Scoop of Troop - January 20, 2020

Any plans to use Byte( The new Vine)

Wire rope

Hey, Jones. While I don’t think we’ve been given the exact run time of your GOTY deliberations, we’ve been led to believe they may be between 10-12 hours long. I’m currently assuming they are going to run right up until the group stream starts and if that is the case, then I’m struggling to understand what was the thinking behind this was, as I have to imagine the vast majority of people will not be able to get through all of it before that stream. Would it not have been better to put out the GOTY deliberations over the weekend or even today, just to give people more of a chance to get caught up before the group stream? If it’s the case that the shoot was 12 hours but the deliberations themselves are far shorter, then please ignore this question.

BeatenDownBrian

Hey Brandon, I'm not sure if this is the best forum for asking questions about GT, but did Geoff Grotz narrate some GameTrailers reviews? I remember an NBA GT review with B.G’s Move Around at the start and that was unforgettable and wondering whether or not that was Geoff. Also where is Amanda McKay and Daniel Keiser at? L&R

James Davie

Oh heya Jones, Almost didn't see you there. Hope you had a nice birthday. Just wondering if Phase 4 of Easy Allies is best represented by the ladies who lunch, the girls who play smart, the girls who play wife, the girls who just watch, or the girls on the go? Bonus business question (if allowed): would it be possible to include deadlines on all Patreon posts requesting submissions? I've noticed people still asking questions after the episodes have been recorded.

Asbo Zappruder

Hello Jones. Wanted to add my two cents about EZX even if I don't expect or demand change. I am a bit disappointed that the anniversary event has become less and less about you guys. The first two anniversaries you guys put on skits, did musical numbers and premiered cool videos. Last year aside from you, Huber and Ian the Allies were barely a part of it and this year seems to be much the same. This is going to sound harsher than I mean it to be but I watch EZA for you guys and not people who, community members or not, I have no idea who they are and will never meet or see again. I realize that the event is now mostly for the people attending. I just wanted to explain why it does not appeal to me personally. Still looking forward to the regular group stream the Tuesday after EZX.

Olf Himself

safety reply!

Noah Weinstein

I was talking to a few community members about EZX, some of them attending and some of them watching from home, and gathered a few… concerns about it. Opening up your semi-popular streaming platform to community members (most of them relative strangers) is always gonna be a little bit risky. That’s okay, and I still think it’s going to be a great time, but it means there’s a lot about the event that’s entirely out of your control. Some stuff to ponder over (sorry there’s so much we had a lot of thoughts, i know this is way too long, no need to respond to all of it): – So there are 4 slots, one per hour, each involving 3 community members. This means only 12 people can get involved over the course of the night– about 10-20% of attendees. An hour is also a REALLY long time to expect someone to be On, especially when they’ve (probably) never streamed before. Would shorter time-slots work better (20/30 minutes), to rotate in as many new faces as possible and keep up a faster/more engaging pace, stream-wise? – I know folks who want to enter the raffle to stream, but would only feel comfortable doing it if they could go on with a friend or someone they already know well, rather than two total strangers; IMO, they’d have better chemistry and would likely be much more entertaining to watch. Would it be possible to allow people to enter as a pair/trio, or is that too logistically complicated? – There is always the tiniest possibility someone might come onto the stream and say something inflammatory, discomforting and/or offensive. I personally don’t see this actually happening, I trust the EZA community, but it can’t be ruled out. Of course, there’s not much you can do to stop it (and pre-vetting people would be REALLY weird) but it’s always good to be prepared for the possibility, and maybe have a plan to deal with it in some way or another. – Look, chat’s gonna chat. The wider EZA community is a lot more welcoming than most, but from experience, people can still be mean. There’s lots of people who get mad if your content includes anybody but the “Core 9” (people on the subreddit are already down on the idea of EZX because of this). If a participator in the stream does something awkward, or is “weird”, or whatever, this could offer an avenue for them to get made fun of, get turned into a mean-spirited meme, or even get sexually harassed. For people without previous experience in the public eye, this can be really uncomfortable. I know a few people who already don’t want to enter the raffle purely because they worry they’ll be made fun of, misgendered, or insulted– by Twitch chat, YouTube comments, the subreddit, etc, etc. Again, I know this is entirely out of your control, because that’s just how the internet is, but I thought I’d bring it up anyway. I think it’s a concept full of potential, but obviously there’s a lot to consider here; luckily there’s more than enough time to make tweaks. Excited to see how it all shakes out!

Noah Weinstein

Hi Jones – I understand these posts usually have requests to change something or provide suggestions, but I just wanted to send some positive feedback. The recent co-op streams (silver squad/mike & mike/Ian & don) have been awesome since you started a few months ago. There are so many more time slots where I can catch a stream at different times and I really like how having more than one person per stream helps interactions when streaming. Keep it up! L&R - Faustus

Faustus

Now that is intro Amanda! How does Brandon top that?! I do have a community/business related inquiry...is there any plan in the future to streamline or change any of Community related things? What I mean is, where is the best place to engage with fellow Allies? Patreon isn't exactly most mobile friendly or best way to communicate and how come there isn't as much of a focus on Reddit? I recently joined the Uneasy Alliance on Reddit and it's a good start but thought there would be more. Same for the forums, seems like they are active in some categories, not others...also Discord? Any plans in the future for that? Thank you all for your continuing work, much L&R

Yiorgos

Man, you guys are really taking you time with your game awards. I was expecting it to be this Tuesday, but I guess I'm waiting another week at least.

