Cup of Jones - October 19, 2020
Added 2020-10-19 16:56:15 +0000 UTCPartaaaaaaay! One of the reasons we landed on the idea for this week’s patron celebration is that, despite obviously being created to promote new content and entice new crowdfunders, at the end of the day it’s a party, y’all. For the next 5 days we’re showcasing how grateful we are to be able to make the stuff that we make. It’s emblematic of the whole company. As long as we’re together we’ll always be determined to have fun and do our best by our community. The event has a different feel to it, and not just because we’re all working from home. I’m going to cover this feeling a bit in today’s editorial, but the short of it is, I hope the Patron Party makes you as happy as it’s made us so far.
Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V6CcMchcYAk\
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
Good morning Jones! Hope you and yours are well. With a wonderful new child how do you plan on introducing him to videogames? What precautions, if any, will you take with the selections? Of course, games may include mild violence, spooky atmospheres, sexual themes etc. Thoughts? Your ally -Zak Leon
Zak Leon
2020-10-25 17:30:58 +0000 UTCHello again, Jones! Sorry for the double question, but I am going to shoot my shot for the special occasion. Next year, would you consider a special personal question Cup of Jones for the patreon party?
Parasitepaladin
2020-10-25 01:36:29 +0000 UTCHello Jones! I'm sure your PO box has been overflowing. Has the post office contacted you in anyway telling you to pick up your stuff? And is it possible for you to call them and let them know you give another ally permission to pick up your stuff? PS. I have sent nothing to you guys, and am not pressuring you to pick up stuff, I am just curious. I know you have valid worries about COVID-19 and understand you not wanting to risk it.
Parasitepaladin
2020-10-25 01:34:27 +0000 UTCPlease remove the twitch emote 'ezaDaddy'.
discardedDigit
2020-10-24 23:20:45 +0000 UTCWith the imminent release of 4k consoles, has EZA had to budget for upgrading the allies PC setups to handle capturing and rendering 4k video?
Steve S
2020-10-23 16:21:54 +0000 UTCHi Jones, this question comes from me recently finding out about the health of RoosterTeeth. As I'm not a follower of their content I'm just curious if this question is worth asking. If everything is business as usual then please disregard this comment. My question is in regards to EZA's relationship with RoosterTeeth and how publicly visible that may be. With some major controversy years, especially over the last few months, it seems to be a rather dark and dreary place right now. In researching some of their headlines I've seen mention that RoosterTeeth may be dissolved into Cartoon Network by Warner Media. Do you have any concerns with having a continued relationship with them for business purposes or is the actual business portion a separate organism that will most likely be maintained if RT does get merged? I'm curious if this could disrupt Ad revenue or potential merch.
Mithers
2020-10-21 09:46:20 +0000 UTCPretty sure Brandon meant, YouTube, Twitch, and Patreon. We don't have 3 YouTube channels. -Bloodworth
Easy Allies
2020-10-20 18:54:29 +0000 UTCQuick, possibly VERY stupid question: Brandon mentions „our three YT channels“. What is nr. 3? Is it EA, EAplays and the Patreon exclusive channel being counted separate or is there some potential hidden lore treasure pile I have been missing out for eons?
