Cup of Jones - August 31, 2020
Added 2020-08-31 16:57:07 +0000 UTCI certainly didn’t want to rush through this summer, because there were a lot of exciting things to celebrate, but I have to admit the imminent Fall is one I’m greatly looking forward to. Halloween, Cyberpunk 2077, PS5, Xbox Series X, that big Nintendo Direct we’ve all been waiting for, etc. So today’s editorial is about antici...pation, and how I try to manage it with everything else going on in the world. Looking at the opening of today’s show, I’m also proud of the team for creating some really fun and varied content last week that I hope you all enjoyed.
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKs2MOxa6Cc
Brandon
DISCLAIMER: I take questions from the post comments on the previous week’s episode here on Patreon. You can ask a business-related question which I may answer live, or a personal question which I may answer below. If your business question was not answered live, I either replied to it in the comments, or referenced the answer in a recent episode. Feel free to inquire why your question wasn't included, or ask the same question a second time if you think I may have missed it. I will edit your comment/question before reading it live to ensure the show moves as quickly as possible. I typically grab all the questions by midnight (PT) the night before each episode.
Comments
Hey Jones, Late post, hopefully I make the cut. Just a quick one, any idea when the third betting special is coming out? I would have thought it would have been Gamescom, but with Don on a (well deserved) paternity leave, any idea when we can expect the finale? Thanks, Quaznarg
Quaznarg
2020-09-07 02:51:45 +0000 UTCHey Brandon. I have been a Patron from the very beginning, and I am starting to become worried about the state of Easy Allies. After having thought alot about it, I wanted to weigh in, and share my opinion. When you removed tiers above 50000 i thought, well, The guys know what they are doing, but after a while i started feeling like there's nothing cool to aim for anymore. There is no shows to up your pledge for and no incentives to get people "hyped". And i think that amounts to a bigger problem, which is that the EZA is starting to be caught in a stalemate. Nothing new is really happening, and people are slowly dropping of the Patreon. To me, you guys just seem to satisfied with the Status Quo, using arguments that getting a new Ally after Bosman left, is too expensive. But then again, you have said that from the very beginning, which I find sad. Getting a female Ally would be so cool, and change the dynamic, and make the EZA fresh again, and it would open you up for a completely new segment of the demographic, that i doubt you're tapping into now. I am just afraid that if you don't do anything, the EZA will wither and die over time. I support two other Patreons which are more successful than you guys, and they take chances, and it has paid of for them, and I think it will do so for you too. So Brandon, i beg you, because i love you guys. Please give us something to get excited about. Give us something to strive for, or aim for. Give us new Patreon tiers, no matter how impossible they are, so we feel that there something cool on the horizon. Right now there isn't really. Everything is close to how it has been the last 3-4 years, so give us a reason to be excited. Just some thoughts, from a long time Patron. Claus
Claus Larsen
2020-09-06 10:17:20 +0000 UTCHi Brandon, any special plans for next-gen launch coverage such as PS5/Series X unboxing videos, hands-on Dual Sense impressions and more podcast topics focused on the Sony vs. Microsoft console war? I know that'll be a very busy time of year with the holidays, GOTYs, election/pandemic headaches, but once these consoles finally come out I'm sure there will be lots of fun stuff to talk about. Are there any exciting ideas you could share or tease?
Matt Igleski
2020-09-05 19:13:04 +0000 UTCJones, the discussion about the Nvidia cards on the podcast got me thinking. I love hearing Damiani and Ian talk about PCs. I love building PCs and gaming on them is there any interest from them on doing more PC focused content like build videos or tech discussions?
strawhatninja
2020-09-05 17:26:07 +0000 UTCbop
Nik Gothic
2020-09-05 02:01:57 +0000 UTCHey Brandon! I submitted my video for the Showcase and it seems you had some trouble with Sendspace. I guess you might have been worried from potential security issues it might have, or some other site obstruction prevented you from accessing it. But to be fair, it is an old site, and I mostly use it because it was a common file-sharing tool back during my time as an intern, which I now recognise is an experience not universal to everyone. I didn't want to get the file on Youtube because I just don't like the way it reduces video quality. It was important for me to get the actual video file across. So I've figured a Dropbox link might work instead. Is that what kids use these days? I think this one should be downloadable: https://www.dropbox.com/s/tbgno02rmgylpxy/blood%20video.mp4?dl=0 And finally as a very very very last resort, here's that same video on Youtube: https://youtu.be/gPelv13aaL4 To be perfectly honest it is a rather lousy video. I slapped my voiceover and some random guitar strumming in just under an hour, I've recorded them with my phone and then proceeded to "enhance" them in all the wrong ways because I don't know anything about audio engineering. It honestly feels very noisy. And I can't speak a normal word of English because all the English I've ever learned was from Beatles and Oasis interviews. Maybe in hindsight it's good that you've spared me this bad audio from grating the ears of the Showcase viewers, cos I feel like I'd just be way too embarrased to see it on the showcase. Finally, I guess it's fortunate that you always do Cup of Jones with Mr. Bloodworth, with whom you are reunited and you can both watch the same thing now. The video was very much meant with the two of you in mind, and it was meant to lead into that little drawing I made of him as the villain of "The Dollar" piece. Speaking of which I'm honestly so humbled and yet so flustered that you keep using my artwork of the Allies as the thumbnails every single time. I'm like, "What are you doing, I'm too shy, other people need attention!", haha. So let me just give a big Thank You, you really keep giving this kid an ego boost. Cheers, everyone!
