A post from yesterday on Battle.net celebrates the fact that today is the ninth anniversary of the North American launch of World of Warcraft, Blizzard's apparently hard-to-spell fantasy MMORPG:

Nine years is a long time for any voyage, and we couldn’t have hoped for a more dedicated and passionate community to come on this adventure with us. World of Warcraft wouldn’t be what it is today without you: the players who celebrate your passion for the game every day and share your own Azeroth-enhancing contributions with one another. From creating awe-inspiring costumes for BlizzCon to talking complex raid strategies on podcasts, from building fansites to making amazing machinima, the World of Wacraft community has forged a culture and language uniquely its own.