Private Prinny
2020-10-20 18:45:49 +0000 UTCI am all for transparency, but I have many issues with this practice, and avoid it whenever possible. This goes beyond transparency and forces the writer to state the obvious. It's also actually misleading and demeaning in its own way. It furthers an implication that reviews and other critical assessments are advertisements. One of the acceptable disclosures is even #ad. While it may benefit a company, a review is not an advertisement, and a review copy provided for critical assessment is not a form of payment. In fact, if we were to create a sponsored video, someone saying that they wouldn't pay us, they'd just give us a game for free would be insulting in its own way. This is particularly notable considering that there are people who are getting paid to play these games, and paid handsomely. Our current editorial policy is that we generally deny any game companies who seek to advertise their games on Easy Allies. The idea that getting a free copy of a game is a great influence on our coverage is also quite misleading. Because we are professional critics, we get dozens of games sent to us every month. Reviewing them all is far beyond our capacity, and many of them are never even booted up. We still have to make the editorial decisions to determine which games are going to be worth our time to cover, and if that means we need to buy a game that wasn't sent to us vs covering one that's sitting in my inbox, that's what we'll do. Additionally, it should be noted that this is addressed in some of the FTC's own documentation. It's asked why we don't see these forms of disclosures in radio, television, and magazines, and they simply state that it's because the public generally understands that critics have a relationship with the companies that provide products for them to review, and that these writers are often assigned to do pieces by their editors. In short: it's their job. The reason for the FTC's guidelines is to disclose a relationship where it wouldn't be expected, and their primary example related to video games is of a college student with a YouTube channel who starts getting copies for free. We aren't college students. We're a professional team of experienced writers with an editorial structure, and we've done this in various forms of traditional media for decades. The rules shouldn't change just because we have an independent company and don't have our own video player. And to this point, the majority of the industry agrees with me. There have been several times that this has come up with various publishers. Some have simply said that asking us to include disclosures was a mistake. With others, I've raised some of the same points I have here, and after consultation, they decided we don't need to include them. But the general rule of thumb across the board is that these disclosure guidelines are made for influencers, not press. You don' t see this happening in an IGN or Game Informer video review. The reason we have to do them for Sony is essentially that despite our own assertions and the general perception of us across the rest of the industry, someone in their legal department has decided that we are influencers, rather than press, which essentially brings me back to my earlier points. -Bloodworth
Easy Allies
2020-10-20 15:52:53 +0000 UTCHey Jones! With next gen less than a month away and a barrage of exclusives from Sony along with it, I want to bring up something that's bugged me the last couple months. I notice whenever you guys talk about PlayStation games, you almost always make a side comment about the fact they require you to say "Review copy provided by PlayStation." I find those side comments and the laughter as though it's a ridiculous thing to say to be troublesome. Disclosures such as those should be standard and admirable in the industry, and do not deserve derision. Transparency is a positive, wouldn't you agree? Isn't more information provided to the consumer better than less overall? Knowing that a product is provided for free can impact the weight an opinion can have on the person watching the review. What are your thoughts on this issue? Thanks, and best of luck on the move, L&R!
Joseph La Russa
2020-10-20 15:14:34 +0000 UTCYou mentioned on stream you would be streaming Animal Crossing on Saturday. Will you be asking for specific people to visit or can we petition to have you visit or do you already have a mental list of who you'd like to visit? I just know more than one ally has put in quite a bit of time planning and hoping you would stream. Also the order you visit would be important if this is the case. We would appreciate it if you could go into more detail on this. I shiver with anticipation (and because it's freaking cold here in the midwest, lol!) L&R JessieBlu
JessieBlu
2020-10-20 14:32:10 +0000 UTCPersonal: Hey Jones, what's the worst car accident you've been in? (you can skip this if the answer is too long or you really do want to save it for an editorial for the future. Just giving you an opportunity now)
Radioactive Magic
2020-10-20 10:52:40 +0000 UTCUpped my pledge to say thank you for all the hardwork guys! Hope this tiny difference helps. Stay safe and healthy Allies!