Nik Gothic
2020-09-05 01:54:55 +0000 UTCHey Jones, Any plans for EZA to shake up the format of shows/content to spark renewed growth to the patreon? Traditionally this channel has been great about shaking things up once a year that resulted in big spikes in patreon numbers and general excitement. 2020 being the way it is, I understood for the first half of the year to try and wait it out, but with no real end in sight and the general patreon numbers continuing to erode month over month it’d be great to get some shake ups to the formats to hold over until you can get back to the studio and the great in person chemistry the crew has. L&R
Greg Kettering
2020-09-05 00:56:21 +0000 UTCHeya Jones, Yeah, okay. I mean, if you really want to know, why not just ask? But would Easy Allies characterize happiness as finding a pencil, pizza with sausage, or telling the time?
Asbo Zappruder
2020-09-04 18:45:38 +0000 UTCHello Brandon. Ian’s last appearance on Community Showcase was in January and since then we had two appearances of both Ben and Blood. Also you’ve announced Huber as October guest and his previous appearance was in May. Is it OK to ask, why other allies are invited instead of Ian?
Alexander Zyryanov
2020-09-04 05:20:25 +0000 UTCSafety from the bites of Patreon’s teeth
Spinexel
2020-09-04 03:26:10 +0000 UTCHey Jones, I recently heard of a channel with a very successful Patreon called RKG. I went and checked their account and saw that they have 2500 patrons, yet $30,000 a month. Now, this could be for a few reasons, but I suspect that it’s because their price of entry into the Patreon is $3 instead of $1. Do you think that pushing the cost of Patreon access would be profitable, or do you think more people would drop off, rather then up their pledge? Thanks, Spinexel (Spin-X-ul)
Spinexel
2020-09-04 03:25:25 +0000 UTCWere there any internal discussions about covering the reveal of the new Nvidia GTX cards I mean there was plenty of notice with a 21 day countdown, I feel you all missed out on a big opportunity for clicks, exposure, and meaningful discussion. Although the PS5 may not be as affected due to their PS exclusive titles, the cheap price point of the 3070 cards is really going to make it harder to justify picking up a new xbox when all the games are going to be on PC anyways and for 499 dollars you're going to get true 4k 60fps and beyond.
A Joker Fan
2020-09-03 13:09:37 +0000 UTCThanks for asking this question and also bringing this to my attention. I thought about this a few years ago when Game of Thrones was in its hayday, how it would be fun to get people's reactions live. Damiani tried to do something like this for GoT, but had to keep the screen blocked because of rights issues. So he tried synchronizing with chat so everyone was watching and also discussing it live. This is much better and easier. It's a great idea that I'm sure some of the Allies could make work in very interesting ways. Like a Reaction Shots centered around a movie they suggested us to watch a month earlier and then they discuss it live with the community while watching the movie, or we can all watch it together and discuss it as we go. This also opens the door for doing it with some TV shows like The Boys. Or squashing quarrels of how good a movie is or which of the two is better - for example, both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: End Game are on Amazon Prime, so Huber and Brandon could do a watch party with the community and say what they like and don't like pointing to specific scenes and actors' performace live. The same also goes for Captain America: The Winter Soldier vs Captain America: Civil War, both of which are also on Amazon. Then at the end, they and the community would decide which is better. There's appreaciating the classics with the Allies, like who wouldn't love watching Alien and Aliens with Huber or Brandon?! Very exciting.
Daniel Ribeiro
2020-09-03 12:26:22 +0000 UTCWith Twitch announcing Watch Party functionality, (https://blog.twitch.tv/en/2020/09/02/watch-parties-are-now-available-to-creators-around-the-world/) can we look forward to some EZA tv/movie nights in the future?
