Cup of Jones - January 18, 2021
Added 2021-01-18 17:59:55 +0000 UTCMoments after streaming (or possibly recording if this week goes like last week) the allies will be gathering to discuss what we think are the best games (and trailers) of 2020. There is no right or wrong answer to this, and there’s no way for us to all have an equal experience with every game. So this is where, I believe, we shine best as a group collective of critics. We lean on each other to fully understand what happened in the past year, and what’s worth celebrating the most. It’s tiring and it’s stressful, but I think it’s an important step for our company each year and a learning tool no matter what wins. Apologies that you won’t get to see it for another week, but I look forward to putting it all together for your viewing pleasure. Today, let’s get the ball rolling by talking about some of the best trailers of 2020.
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jO2VDKm2G9g
- 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
Heya Jones, Oh, sure. No, I get it. Just something to think about. But if Easy Allies had a wish, would it wish to go to the festival, that the cow would give it some milk, or for a child?
Asbo Zappruder
2021-01-24 20:12:41 +0000 UTCMr Jones, With multiple big delays due to Covid, do you or the Allies have more time on your hands to take care of family matters, personal interests, or pursue games that you otherwise wouldn't have time for? Also, are you and the allies doing alright (physically, mentally, spiritually) these days? Would you ever implement a hiatus if you or a member of EZA needed space and time to themselves? L&R Morgan Mohalla
Morgan Mohalla
2021-01-24 00:45:57 +0000 UTCHi Jones, I was wondering about the process for creating the GOTY video. As far as I understand, you've only got one week to put the whole thing together, which can often amount to a long video. Of course, a lot of this ends up on Ian (or Don)'s shoulders editing it, but I was wondering also how it's scripted. Each of the 10 GOTY nominees has a paragraph explaining their importance, but who does this usually fall to? Is it the person who argued strongest for it, or is it all scripted by one person based on the arguments made during deliberations? Is there ever a fight for who gets to write the praise for the overall Game of the Year?
The Canipa Effect
2021-01-23 08:05:57 +0000 UTCGood morning Jones, I may have asked this before; skip it if I have. Shane over at SIFTD gets $2 a month for people who link their Twitter and Amazon Prime subscription. Apparently it's a huge source of income for him. Have the Allies looked into doing so as well? I don't have either but I'm sure there are SOME dedicated allies out there who do and would gladly do that for y'all. Second question is a little longer (I can ask next week if you want to limit me to one question). Having purchased my first house last year, I've found myself watching a LOT of 'how to fix/do' videos, particularly around carpentry (not important). A lot of the guys I listen to will have links in the description to purchase the equipment from Amazon or the company store, and they get a small percentage of any sales made through that specific link. Is this something the Allies could do to make a little extra cash? Links to computer equipment, A/V equipment, software, games... I know I would do more of my shopping through those links if it meant you guys get a slice of that income. Both of these would likely not take much in the way of time for the money you got, especially the Twitch/Amazon Prime linking.
Corrigall
2021-01-23 01:58:30 +0000 UTCAnimal Crossing is almost a year old! any thoughts on doing an anniversary stream, visiting viewers islands, before you go and purge your friends list for Monster Hunter Rise?
Ajax
2021-01-22 16:46:25 +0000 UTCHey Jones, hope you and the family are doing well. I tend to listen to this as i'm walking to dog before i go to work or afterwards. Easy Allies really helps balance out my hectic day at work ( ambulance medic ) as of this pandemic. My question ( possibly brought up before) is have you considered moving off Patreon and having your own site structured in the same way. I'm not sure what % Patreon take from the Donations but i know Preach Gaming has recently jumped over to his own website instead. Maybe the logistics aren't worth the hassle. But i thought i would ask just incase. Keep up the good work, you guys don't realise how sane you keep us with your content.
Teph
2021-01-21 13:27:08 +0000 UTCHey Jones! Just curious if it would at all be possible to have more content put up on podcast services? Due to working nights, family life and sleep, I only have around 2 hours or so a day where I can listen and that’s when I’m out on a run, which I listen to through podcasts. At the moment I get Cup of Jones, Frame trap, Friend code, the weekly podcast and the community showcase. It’s not really all that much when you consider their schedule and I miss out on so much content. Would it at all be possible to throw up reviews, previews, and even some shows like hunting Huber or even some streams. For example, the hall of greats, the upcoming GOTY awards, these would be awesome podcast content. Even the weekly stream would be an awesome listen, or things such as the gen that was. I understand they may be better by watching but I just don’t have the time and just enjoy hearing the talk and banter, I don’t need the video. Apologies if this is too much work and an unreasonable question, and I understand if it’s not possible, just thought I would throw it out there! L&R from Australia
Jaan Ibrahim
2021-01-20 01:36:51 +0000 UTCHowdy Jones, I just watched the recent episode of Frame Trap (great as allways) and i was very excited to hear your thoughts on Ghost of Tsushima, but since you're about halfway through the game and there was so little time to really delve into all major aspects of the game, I havent' had my fill. Now, I have a lot questions for you and i think it's a bit too much to ask for another spoiler mode, so i propose a compromise: If possible, i ask that you warn me or just in general that you rolled the credits on Ghost of Tsushima so that I can release the flood gates. Obviously, i don't want to take too much time with my own questions at the cost of the other EZA patrons so, if it's okay with you, i could ask a couple of questions weekly or i can just post them all here and you'll just answer how many you want or find appropriate, and we'll just pick up the next week where we left off. As you can probably tell, i absolutely loved this game, it's one of my favorite games of the year and it makes me excited that you are loving it so much. As a tradeoff, i want to thank you for finally making me pick up the clone wars. I've been hearing a lot about it, specially from you and Brad throughout podcasts, spoilermodes and streams, and then the star wars craving grew inside me after Mandalorian season 2 and the spoilermode just sealed the deal. I'm currently starting season 4 and I'm absolutely loving it! Some quick thoughts: I absolutely love ahsoka (all the characters really, but she's one of my favorites), Anakin's character progression so far is just *chef's kiss* and i can *really* understand what George Lucas wanted to do with the prequels, despite the execution, the core of the story, characters, world building (galaxy building?) and the lore is really fascinating and I'm glad he could finally fulfill his vision(so far) with the clone wars. That man is a creative genius. Also, Dave Filloni, thank you. Question: I really miss your streams, Jones. Any plans for the future? Maybe some Stardew Valley to keep that chill Animal Crossing vibe? Or maybe, who knows, Minecraft? L&R. - André Roda
André Roda
2021-01-19 19:43:36 +0000 UTCI hate to push in an answer here, but Jones DID happen to respond to this very question (from another person) on this week's Cup. He said they won't go back until every ally is comfortable with it. And they don't think that will happen until every ally is vaccinated, which would hopefully happen by Summer, but who knows for sure.
