Krangel's reporting on key factors in and around the Second Life virtual environment has been an interesting mix of the strong quality pieces that you expect from many parts of the Thomson Reuters service, interspersed with more personal, blog-like pieces, which together contributed towards some genuinely top-drawer reporting on this particular social phenomenon.

Krangel's role with Silicon Alley Insider won't stop him reporting on the virtual world beats, either. Indeed, you can count on it, though the level of granularity might change somewhat. We'll have to see as he settles into the new role.

Next Tuesday, 7 October at 8AM SLT (US Pacific) is Krangel's final in-world office hours, an event he looks on with some regret, 'I really enjoyed the regular public office-hours. They were one of the highlights of my week.'

'Being Eric Reuters,' says Krangel, 'was probably the most fun job in journalism. Beyond getting to fly, or having a cool avatar, there was always this sense that I was witnessing the birth of something special, and I was getting to help document it. That's as much as any writer could ever hope for.'

With Pasick otherwise engaged in other arenas, Krangel looks difficult to replace. The signs are that Thomson Reuters is not preparing to do so at the present time, which we feel leaves the fate of the Thomson Reuters Island somewhat in doubt.

TR seems too switched-on to leave an unstaffed site lazing around on the Second Life grid. If only some other corporations were possessed of similar insight. Even so, if the island is to depart as well, that will doubtless cause all manner of speculation among the online pundits and print-media.

Having originally set up in Second Life in October 2006 (back when they were plain old Reuters), that's two solid years of having a Reuters correspondent working the virtual environment. After two years of their presence, reporting and conversations it really does seem like the end of an era.