The Recluse Report - February 2026 Part 1

From Endgame Viable

February 17, 2026

About this episode

The episode discusses Discord's age verification controversy and reflects on the gaming industry, particularly focusing on Ashes of Creation and its development challenges.

There’s a big controversy about Discord starting to crack down on age verification worldwide, or something like that. I found out about it on Discord. I can’t say I’m surprised. It was a great run for 5 or 10 years there but letting the huddled masses onto the Internet has definitely proven to have been a huge mistake in hindsight. I assume that’s not a controversial viewpoint. Gaming Ashes of Creation Since Intrepid Studios just imploded in dramatic fashion , I dug out the game again and recorded three videos for the historical record. I don’t personally think the game was a scam or a cash grab or anything like that, but I do think it was mismanaged, had an inexperienced development team, and they probably bit off way more than they could chew. From the outside, the end result of those two situations looks roughly the same. But I can’t see anyone in this day and age sinking 10 years into a game project as some kind of long con. I don’t know anything or particularly care about the business side of it or any of the personalities involved; I can only make some educated guesses about the development process based on looking at the game and…

Topics covered

  • Discord
  • age verification
  • gaming
  • Ashes of Creation

Mentioned in this episode

Products: EverQuest, Asheron’s Call, Nioh 3, Nioh 1, PS5, Final Fantasy XIV, Endwalker, Ashes of Creation

Books & works: The Recluse Report, The War Within Recap

Places: Shadowlands, Dragonflight

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