You will always be part of the esports family as far as I'm concerned.
OMG BUNNY, I use to watch your live shout cast when I was 17 along with my friend. We tried our best to type random stuff just to get our name mentioned by you. I was wondering where Bunny go all these year, and you are part of the blizzard all this time. OMFG lol. Good luck in your future venture, WCreplay.com was my fix from 03-04.
EPT