Steve S
2020-09-03 01:41:22 +0000 UTCHi Brandon, I wanted to say that I’ve been really happy with the Allies’ output during Covid. It’s certainly helped to keep me sane since March. I am however starting to feel anxious about the Patreon number going down. I know spoiler mode is the Patreon exclusive show, but I can’t help but wonder if the show is too infrequent to really consistently draw in new Patrons. Colin’s Last Stand’s Patreon began really rising after he introduced Sacred Symbols+, which is an additional podcast to his main one that is about an hour long each week. I was wondering if you would consider some sort of additional weekly content. It could even be a way to get to more Love and Respect questions that you weren’t able to get to on the podcast. If the traditional 5 member set up wouldn’t work, maybe you could do 1 on 1 L&R segments for Patreon. I know this would be additional work, but it might be something that would be worth the work as it would bring in a lot of $1 patrons, and I think it could even bring in higher tiers as people would feel that they’d have a higher chance of getting their L&R submission read. If the 1 on 1 idea was used, maybe it could even be hosted by other people. Thanks for reading my idea, I hope you’re doing well!
Ian Gragnolati
2020-09-02 18:41:04 +0000 UTCHere's hoping Sony sends them at least one for review purposes.
Olf Himself
2020-09-01 11:00:07 +0000 UTCHey Jones, I hope you're doing well! Something I've been thinking about is Damiani's role as the "Nintendo Guy" with Easy A and hopefully offer some constructive feedback. I think Damiani does an excellent job with Friend Code and appreciate his passion for Nintendo and staying informed and up to date on all things related to them. But sometimes I genuinely want to just hear from more of the Allies regarding Nintendo, such as on the podcast this past week when discussing the Direct. I'm not saying Damiani shouldn't talk Nintendo on the podcast or Frame Trap or whenever of course (it's his job to be on and give his thoughts) , but rather give the other Allies (who love Nintendo as well) more time to voice their opinions and not have the conversation so dominated by one person. Perhaps this fatigue if you will is due to the fact that Damiani has his Nintendo podcast so I hear him talking about Nintendo in longer forms on a regular basis, it has me really wanting more perspective from the other Allies who maybe don't get the opportunity outside the podcast on a given month. This has stood out to me for a long time and it's sort of a weird critique but felt it was worth mentioning. Again, all the respect for Damiani's opinions related to Nintendo, just want to other guys to be able to have ample time to voice their opinion and sometimes time can be precious on these topics. Thanks Jones!
Jared Barzee
2020-09-01 03:57:20 +0000 UTCHey jones, with the rumors that the ps5 will have limited stock at release how are you and the Allies going about making sure you all get one? Assuming you all plan to get one that is.
Sage_Mode_Q
2020-08-31 23:16:12 +0000 UTCNo more Batman talk on this channel :(
Ibrahim Sozer
2020-08-31 22:05:28 +0000 UTCHello Jones. Have you guys thought about adapting Mysterious Monsters to a work from home format? I've heard you guys say you'll get back to it once you're back in the studio but considering we have no idea when that is could it be worth trying to make it work? And to expand upon the question, are there other ideas you've been saving for once you get back in the studio that could actually work remotely as well?
Olf Himself
2020-08-31 20:41:54 +0000 UTCThere's more Brandon might say about this, but part of the reason that I promote the shout out tier once in a while is the time-sensitivity of it. You need to get the charge through on the 1st to get on the list for the next month. Early access gets mentioned as do exclusive releases like spoiler mode. I'll think about more natural ways to promote some of the other rewards though. -Bloodworth
Easy Allies
2020-08-31 20:32:06 +0000 UTCEDIT: As you'll see below, I've had a wonderful conversation with Mr. Bloodworth regarding my submission for this week, so much like my reviews centered question a couple weeks ago, please feel free to skip my submission this week. Thanks again! Hey Mr. Jones! Recently, I’ve noticed every now and then the main EZA Twitter account will promote the shoutout tier. This stood out to me for two reasons: 1.) That promoting signing up to be a Patron is done vary scarcely on Twitter and 2.) The Shoutout tier and when the main podcast goes live for Patrons appear to be the only things that DO get any promotion, so my question: Why is the shoutout tier the one that gets promoted and not others? I know you’ve stated several times the Allies have little to no interest in social media, but since one tier gets promoted intermittently, and the most expensive one at that, do you believe it would be in EZA’s benefit to tweet say, at the beginning of every week, with changing up the tier promoted? For example, one week could be pitching the early access tier with the main podcast benefits when it goes up for Patrons and the next week could be highlighting just $1 gets access to exclusive shows. Thanks for reading as always and once again, have a wonderful rest of your day! Cheers! QUESTION: When promoting the Patreon via Twitter, would EZA consider being more frequent, consistent, and varied in the tiers being promoted? Awhile back I saw the shout-out tier being promoted and it feels like it, and the early access to the main podcast, are the only one that ever does. And WHEN this promotion happens, only the podcast doesn’t feel random. If I may be so bold to offer a suggestion: If there is at least one tweet a week, at the start of the week for example, and each week promotes a different tier, it keeps things varied with various tiers while maintaining consistency in promoting to the over 31 thousand followers the account has. Just an observation I had and I wanted to hear what you think.
Brandon K Gann
2020-08-31 18:15:08 +0000 UTC
