Cup of Jones - August 30, 2021

Hello Papa Jones! Quick question for ya. Its me, spongejay1, the guy who submitted the "Do expansions deserve GOTY consideration" question a few weeks back. Hindsight is 20/20 of course, and I definitely could've worded my question better, but I genuinely wasn't expecting it to be misinterpreted in the way that it was. Now, I want to mention that I'm not upset at all. At anyone. Period. However, given how the comments on the podcast responded, I wanted to ask you, Brand Manager, is there a hidden EZA metric to decide when you guys respond to something or not. I never expected a response to the "dilemma" from Ben, and when I saw one a couple days later, I couldn't help but wonder if it had been prompted by anything in particular (number of comments about it, Brand Manager making a boss decision) or if it was just a spur of the moment thing on Ben's part. I want to again stress that I'm not upset with anyone about the misinterpretation (I saw some comments get kinda nasty towards Ben over it), it just made me think about the behind the scenes metrics of when/if you guys respond to your the whims/concerns of your large, loving audience. L&R & Sorry Enforcer spongejay1

spongejay1

Hey Jones. Just a quick one. Have you considered uploading tiermaker to the audio feed? Obviously the tier itself is visual but the conversation is easy to follow by audio and could possibly be improved if the allies were aware. No great loss if not, it's just that youtube is unreliable as an audio player. Thanks for everything as always.

Cabbagelad

Hello Mr. Jones! I had a question about games that came out in the last few weeks of a year being in consideration for the next year's GOTYs. If something does fly under the radar, is there a way for us to attempt to get a game on the allies' radar before it gets to be too late? The game I specifically have in mind is an indie game called Omori, which I feel has a lot of potential and that some of the allies might love, but came out on Chirstmas 2020 so it was easy to miss. I don't doubt that there are other games like this as well. Just putting out a line for some games that I don't want to get looked over if only for a poor release time. Thanks, Tony B.

Hello Jones! I apologize for all of my questions lately being related to your Mass Effect streams, but I have to ask: why do you hardly ever use the "investigate" option to see additional dialogue choices/hardly choose the question-based choices on the left? These provide you with SO much additional information and context, I feel like you're missing out on so much. For example, the mission with Shepard's mom's former colleague, during the call with his mother you skipped the investigation options and just said "Okay, thanks mom, I'll get him help." However, if you investigated, you would have learned that he was the last man standing in a platoon groundside on a planet and witnessed his brothers-in-arms being tortured by Batarian slavers, and so suffers from PTSD. Things like this are what you've missed, and I die a little inside every time you skip it. Thanks, L&R!

Joseph La Russa

Hi Jones In a recent Cup of Jones episode, there were some questions around the studio displays and using them for contextual video highlights during the podcast. The question/answer was focused on the use and benefit of this for the podcast show. I would like to advocate that it could be other shows where this change could improve the viewers’ experience too. Shows like Frame Trap and Friend Code for example could be enhanced with gameplay/trailer/screenshot content through the displays. In Damiani’s latest Friend Code episode covering the Pokemon Direct, there was gameplay footage and trailers displayed in the top left corner. The editing had scaled and skewed the video over one of the displays in the background, and at first I thought it was actually streaming through the display, instead of having been added in during editing of the episode. This episode definitely stood out to me, and was much easier to follow Damiani's thoughts/reactions with the visual cues. If video content is timely to source and work with, screenshots could also work - honestly anything to add context to the conversation would be great - especially when the game/topic is one a viewer is unfamiliar with prior to the episode. Data to prove the value/return-on-investment of this change seems logical to show it is worth the effort - I hope there are performance metric(s) to track for insights. Patroen growth is obvious, but perhaps there are many other behavioural changes that could indicate improved viewer engagement/satisfaction. e.g - Return rate (How many viewers have watched multiple episodes of a show VS only one episode and bouncing/churning) - Viewer > Subscriber conversion % rate - Increased % of videos where the viewer watches all the way through to the end VS just the first few minutes - Qualitative feedback (Positive feedback in the comments, increased average video likes compared to previous episodes) - More viewers watch a video in their active browser tab VS switching tabs and listening in the background Do you currently measure such metrics or something similar when introducing/testing changes on the shows? While typing this question/feedback I recognise your viewership may be split over YouTube and audio-only platforms like Spotify where the video changes are negligible. Avid EA supporter here - wishing you all the best and continued growth into the future

Heya Jones, Phew. Well, that was a relief. I was worried for a minute. But what does Easy Allies want to do at least once before they get old: swim in a clear blue stream where the water is icy cold, be not evil but a little worldly wise, or waste a week or two and never do a chore?

Asbo Zappruder

Where’s the audio version?

zak wojnar

After GT and before Easy Allies, were there any other avenues or ideas you were entertaining for your future? I get if you cannot or don't want to share some of these if they were business ideas or more personal, but some insight as to your thoughts and attitude during this time would be interesting to hear.

Jason Wojnar

Hey Mr. Jones! The following may be something that hasn’t been top of my mind for quite a long time as EZA has had to juggle much with content creation, the pandemic, off camera operations, etc., but I’ve recently noticed EZA hasn’t had a refresh with its graphics across the Twitch splash screen, several podcasts and shows, etc., and I was curious if the current graphics will always be what they are or, if not, what goes into deciding if and or when there should be new graphics? Aside from budget of course to outsource them (which, to be clear, I really like them all, and each stands out for being unique to each video/stream, etc. Personally, I think they’re timeless and fit well for their respective content), are there other factors that would have anyone changing it up, be it a feeling of stagnation, a set time limit before making a change, or something else? For example, I know the intro for streams has updated a couple of times over the first couple of years, but it’s been the way it currently is for the last couple. Just a thought, and again, I don’t honestly expect any change for quite a long time, if at all. Thanks as always for indulging my curiosities behind and surrounding Easy Allies. Have a wonderful rest of your day! Cheers! QUESTION: What goes into deciding if and or when there should be new graphics? I really enjoy the various graphics across the various streams and shows, but it’s been awhile since there have been any shakeups when I feel EZA changed things up pretty consistently over the first couple of years.

Brandon K Gann