Bashiok is a [[superunique]] [[Fallen Shaman]] (conjurer) that spawns (rarely spawns ) in the [[Dahlgur Oasis]]in Act Two. He may very rarely occur as a Bounty, but is usually seen just as a random spawn. Hitting it Bashiok with [[Rakanishu's Blade]] grants the [[Bashanishu]] achievement.

[[<gallery>File:Bashiok_1.jpg|thumb|left|350px|(v2In the wild.01)]][[File:Bashiok_2.jpg|thumb|left|350px|(v2.01)]]Larger in person</gallery>

 ==Bashiok the Community Manager== Bashiok was initially the sole Diablo 3 community manager, and was the main public face of the game from 2008 until 2011. He worked as a liaison with the community, posted extensively in the Battle.net forums, and managed the Diablo 3 Facebook and Twitter feeds.  His busy schedule was profiled in one of Blizzard's "A Day in the Life" articles in 2011, detailing his myriad responsibilities.[[Categoryhttp:Monsters]//us.blizzard.com/en-us/company/about/b20/interviews.html#thirdInterview] <blue>Most people don’t quite understand what a Community Manager does. Some think we just sit in the forums all day. Not true! It's an understandable misconception as this role is still a fairly new thing. It's not a position most companies have, a lot of the work isn’t seen externally, and from company to company the responsibilities can vary wildly. In some cases, a Community Manager will also do PR and marketing for an entire company. Being as large as we are (our North America Community Development and eSports team numbers over 35 people) we're able to specialize. Any time I'm asked to sum up community management, I refer to that scene in Office Space where the guy being fired feebly tries to explain how he acts as a courier between the customer and the programmers, and ends up screaming about how he has people skills. It's a fairly apt comparison, as that’s a big part of who we are, only we’re (hopefully) more useful in reality than in the reference. As players can't be present in internal meetings or take part in the decision-making process, our job is to ensure that their voices are represented -- so naturally we complain a lot (kidding!). We also act as a buffer for any external communication, ideally mitigating any issues once news hits the site. As players ourselves, we can help inform company decisions and communication to best serve the game communities. That's the overarching idea of what community management is about, but our department does a whole lot more, including run eSports tournaments and programs, social media outreach, promotional projects like the "Join the Dominion!" and "Your Fortune Awaits" promotional campaigns, as well as daily content creation. I’m a manager of the content team.</blue>  ==Controversy== [[categoryFile:SuperuniquesBashiok-thankful.jpg|thumb|300px|Bashiok's "thankful" line gained immortality.]]As virtually the sole public voice for Diablo 3 during the first few years of development after the game was revealed in 2008, a time when Blizzard kept the Diablo 3 developers almost entirely from public view, Bashiok became the face/voice of the franchise, and as such grew into a controversial figure. He was the one fans often blamed when there was some news they didn't like, and his job required him to defend and explain all official decisions as though he agreed with them and fully supported them. This created some fission, as the development team often changed their plans for various features, which occasionally resulted in Bashiok, as the official spokesman, arguing against his own arguments from weeks or months earlier. Bashiok was also notorious for his sarcasm and wry sense of humor, and while that often worked as a community interaction tool, there were times when fans did not want jokes with their bad news. The most notorious incident occurred in September 2012 when he tried to include some dark humor in a post about recent nerfs to Attack Speed.[http://www.diabloii.net/blog/comments/bashiok-says-goodbye-to-blizzard/] <blue>We don’t want people to be afraid of nerfs, and... I guess maybe I can try to get that across by saying we could have nerfed a bunch of stats that probably deserve it to some degree, but we didn’t (aren’t you thankful!?), because we don’t believe our design approach should be constantly noodling with really important things, like stats. It should only be when we have an extreme situation developing, and we felt that was the case with IAS.</blue> That "aren't you thankful" line became something of a meme for embittered fans, much like Jay Wilson's "doubled it" and "F that loser"[Categoryhttp:Demons]//www.diabloii.net/blog/comments/diablo-3-developers-react-angrily-to-dave-brevik-interview]remarks, and even years later fans still throw in references to "thankful" whenever they disagree with a game design decision.   ==Farewell Letter== Bashiok announced his departure with a farewell letter posted in July 2015:[[Categoryhttp:Fallen]//www.diabloii.net/blog/comments/bashiok-says-goodbye-to-blizzard]

==Bashiok (the community manager)==[[image:Bashiok.jpg|left]]'''Bashiok''' (real name '''Micah Whiple''')<blue>I could pretty easily write a few thousand words right now, also known as '''Drysc''', is the Diablo 3 [[community manager]] at Blizzard. On the official [[Diablo III]] forums Bashiok's avatar depicts a [[Fallen Shaman]]but I did my best to keep this brief.

==Bashiok at Blizzard==[[File:Bashiok caricature.jpg|thumb|right|A caricature Bashiok has in his officeAnyway, Blizzard—and the community that surrounds it—has defined almost my entire adult life, and I am just so absolutely grateful to all of my friends here for having such an incredible and positive impact on who I am, and who I am yet to become.]]Prior I don’t think I’ve had to becoming make any decisions as difficult as the first Diablo 3 CMone to leave Blizzard, Bashiok was but a community manager for [[World of WarCraft]]new opportunity has come my way, posting with the forum name "Drysc"and I’ve decided to take it.

During late 2008 and While I think it’s all of 2009 Bashiok was often still sinking in, the most visible member of the Diablo 3 teamother day I realized I actually get to be surprised by Blizzard announcements and releases again. Which, as the only D3 community manager a lifelong fan and a regular presence rabid gamer it makes me giddy thinking about being able to sit in the Battle.net forums. He is also audience at BlizzCon, watching a stream, or reading the chief operator of Blizzard's official Diablo [http://www.twitter.com/diablo Twitter] newest blog posts, and [http://www.facebook.com/twitter Facebook] pagesseeing whatever’s in store next—for the first time.

During the final stages I’m looking forward to what’s next, and wishing you a life of the [[StarCraft II]] beta, around June 2010joy, Bashiok also took on an active role in the StarCraft II forumsinsatiable curiosity, answering questions and making funny comments. He kind of replaced [[Karune]], who had at the time not been seen in a visible position for a long timehappy gaming.

===Note the cheeky reference to his personal "aren't you thankful" scandal.[http://www.diabloii.net/blog/comments/bashiok-still-alive-still-thankful/] A Day in jokester to the Life===end...

[[image==Gallery== Assorted images of the man, the myth, the legend. <gallery>File:Bashiok-cosplay-cain.gifjpg|thumbDeckard Cain cosplay.File:Bashiok caricature.jpg|A caricature Bashiok's [[Battlehas in his office.File:Bashiok-thankful.jpg|"Thankful" t-shirt.net]] avatarFile:News-caption-this-bashiok-sdcc.jpg|Mugging with Rainbow Goblin plushies at 2014 SDCC.File:Bounty-kill-bashiok.jpg|Bashiok as a bounty in Act Two.]]</gallery>