Hi everyone. Today is, sadly, my last day at ArenaNet. It has been an absolutely amazing 6 years, and I'm going to do this on TwitLonger so I can ramble for a moment about this. Stick around if you'd like to hear more.

When I joined the company, I had no idea I would be going into games development. I was a composer, doing QA because it got me closer to games production. I kept getting closer and closer to the meat of how games were made, until that design opportunity presented itself. And goodness what a ride it's been since then.

In my years at the company, there's been so many things I've taken pride in helping bring to life: Tybalt Leftpaw, the tragedy of Apatia, the retaking of Claw Island, the Sovereign Eye of Zhaitan, my favorite holomancer & former MC Elli (from whom Taimi absolutely stole tech), the Bell Choir minigame, Southsun Survival, Belcher’s Bluff, the Zephyrites & their aspect skills, Twilight Arbor Aetherpath, the destruction of Lion's Arch & the final confrontation with Scarlet, letting our gay girls kiss, and a few not-so-minor skirmishes with plant dragons.

Which isn't to say anything about music. I've been eternally grateful to Maclaine Diemer & James Ackley & everyone on the audio team for letting a lil designer achieve her dream of writing for a AAA RPG. When I couldn't get anyone to pay attention to my music for years, they lifted me into the spotlight and let me do my thing. According to reddit, in threads that seem to come every other week, I suppose I've done well. I can't thank you all enough for the love I've received for what I've written. And it devastates me to move on from a position that has given me so many opportunities.

But there are new adventures ahead.

I won't go into the details just yet, but thanks to the foundation that working at ArenaNet has provided, I've made the monumentally difficult decision to move on and seek out new opportunities, both in design and in music. In the short term, I have three extremely exciting music projects to reveal in the coming weeks. And beyond that, I'll let you all know where I'm headed. It's exciting, and scary, and I can't wait to show you all what I can do.

All of my love,
Lena

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