Shaaheen Peyvan

Good day Brandon – We are expecting some big system releases from all 3 major game companies this year. Do you plan on doing a quick unboxing and overview of features (perhaps a quick boot of the system and off-cam look at the menus)? It seems like this year is a big opportunity to feature some unboxing videos. I know this content isn’t usually posted, but this year in particular may be worth the nominal effort to post by capitalizing on some next gen hype. L&R! - Rammer

Rammer

supper jolly

Chris Georgaras

Happy Birthday Brandon!

I haven't seen this episode yet but by the description it already has me giddy jaja

Sekiro505

Happy birthday!

Mikael Agnell

Happy Birthday Jones! That was a phenomenal episode. Amanda did a great job! Probably the most charming episode yet. I was constantly smiling

NB Tatl

Happy Birthday Brandon! :-) Mine's in 5 days! Now, as for the show - this was super entertaining as well as super efficient (a must for a busy mother!), but I think Bottle of Bloodworth would've been more informative. P.S. I don't think "Saturday Night Fever" was a business question.

TurboChickenMan

Loaf of Soph?

Samuel Cardwell

This. Is. Fantastic. I don't know if the questions will be reanswered, so just in case I will not submit a different question, but I enjoyed these 15 minutes A LOT.

Brandon K Gann

Happy birthday!

Chun Lau

Happy Birthday, Jones!

César Villa

What a treat! <3 "Ok business questions, ........ 'What do you think of Saturday Night Fever?' " ............. ◔_◔

Aaron Kirk - Kurxx

This editorial is very thought provoking and inspiring. It asks the hard-hitting questions like "is Sophie the bestest girl in the whole wide world?" and "should there be a weekly show of just the bestest girl Sophie catching various thrown objects in slow-motion?" Thank you, Amanda, for bringing these important topics to light today!

mikewearsprada

Gotta say, I agree 100% with Amanda's editorial this week. (Also Happy Birthday, Jones!)

Jordan Pettigrew

Love love love!!! This was awesome =)

JessieBlu

Hi, Hasan. My question from last week was missed too, but I believe Jones saved the questions he wants to dig in to next week's CoJ. This was more of a light-hearted edition. So I wouldn't worry about it. L & R

Daniel Ribeiro

I agree! ;) -Jones

Easy Allies

5 years from now, Milo will be 4 years old... That's...impressive

The Hashtagonist

patrons can have little a sophie as a treat

the_megatherium

Happy birthday! Lovely surprise episode, Amanda is amazing <3

Monika

Happy Birthday Brandon! Amanda, great job! you guys are the best

BigTurkey

Happy bday jones! Lovely episode. My question was missed out from last week so hope you don't mind the copy and paste :) Hiya Jones, Like a couple of Allies I got married this year (April) and being a data analyst I thought it would be a fun excersise to compare my gaming habits from last year to this. I wondered, having less time playing would the quality of games I beat increase as I would be more picky? I was able to do this because I write a mini review after every game since last year (thanks Brad for the idea) so I took the data from there. So... 2018 vs 2019. In 2018 I finished 44 games. In 2019? 23! In 2018 my average score for games I finished was 5.8. In 2019? 6.7. So less has been better it seems. 2019 had 7 games scoring 9 and above. 2018 only had 6. 2019 had 7 games scoring 5 or below. 2018 I played 21 games scoring 5 or below. We have to remember that I got married in April so the first 4 months were me playing at the accelerate rate so maybe that figure will drop even more next year, we will have to see. On the up side my wife played and finished her first ever game (Cod WW2) so that was a huge plus, the things we take for granted though... Oooh boy. But that's an email for another day. Question: now you have less time to play with baby milo here, are you more picky with the games you choose to play? Has less free time affected your choices and maybe tastes in games? Congratulations for your marriages and babies and have a lovely year,

Hasan Demirel

Some streams are just bonus streams that are just someone turning on the cam off-schedule to kill some time. It's always been the case, particularly when people stream the same game repeatedly like Overwatch or Super Metroid or Mario 64 or without direction, just playing little bits and pieces of a bunch of games. Control in particular, Damiani felt had too many technical interruptions to be worth putting to YouTube. -Bloodworth

Easy Allies

Oh I'm so in for this

Sebastian Mauritzell

this was great happy birthday Jones

Tyler Dierig

This was a nice surprise, also your pronounciation of my name was great :-)

Varun Kachhwaha

I have a question for Blood. Why some streams hadn't being uploaded to Easy Allies Plays? Like Damiani Plays Control for example?

Alexander Zyryanov

Scoop of Troop. Ah, delicious!!!!!

Daniel Ribeiro

Hi, Brandon. Happy birthday!!! You may be 41 years old now, but your spirit, attitude and passion are always young and refreshing. I love your enthusiasm and your "brand manager" slickness - in a good way! I love how you set up your bits and patiently and eargerly wait for one of the Allies to bite the bait so you can hook, line, and sinker. Please always keep that part alive. I really love you, man. Here's to 41 years more and beyond. Cheers!!! Business question(s): With all the stupid and dumb mistakes that the ESA has been doing and doubling down on for years now, do you still feel excited for E3 as you used to, both professionally and personally? Like we're never gonna get back moments like those from past E3s. Also, with more and more companies choosing to do their own events separate from E3, do you prefer that over all of them at E3? And how do you envision the future of the ESA - most likely without an E3, since it most likely won't be able to justify the event's existance without big companies if they continue down this path they're? With much Love & all the Respect. PS. Thank you and Amanda so much for this wonderful Scoop of Troop.

Daniel Ribeiro