Recent tensions over Ashes of Creation’s progress have flared again, with streamer/YouTuber Narc, who claims to just want to make “entertaining videos” but has also led content critical of AoC, claiming to quit the game (for now). Creative Director Steven Sharif, in turn, responded to the controversy on a related Reddit thread.
In the original video, Narc starts by speculating on the game’s removal of $250 early access packs, then continues on to compare the referral system to “multi-level marketing” scams or “Ponzi schemes.” He then continues on to talk about the dynamic gridding, the network testing situation, and other supposedly falsely-advertised features, especially a demo of the desert biomes by the team.
Narc claims that the communication between the team and the playtesters is “deceptive,” and that the MMORPG, which is currently going through a series of iterative Alpha tests as advertised, is “unplayable.”
He also claimed that Steven Sharif is “preying on mental health” as a way to defame and dismiss these concerns whilst locking and banning people who expressed the same.” This is in reference to a previous Reddit comment made where Sharif told a player who was upset about the desert biome development that they should, “for your own mental health, step away” if the slow progress was bothering them.
A user posted on the official AoC subreddit about Narc’s video, to which Sharif himself responded. The full comment is lengthy, but it attempts to address some of the major critiques. Most notably, Sharif calls many of the claims against himself and the team "unfounded, false and defamatory."
Otherwise, the major takeaway is the one that he seems to be reiterating repeatedly on the forums and elsewhere: that the game is incomplete, and that the team has been looking at feedback and communicating the best they can.
“[L]ike we say time after time month after month as we work to bring ALL the systems and content online,” the comment reads, more specifically about the freeholding system. “This isn’t a FAKE showcase... It is INCOMPLETE... because it is a work in progress, which is the WHOLE point of us showcasing updates in the first place. You may disagree with that, but it is the path we believe will best yield systems that players want, and in the way they want them. And most importantly, we COMMUNICATE this during every update we do, these works in progress may be remade, iterated, cut, radically changed as we progress.”
Some have pushed back on Steven’s response, pointing out, for instance, that the desert demo (and that of other biomes) still lacked clarity on it being a conceptual demo, and not necessarily what would be delivered.
Beyond the actual critiques of AoC, others in the comments for this Reddit post further noted Narc’s current “toxic” demeanor and cultivating such through his streams. With an over-obsession over the game in progress, cussing at his own viewers in chat, and attacking someone in a full video who called out his use of the “r-word” in the Intrepid private forums, some note perhaps it’s better a creator like Narc steps away anyway as AoC continues development.
Sharif also noted this sort of behavior from forum users, as addressed by Narc in the video, in contrast to wanting “constructive criticisms.”
“I watched on your stream, as the 4 people who were banned for violating the subreddit’s conduct rules over the last 11 days, came back to you laughing about the bans, as some achievement in your chat and discord,” he said in the comment. “Creating an atmosphere of toxicity is not constructive criticism or feedback, and it is not the type of community we are trying to cultivate around Ashes.”
A lot of the feedback mirrors a recent prior statement Sharif made that those joining the Ashes of Creation Alpha should not join “if you are expecting to ‘play’ a game,” pointing out that it may be frustrating to expect such from the Alpha 2 stage the game is currently in.
Another wrinkle to this stems from the perception by Redditors that the Ashes of Creation subreddit is censoring negative criticism, especially since Sharif himself is a mod on the subreddit. Some are claiming that negative posts are being deleted, though Steven states that so long as the member is "abiding by the rules," there should be "no reason to feel like you cannot express how you feel about the game."
MMORPG reached out to Intrepid Studios on Thursday for further comment, specifically inquiring about whether Intrepid would be seeking action against claims it called defamatory, as well as a response to Narc's claim Steven was preying on mental health to deflect criticism, but has not received a response at the time of writing. We will update this story should the studio provide one.
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