Featured Image Credit: Blizzard/Reckful via Twitch
Topics: World Of Warcraft, no article matching
A number of top streamers have led their communities in a touching tribute to the beloved World Of Warcraft icon Byron 'Reckful' Bernstein.
Bernstein, a popular streamer in his own right and a pillar of the World Of Warcraft community for years, died by suicide in 2020. The streamer frequently used his platform to promote mental health awareness, and would speak openly about his struggle with bipolar disorder and depression.
As spotted by Dexerto, streamers Mizkif, Will Neff, and PayMoneyWubby came together recently to remember Bernstein by encouraging their fans to collaborate on a memorial that would be shared on the viral r/Place canvas.
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For those who might not be aware, the r/Place is a subreddit that effectively works as a canvas capturing a moment in time. It's only open for a brief period every year, but for that limited time users can share a single pixel every five minutes.
Bernstein was well known for the large stuffed duck that ended up lurking in the background of most of his streams. It quickly became a part of who he was a streamer, and the more dedicated fans would make and share their own fan art of the animal.
With this in mind, Mizkif, WillNeff, PayMoneyWubby for their communities to work together and ensure the duck found its way onto the internet canvas.
While the idea behind r/Place is sound, it can often descend into a battle for space and meaning. There's not really a limit on who can edit the canvas, after all, so a successful piece requires harmony and coordination. Luckily, the streamers were able to provide just that.
The r/Place canvas opened on April 1, and on April 2 Mizkif called for every Twitch streamer and viewer available to come together on April 3 - the last day of the canvas - to provide the tribute to Bernstein.
“In the final hours of r/place, which will be the most ‘war,’ we should all get together and create a giant Reckful duck," he declared.
And that's exactly what happened! The various communities helped to recreate Bernstein's duck one pixel at a time, using a lovely piece of fan art created by Liftaris as their starting point.
“Boom baby, look at that! Fill out the rest boys! It’s over,” Mizkif exclaimed. “It’s complete! We did it!”
Back in 2020, Blizzard also paid tribute to the late streamer by giving him his very own character in World Of Warcraft. It's safe to say nobody will forget Bernstein any time soon.