Byron “Reckful” Bernstein was a Twitch fixture, transforming himself into an essential part of the platform’s DNA during his eight-year streaming career. Last month, he died by suicide, leaving a whole host of gaming communities mourning in his wake. Now, Blizzard has chosen to honor him with an in-game World of Warcraft tribute.
Last night, WoW players with access to the beta for Shadowlands, the new expansion set to be released later this year, discovered an NPC named Reckful in the Cathedral of Light in the human city of Stormwind. This is no random placement; after Bernstein died, players held gatherings at the cathedral to bid him farewell.
The tribute is fitting: Bernstein was once a top WoW player, as well as a pioneering WoW streamer. The Reckful NPC is a rogue trainer who says “I don’t train Assassination Rogues,” which, according to Wowhead, is a reference to Bernstein’s time at the top of the PVP ladder, when he decided to prove just how good he was by reaching rank one without relying on an Assassination rogue build, which was exceedingly powerful at the time.
In addition to a standard training request, players can say one other line of dialogue to the Reckful NPC: “It was good seeing you again.”