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After seven years of dedicated coverage, long-time Ashes of Creation content creator Ritchie SH has announced he is stepping away from the game. The decision comes after mounting frustration with exploits, favoritism, and what he describes as a toxic community environment.
📺 Video: I Am Done With Ashes of Creation...
✍️ Author: Ritchie SH
Ritchie recalls uploading his first Ashes of Creation video seven years ago, inspired by the potential of the project. Over the years, he consistently followed every developer livestream, produced hundreds of videos, and defended the game through its ups and downs.
During that time, his personal life changed dramatically — marriage, children, new jobs — yet his commitment to Ashes of Creation remained constant. For many in the community, his channel became a reliable hub of news, analysis, and speculation about what was often called “the most ambitious MMO in development.”
But that commitment has now ended. After Phase 3 of Alpha Two, he describes the game as being in “the worst state since Alpha 2 started.” Despite technical improvements like Unreal Engine 5.6 upgrades and a larger world map, the lack of engaging content and the presence of ongoing exploits have drained his enthusiasm.
A turning point for Ritchie was his plan to document exploitation and favoritism within Ashes of Creation. He notes receiving large volumes of reports from the community — stories of dupes, bugs, and suspected developer leniency.
But what pushed him over the edge was an incident involving racism targeted at a guild leader and his group. Despite multiple reports to Intrepid Studios and Discord moderators, the offenders were never punished. According to Ritchie, many of these players remain in the game, shielded by their association with a major guild.
“You were telling people you were going to permanently ban them from exploiting, but racism is okay in your game.”
This, he argues, shows a dangerous double standard. Exploiters in favored guilds allegedly continue unchecked, while others face swift enforcement. The combination of racism, lack of accountability, and continued exploitation convinced Ritchie that Intrepid is not living up to its promises.
Ritchie paints a grim picture of Alpha Two’s third phase. While technical progress is undeniable — better visuals, a bigger world, new archetypes — the actual gameplay loop remains shallow.
His verdict is harsh and clear:
“Exploits, bugs, broken systems, poor performance, crashes… there’s no real content even in the game still a year later.”
The decline of Ashes of Creation’s community is another major factor for Ritchie. He remembers when Reddit and Discord were filled with passionate defenders of the project. Today, those same spaces are flooded with criticism, negativity, and guild drama.
Even Steven Sharif, the game’s director, now receives heavy downvotes on Reddit posts — a signal that trust and goodwill are fading. Discord, meanwhile, is described by Ritchie as a “complete mess” with poor moderation, toxicity, and constant conflict.
“The Discord is a complete mess. The community is a complete mess. Intrepid isn’t adjusting it.”
This shift in sentiment reflects broader disappointment with the project. For many fans, the dream of Ashes of Creation has soured into frustration.
Although stepping away, Ritchie leaves the door open to returning if things improve. Still, he remains deeply skeptical. Intrepid’s plan to market the game in November is, in his view, a disastrous idea.
“It’s going to be an absolutely massive mistake… this game is not ready for the larger audience to see.”
The concern is that newcomers — especially influencers or streamers with large audiences — will encounter exploits, griefing, and toxic community interactions, then broadcast their negative experiences to an even wider audience. Instead of building hype, the marketing campaign could cement Ashes of Creation’s reputation as a broken MMO.
Ritchie closes by thanking his 10,700 subscribers, reflecting on the balance of positive and negative coverage he tried to maintain. But now, he feels there’s no positive story left to tell.
“Right now, it just doesn’t seem like there’s anything positive to talk about.”
For the foreseeable future, he will step back from Ashes of Creation content, focusing on more worthwhile projects. Whether he returns depends on whether Intrepid can turn the ship around — something he doesn’t expect to happen for at least a couple of years.
The departure of Ritchie SH is a serious signal for the Ashes of Creation community. For seven years, he amplified the project’s promise and vision. His exit underscores how fragile that trust has become, and how urgently Intrepid Studios must act to restore confidence.
Until then, the message from both community chatter and content creators is clear: Ashes of Creation is at a crossroads, and the path forward will determine whether it fulfills its vision or becomes another MMO lost to history.