Cup of Jones - February 8, 2021

Good morning Jones, And don't worry, there is nothing wrong in the way you're saying my name. 😁 Oh, and I have started to play Greedfall and I won't stop until I finish it 100%. I have watch the Frametrap episode where you talk about it. I think I agree with everything you said. Did you ever go back to it? You still don't think it is one of the best 7? L&R Aurélien

Aurélien GRANIER

Hi Jones! I believe I'm posting in the right place... But in light of Damiani winning the FFXIV bet, I would like to remind you that there used to be bets along the lines of, "How many letters will be in the title of the next expansion / in the name of new class they will announce?" I always thought those kinds of bets were fun, and could be used to spice up bets in the future, especially when we're talking about the guys who are super deep in their fandoms (i.e. Damiani & FF or Huber & RE bets). Just a thought I had and wanted to let you know my suggestion! Anyway, hope you have a wonderful day! L&R Matthew Ko

Heya Jones, I mean, yeah, I guess. I just didn't to unless I had to. But if Easy Allies were to list their talents, would they include being wonderful jivers, hitting high Cs, or being the best taxi drivers?

Asbo Zappruder

Hey Jonesy, EZA doing quick reacts is something I've waited way too long for. Love the idea. I think there's room for quick reactions AND long format shows and discussions. Branding suggestion--Quick an' EZ? Stay Golden, L&R Raven

Raven Perez

Hey Jones, It's almost 5 years since GameTrailers shut its doors-are there any plans to commemorate this occasion?

James Davie

just an idea

Master Pantz

Hey, I got an idea suggestion for some kind of EZA content. The idea would be to show off everyone's custom characters from different games old & new. Both ugly and well created characters, or even car paint jobs would be fun to see. It would be cool to hear some stories about them or descriptions of their builds/archetypes. The older the better too, kind of like bringing them back from the dead. Saint's Row, Mass Effect and Oblivion are some fun ones I loaded up recently on my XSX thanks to cloud saves.

Master Pantz

Hello Jones! As I recall when it is time for the allies to choose games to review, Blood posts a list of upcoming releases and the reviewers pick what they want to review. My question is, how long do the reviewers have to pick their games? What is that magical time between when the list of games is posted, and said games are released? I ask since there must be a bunch of games that would probably take a bit to look into each one. I also remember you saying that some people chose what they review beforehand, so I suppose this scenario would be during a slow month.

Parasitepaladin

I'm not entirely sure what Brandon was referencing, but most likely the preview event he attended was online over Zoom and such. We haven't booked any in-person preview events, and no publishers are holding any. -Bloodworth

Easy Allies

Hi Jones, You mentioned running into people you know at a Preview event. This struck me as off since the Allies have remained so focused on maintaining proper bubbles and contact protocols during the pandemic - to the point where you don’t even go into the studio or see the other Allies. Why was this preview event deemed safe enough to attend and possibly encounter strangers with unknown thoughts on the pandemic but working in the office is still considered a risk? Thanks, Chris

Christopher Peterson

Hi Jones, it sounds like you need more allies to get more done. Any thoughts on that?

Taylor Hemphill

Hi Jones, I was just wondering why Ben still uses an email address to solicit questions for Frame Trap instead of using a Patreon post like you do for 'Cup'. Any particular reason?

Jason Flood

Hi. I consider your reviews, eza podcast and "produced shows" (don't skip, mysterious monsters, ah retrospective, remember that..) your bread and butter. If those were lacking, I'd have a hard time justifying my patronage. On the contrary, other podcasts and hour long shows are hard to follow (time commitment) and I mostly don't. I know they are easier to produce and as such don't take as much time. But those would be the ones I'd consider moving to a patreon tier (Frame Trap, Friend Code etc.). I know there are probably many followers for them as well so it's an act that could hurt but still: Instead of a podcast, turn them into a 20-40min show like Easy Update or Huber Syndrome. It could be "A Cut" from the longer podcast which could be promoted in The Cut like "check out the uncut indepth discussion at patreon" or something. Might be hard to cut a conversation in the middle, so pick 1-2 topics (the most juicy) for the cut and leave the rest for patrons. As for Twitch, I don't know if you already do some of this but here's some proven tactics: 1) Have a constant schedule. Always, every day (well 5 out of 7), at the same time. Ie. 10 AM PST, Mon-Fri SOMEONE at Easy Allies will stream for 6 hours. It would be good to pick a schedule that hits the EU timezone as well, so 10 AM PST would be 19:00 CET. Looking at your schedule, most streams are only 2 hours in the middle of the night for EU. Yeah, you probably have better things to do... But this is the most important step. 2) Follow through with the games you play. It's ok to drop a really bad one, but if you are going to start a (good) game, finish it. 3) Take turns. If Mike&Mike are going to stream a game from start to finish, they should do it in a week. So streaming that game every day on your schedule, others give way. A "standard" lenght for a "stream show" could be a week, then you switch to who ever streams next week. If you don't finish a game in a week, then they would continue till they do. 4) It's ok to have "off streams", this is when everyone else would stream if they wanted to. 5) Twitch storm. Go ahead and take andvantage. Everyone is streaming Valheim at the moment. Whoever's going to play it, should do so on your main schedule for a week straight. It's an online game so invite fellow Allies.

