The fantasy MMORPG Ashes of Creation has come into conflict with the gaming press. It concerns the controversial referral model.
Ashes of Creation: Crowdfunding continues in June
Ashes of Creation is a fantasy MMORPG that has made headlines in recent weeks with a successful Kickstarter campaign. The highly ambitious project has raised $3,271,809. The Kickstarter campaign has now ended, but it will still accept money through crowdfunding.
Ashes of Creation says: We will continue crowdfunding in June via our own website to accommodate everyone who prefers to pay via PayPal, which Kickstarter does not support.
Referral issues and communication difficulties
While the Kickstarter campaign was still running, one of the largest gaming sites in the world, PC Gamer, critically examined the model behind “Ashes of Creation”.
One author introduced the game and noted some “problems”, such as the Ashes of Creation team lacking references and experience. Therefore, it is questionable whether they can truly achieve their lofty goals.
The main point of criticism is the company’s “referral system”: People receive money (15%) for getting others to sign up for the game through their referral links and ultimately spending money in Ashes of Creation. This primarily motivates YouTubers with large audiences to promote the game.
Interestingly, these referral rewards can also be cashed out.
The problem: Such a referral system actually contradicts the rules of Kickstarter. Anyone participating in a project through Kickstarter cannot financially benefit from it.
Then the issue gets a bit complicated:
In the PC Gamer article, it was mentioned that they had inquired with Kickstarter what they thought of the referral system. It would be against the rules of Kickstarter. Following this, Kickstarter contacted Ashes of Creation, and they removed the referral: Kickstarter donations no longer counted towards this referral program.
“That’s a flat-out lie” – Misunderstanding was likely Kickstarter’s fault
However, that was not true. The studio did not implement these changes.
The head of Ashes of Creation feels that he and his game have been treated unfairly by the article. He accuses PC Gamer of lying: “That’s a flat-out lie.” Kickstarter did not require the change.
The problem is likely: Kickstarter thought that they had demanded changes from Ashes of Creation – but they formulated so vaguely what exactly they should change that they now want to let the matter rest. In the future, they intend to communicate such matters more clearly.
According to information from MassivelyOp, the “Ashes of Creation” head, Steven Sharif, reacted quite strongly to the PC Gamer article. The author wants to ride the hype wave with “clickbait” titles. He is looking for a fight and has an agenda.
It had already become evident that the head of Ashes of Creation, Steven Sharif, has a critical view of the media. Sharif seems to believe that media only report on a game when it simultaneously launches a large advertisement campaign. That was one of his motivations to implement a referral system.
A release of Ashes of Creation for PC is planned for late 2018.
Crowdfunding needs success stories
Mein-MMO thinks: I have the feeling that we will be dealing with conflicts around Ashes of Creation more often. The studio seems to feel comfortable in a “us against everyone” role and is currently treading new paths with the referral system. That is perfectly fine. The critical stance against established media is understandable in the role of the underdog, who is vying for attention against marketing giants like Ubisoft or Activision.
Well, one could have spared the stress and communicated privately, but that’s beside the point.
However: Doubts about whether Ashes of Creation will achieve its truly lofty goals will remain. Just as doubts persist regarding comparable indie MMORPGs.
We can only keep our fingers crossed that Ashes of Creation succeeds. The “crowdfunding” concept needs success stories, and not just “we were successfully funded,” but also in the second part “and then we went on and developed a really great game.”
Sharif has a background in controversial “multi-level marketing”; we have dealt with the topic here:
Ashes of Creation: Who recruits players earns cash – Pyramid system?
