A Message to the Community

MargaretKrohn

Glorious Ashes Community,

Over the past few years together, it has been an incredibly exciting time watching the world of Verra come to life with each new development update. As you well know, making an MMORPG of our size and ambition is a tremendous amount of work with many moving pieces and countless hours of dedication from a lot of different people and disciplines. It is thanks to the many hard-working and incredibly talented developers at Intrepid Studios that we continue to forge ahead on our development journey. With Alpha One coming up soon, our team returning back to the studio, and the tremendous growth we have had over the last year, the future for Intrepid and Ashes of Creation is bright. Although, today, we must give a bittersweet farewell to Jeffrey Bard as he has decided to pursue his passions in the VR space. We are extremely grateful for his contributions to the project, and we shall always hold dear the great memories we made together, the friendships we created, and of course, the imprint he has left on the world of Verra.

Our Creative Director, Steven Sharif, along with our incredibly talented senior designers will be stepping up to assume Jeff’s responsibilities in the meantime. We will continue building upon our progress alongside the many amazing additions to our team we’ve gained over the past several months. From the beginning, Jeff’s focus has been to help implement the vision that Steven has for Ashes of Creation, and during Jeff’s time on the project, he was a glorious champion for that vision.

Everyone at Intrepid Studios wishes Jeff all the best in his future endeavors. We are excited to watch as Jeff continues to do great things as a designer, leader, and gamer.

Please see a personal note from Jeff below:

Jeff wrote:

My Dearest Ashes Community,

It's with a heavy heart, and a considerable amount of sadness that I announce my departure from the Intrepid team. The last 5 years at Intrepid has been an incredible experience, with so many memories that I will cherish.. I've learned a ton, grown as a person and as a designer, and I'm always going to look back and appreciate my time here. Thankfully, Ashes of Creation is in a great place, surrounded by great people who care deeply about its success. None of that will change, and I'll be on the edge of my seat watching the continued development as part of the community.

I'm going to miss every single one of you. Those I met at PAX, at Gamescom, at GDC… those of you I've chatted with in Discord, and all of you I haven't gotten a chance to say hi to yet. You're such an important part of this process, and it's one of the things I'll miss most. There's nothing quite like this game, and certainly nothing quite like this community!

Goodbye, everyone! Stay in touch, and if you keep an eye out, you might find me lurking at the Ashes of Creation booth at some future PAX! See you in game.

All My Love,

Jeffrey Bard

StevenSharif

Jeff my friend,
We have had some amazing memories together over the last several years. I’m incredibly excited for your future and happy you are pursuing your passions. The team and community thank you for your hard work on Ashes.
Will miss ya buddy.

PS Please watch out for Thomas, he is gunning for you.

Songcaller

We'll miss Jeff Bard, Thomas the Tank and the synergies between the top brass. I hope your future is bright, Jeff.

RisingPhoenix

Always pursue that which consumes you. Best wishes and thanks for all you have done to make AOC the next flagship game!

JamesSunderland

Jeff Bard will certainly be missed by the community, i wish a bright future for him in the VR side of gaming.

eXmi

Thank you for all your hard work and great memories from all the live streams, we miss you already.
Best wishes for your future!

Talents

Best of luck wherever you go. Gonna miss seeing you on the monthly livestreams.

MargaretKrohn

Jeff, it was nice working with you again! I know not only will we miss you, but the community will miss you greatly.

I wish you the best of luck on your new adventure, and I'm totally down with grabbing lunch anytime! 🤗🧡

(Also, y'all don't @ me for replying to my own thread. I want to say a personal goodbye too. 😝)

Hunter Ovadia

Wishing you all the best, Jeff! Much love!

Oberon0773

Best of luck Jeff! While you will be missed, it will be worth it knowing you are pursing something you are passionate about!

Saedu

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!

Best of luck to you Jeff!

latisullivan

MargaretKrohn wrote: »

Jeff, it was nice working with you again! I know not only will we miss you, but the community will miss you greatly.

I wish you the best of luck on your new adventure, and I'm totally down with grabbing lunch anytime! 🤗🧡

(Also, y'all don't @ me for replying to my own thread. I want to say a personal goodbye too. 😝)

Quoting Marge so she gets the spotlight and everyone can see the type of person she is - The one that likes her own tweets and posts! (ME TOO).

Thanks Jeff for all you've done, even though personally I've only seen you in the dev streams. Hope the best for you in your next adventure and I will say, as an outsider this comes as a bit of a shock. Hopefully this doesn't hurt AoC's project much because even from the outside we know all the hard work you've put in. Best of luck!

Simurgh

Thanks for all you did to help Ashes of Creation in its development. You were a champion of the cause and will be missed! Best wishes on your future!

ultrared

Sending you best wishes on your new journey.

T Elf

With tears in my eyes I read the news of your leaving. I will miss you but hope you will find your passion and bliss. Hope to see you around Ashes over the coming years.

Cambiguous

Best of luck to you and well wishes!

Ravudha

This is really sad news. Best of luck with your new adventures Jeff.

Also, it would be great if you show up for a surprise cameo in a future live stream.

faisal108

it aches my heart to see you leave the team as you had the heart to burn mountains with passion
your ideas and designs have left a mark on the game and community that will never be forgotten
I bid you farewell and, I hope you will have an amazing journey for the path to come

deadmansprice

May you succeed in your future! Thank you for your efforts in Ashes of Creation, you're a great dude. \o/. You'l break through the obstacles, and build the future. That's for sure.

Xhelori

Thanks so much for all the work you put into this project, Jeffrey. You will be missed! Keep on running amok wherever you can. Peace.

ashone

Jeff i for one will miss you dearly, and hope that you drop in to visit Ashes every once in a while.

Xetnal

Thanks so much for all the work you have put in this project Jeff. I wish you the best in your glorious next endeavours

Zii

Good Luck with everything Jeff. We will all miss you and Thomas!

Lex

You will always have a special place in all of our hearts Jeff. Wishing you the very best in your new pursuits. The campfire will be eerily quiet and somber without you.

DonutUndercover

Thanks Jeff! All the best on your future endeavours and your help making AoC have a great opportunity for success.

palabana

Good luck on your new adventure, Jeff. You will be missed heavily. After all, you are my favourite person in Intrepid. With that said, I can't help but think negatively on this situation. I'll remain a pessimist until you announce the new Lead Game Designer. Hopefully it's someone that's really good at the job.

Greypelt

Thanks for everything you've done Jeff! Good luck in your future endeavors!

Awace

Good luck on your new adventure Jeff. You will be missed!

mcknightrider

I don't see how this doesn't spell absolute disaster for the game? 5 years into development and the lead game designer leaves? That's not a good look. Huge red flag. What could you possibly say to the community to reassure them at this point? I can't imagine a lead designer leaving this late into development being good for the game. Possibly even setting it back in big ways.

WookieeAshes

Thanks for all your hard work. You will be missed. See you down the road at the launch party.

SkylarckTheBotanist