Lauri Laivo

Hello Brandon. Sad to hear that Easy Allies will be reviewing less games in the future, because I don’t consider streams and impressions as a replacement for a review. When I watch your stream or impression video, I find it hard to believe that something is indeed 10/10 or “the best ever made”. But when the same ally expresses the same sentiment in his review, I have no doubt in such claim. This is not about you not being critical enough during discussions, it’s about the difference between an opinion that was expressed in the moment and a though that was considered over significant time, written down and edited to be as precise as possible. Your reviews are so important to me because they help me make my purchasing and time investment decisions. I value such information a lot and I’m willing to pay for it. So even though I can’t say that I support your work via Patreon just for one reason, reviews are definitely a big part of that support. By no way this is “I’m giving you money for this, so go do it” kind of message. I realize that even though I plan to increase my support, it still wouldn’t enough to pay the bills, and that streams and impressions have their supporters too. I just thought that it’s a good idea to inform you what I value the most in Easy Allies, especially since you are currently making some crucial business decisions.

Alexander Zyryanov

Hey Jones, Suggestions: 1) Last week you mentioned that release day impressions might be a good way for the allies to not rush on review and get a video out. Have you considered calling those videos "Review in Progress" or something like that rather than impressions. It fits better and it may be better for views as well. 2) I'm glad the allies will push more of the YouTube stuff like likes and subscribe because it will help you grow. Another area I EZA could improve in this space is to encourage comments on their videos. A good example of that is in the year Easy Update with Kyle at the start of the year, either Kyle or Ian asked people to post their opinion in the comments. Things like that where it makes sense will increase engagement from YouTube point of view and should help with the algorithm. Thanks!

Faraz Rizvi

This is probably a caching issue with Patreon and their mobile app and web site use some different solutions

Faraz Rizvi

Hey Jones! Any thoughts on holding another marathon similar to the "get cool stuff before e3" stream? I'm positive the EZA community would be more than glad to pitch in some extra $$$ to support the business especially after the year that was 2020. All the best!

Shannon Khalid

Hey Mr. Jones! During last week’s editorial, you touched on looking at the smaller tiers of the Patreon and weighing on what (if any) potential changes could happen with the balancing act of current and new Patrons and I was wondering if EZA has considered doing a yearly Patron exclusive survey? As a Patron for Kinda Funny, they put out a survey across both their Prime and Games Patreons every November to prepare for their Kinda Funny Day at the start of the year, and I think EZA would benefit from doing one as well. Format and content would be entirely up to yourself and the Allies, but if you all ever did decide to do one, you can ask for things such as the tier each Patron is at, if they’ve ever been a part of other tiers and why they’ve changed (from upping or lowering their pledge), what they like most about their tier, what could use improvement, etc. When factoring in what to change in tiers (again, if anything in the first place), this could give EZA an idea of what is more valuable and should stay mostly the same, while also letting you know what is open to adjustment. You could use such a survey of Patrons as a “test case” to see if some of the ideas would sound appealing in a controlled environment before trying it out publicly (I know NoClip and What’s Good Games have tried this in the past as well). What do you think? Since March is your yearly anniversary, having a survey at the beginning of the year to chart the next 12 months, formulating a plan over the first two to be announced at the Anniversary every year could be another tool to utilize to grow the company. Just something I wanted to throw out there. Thanks for reading as always and have a wonderful rest of your day! Cheers! QUESTION: Inspired by last week’s editorial, has EZA considered implementing a yearly Patreon exclusive survey to gauge the satisfaction of various tiers, what could use adjustment, and other factors to help better structure the Patreon IF the Allies make changes? I believe this could be a useful tool EZA can utilize, especially in a controlled test environment like Patreon to gauge if it would be worth implementing publicly.

Brandon K Gann

Hey Jones, This is just a quick question. BUSINESS: I was looking on EZA’s Patreon page through the mobile app and notice the numbers (numbers being $) are higher on the App compared to looking on the same page through my PC browser and I was just wondering which has the correct information (PC or mobile App)? This was just something I found odd and was curious about. Also, just wanted to add that I noticed this for other Patreons.

SoulCaster