Leah
2020-10-19 23:11:21 +0000 UTCHey Jones, I just want to say thanks. On a cup of jones earlier this year I suggested doing a "decade that was" style retrospective where you celebrated your favorite games of the 2010's. I remember you had said that, given we're already in the 2020's it was likely too late to make something like that, especially given the amount of time and effort it takes to produce big shows. I was a little bummed because I love listening to you all dive deep into the games you love, and hate, but I definitely understood that in these uncertain times its not easy to jump on a random patron's whims. Fast forward to this afternoon when I saw "The Gen That Was" pop up on my patreon feed. I was like, no way, they actually made the kind of retro I suggested, and after watching it I couldn't be happier. I don't know if you brought up the idea in a meeting, or if another ally came up with it in parallel, but I'm really happy to see you guys producing more of this kind of content. My favorite shows have always been Frame Trap and HOG, and I hope The Gen That Was can join them as a fun trip down video game memory lane. I know you said this kind of stuff takes a lot of work for the allies, so I hope you get the kind of reaction I think it deserves. Regardless, you've certainly made this patron's day. Thanks for all you do and stay easy, allies.
Madison Graham
2020-10-19 22:59:58 +0000 UTCDEFENSIVE DRIVING
Toph
2020-10-19 20:29:08 +0000 UTCAlso, the album/special Jones was talking about is "What am I Doing in New Jesery?" Carlin is always worth listening to.
R.F. Switch
2020-10-19 19:41:54 +0000 UTC"And then there's the guy who doesn't turn is blinker on.... until he's finished the turn. He's going to tell you where he just was." -George Carlin.
R.F. Switch
2020-10-19 19:41:18 +0000 UTCTraffic rant response: If the other people on the road don't know what I'm doing they shouldn't be on the road. Since I'm clearly the best driver and most important person on the road. That was sarcasm fyi 😜. Sort of business question: JoJos Bizarre adventure season 1 and 2 (stardust crusaders) are on Netflix. I recently watched all of stardust crusaders and it was AMAZING. AND i went back and rewatched the old EZAnime episodes and saw that you stopped watching jojo before this season. Now the it's on Netflix any chance you would watch it and maybe do a bonus spoiler mode or EZAnime. Based on your enjoyment of the other parts of jojo I know you will love this. It has some of the must absurd, funniest and amazing anime episodes I have seen. Thanks
Faraz Rizvi
2020-10-19 19:07:58 +0000 UTCJones, I was just wondering as the holidays approach whether Allies are still taking time off even if they can't go home because of COVID? I'm guessing they are because we all need a break. A lot of my events got canceled this year, so I'm taking a week off every month now till the end of the year.
strawhatninja
2020-10-19 19:07:55 +0000 UTCHey Mr. Jones! I was watching Mr. Moore’s Dead Space stream, and he let it be known the next Hall of Greats isn’t coming until the end of November. This means since last November, the Hall of Greats will be every four months instead of three. Is this because of the lack of being in person for a stream that’s catered to being with others (though the quarantine version certainly showed it works well) means it’s not top of mind when the three months have gone by, a simple byproduct of EZA being extremely busy, or since the HoG was originally Mr. Bosman’s idea, was him being the driving force behind it and his subsequent departure the reason for the slower drop off? I’m totally ok with the HoG becoming a three times a year event instead of four (though I selfishly love to see it as often as possible and I feel every three months [or to put it another way being once a quarter] is a sweet spot), but if this will be the case moving forward, would you feel it’s wise to message the change to expect it being only three times a year moving forward? I know it’s a very niche thing EZA does so I’m probably the only one who notices such a thing, but I’m scared it will slowly become yet another of my favorite EZA things to no longer be done because of lack of Ally interest/resources. Thanks again for addressing my question and have a wonderful rest of your day! Cheers! QUESTION: During Mr. Moore’s Dead Space stream, he let it be known the next Hall of Greats is coming at the end of November. This mean Hall of Greats has moved from every three months to four months for the last calendar year. So I was wondering if this move been a conscious decision on EZA’s part, or a simple byproduct of multiple factors such as the quarantine, packed schedules, or something else? I just wanted to point out messaging it as such will temper when to expect them, and as a major fan of the streams, I’m noticing it’s becoming less frequent, which has been a consistent harbinger of all my favorite EZA content: Dropoff to the point of decommission.
Brandon K Gann
2020-10-19 17:59:38 +0000 UTC