Josh Read
2021-01-19 19:33:15 +0000 UTCHey Jones, can you talk about the pros and cons of EZA having eight co-owners and no employees? It's just such an interesting arrangement to me. I feel like it must be a lot harder to make changes or adjustments to how things are done, since you have to have every person from EZA agree on every thing. How about accountability? Is it just an honor system? Would every new addition to EZA be as an employee rather than another co-owner? Would love to hear more about how this stuff works, and what's good and not good about it. L&R, Josh Read
Josh Read
2021-01-19 19:30:06 +0000 UTCGreetings Jones, I have a terrible idea for when you and the rest of the Allies are safe to be able to go to the Studio once more. Why not have a Community Showcase Group Stream? I know, this would be a lot of work to set up and a lot of convincing the others Allies. But since the other Allies have popped into the Showcase while waiting for Stream Team to start (notably Bloodworth,) and since coming back to the Studio would be a major event in itself, why not celebrate? I'm sure it would be worth it to at least try, if only once, and it could very well be the only way to convince Don to join the Showcase. It's just a thought, and I'm not sure how anyone would feel about it. Anyways, thanks for hearing me out, take care. -R.F. Switch
R.F. Switch
2021-01-19 13:50:38 +0000 UTCHello Brandon. I really liked last week’s editorial. Can you keep doing this from time to time? Of course I don’t expect you to cover so many trailers each time, just a couple that you really want to talk about.
Alexander Zyryanov
2021-01-19 12:34:10 +0000 UTCHello Jones! You mentioned you look at the Youtube comments for the podcast. I was curious how long after the podcast is posted do you wait to look at them?
Parasitepaladin
2021-01-19 02:10:43 +0000 UTC(This comment isn't something you have to read next week, I just missed this episode live and wanted to get a word in) Jones, I agree with you about Perfect Dark being a better reveal than Mass Effect, and would not put Mass Effect as a top trailer of the year by any stretch. But I really do think the trailer gives us more to work with, for people who played the trilogy, than just the characters they show. Without spoiling the specifics since I know you want to play the remasters, I really believe the trailer explicitly canonizes (if you can use the verb in that context) one of the endings of ME3, and that introduces a ton of interesting questions about what's going to happen in the new game. It has huge implications - if they're willing to actually follow through. FWIW it was my preferred ending so I'm maybe happier than others would be, but either way I think that was a strong signal to the community. In a sense that fits with your thoughts that this was something of an apology or even a bit of desperation, and of course they may not live up to the potential here. But I think this teaser does write a pretty big check re: those endings and therefore is a lot more of a statement than I ever would have expected in this kind of teaser. Especially coming so soon after the restart announcement in that blog post. This will make it all the more painful if they fumble the restart, but that's kind of why I like it. They're taking a risk and calling a shot. They're making subtle promises here. That's... valuable, even if the trailer itself doesn't live up to the many better entries on your list.
Bradley Spies
2021-01-18 22:09:42 +0000 UTCHey Jones! Quick question: are GIFs accepted in the community showcase? Much love and respect, SaraKnite
Sara Knite
2021-01-18 20:51:56 +0000 UTCHi Jones! I barely comment but i watch ALL the Cup of Jones streams and i consume much of you guys content. Im gonna be upping my patreon tier this month since i got a job, but i wanted to ask, when will going back to the studio viable? Im not from LA or the States, so i dont know how dangerous it might be, I just miss the energy so much. Keep on going friend!
Andres Nukem
2021-01-18 20:34:11 +0000 UTCHey Mr. Jones! I’ve noticed in recent weeks you haven’t had as many Takeaways week to week as you once did say a year or two ago, and I got curious: How many or often are Takeaways successfully implemented? I know many things you may have brought to the team probably was tabled or thought of as, “that’s a great point, but we’re not in a position to do that now.” Yet, I’m sure there has been feedback which may have been implemented immediately or shortly worked into the workflow or content (though admittedly, I can’t remember/think of any concrete examples). So what have been some of the most successful Takeaways you’ve had in terms of how helpful they were? It’s an aspect of Cup I think is important, but understandably isn’t focused on much. Thanks for reading as always and I’m SO EXCITED to see the deliberations (Plus I REALLY enjoyed the trailer editorial)! Have a wonderful rest of your day! Cheers! QUESTION: How many or often are Takeaways successfully implemented and what have been some of the most successful Takeaways you’ve had in terms of how helpful they were?
Brandon K Gann
2021-01-18 19:26:12 +0000 UTC
