Cup of Jones - February 25, 2019

Was watching Mr. Jones' answer and wanted to find your comment to say that was me! Happy to hear you found my submission for that episode interesting. Thank you!

Brandon K Gann

I'm curious when you stop taking Cup of Jones submissions on the post from the week before. Is this written 10 minutes before Cup as a test? NO! Is it written 10 minutes before because I forgot? Yes!

Matthew Weinstein

*Patreon is eating my posts so I’m putting this question up a second time just in case Hey Jones! What is your personal approach to networking? I’m not always comfortable doing it, and would rather just make friends with people, but I know it’s an unavoidable aspect of a lot of entertainment industry jobs. Since you’re the resident “brand manager”, how do you personally strike a balance? L&R Tahk0

TAHK0

Hey Jones! What is your personal approach to networking? I’m not always comfortable doing it, and would rather just make friends with people, but I know it’s an unavoidable aspect of a lot of entertainment industry jobs. Since you’re the resident “brand manager”, how do you personally strike a balance? L&R Tahk0

TAHK0

I think you did a editorial a long time ago, so if you did you can skip this. I was wondering if you had any tips for meditating?

Mr.V

With full playthrough fridays on the horizon, how would you feel about playing Alien Isolation with Huber and Ian? I think it would be fun with how much the alien series means to you three.

Kate Bishop

Business: Hi Brandon, I previously left a question about Left Alive and if you had anyone reviewing it and how I thought it would be a dark horse kind of game. After a couple of days I no longer think this... so if you answered that question and didn't have someone reviewing it, no worries man :) all good.

Siddique Baksh

At the risk of triggering the community and prompting a joke answer, do you think having Lightning in the back of the shot for streams is worth the space it takes up? When EZA first kicked off it was a fun call back, but I think you guys have moved on from ‘the old GT crew’ label now and it seems like the standee serves no purpose other than to serve a long dead meme and take space away from other more fun things that could be in shot, bigger couches, art work, model shelves, guests etc. P.S. Since you had a drawn out conversation over how to prounce my name (John ‘Rhys’ Davies) on a podcast/stream recently I guess you’ll no longer be saying it incorrectly when I submit COJ questions...

Rhys Simons

Jones, I sent a DB SNES games gift in the mail that you should have received. I just wanted to say it's the best JRPG I have ever played. What has a better chance of you watching a season, Gotham or Dragon Ball.

Ibrahim Sozer

Just realized it's Sunday, hope I'm not too late :)

Happy Gaming

Over the last few weeks you've been honest about something that gives you a lot of anxiety, and while cooking is something I generally really enjoy, I can understand a respect that it's difficult for you. If you're ever in town, dinner and games will be on my girlfriend and I. I was curious if I could get advice about something that personally gives me anxiety that I know you enjoy though; open world video games. I love playing games of all sorts, but when I see the size of an open world map, with all the little objective icons, I genuinely get anxious and exhausted. This makes some great games (Red Dead and Spider Man for example recently) more difficult to pick up for me than something smaller, and specifically more linear and guided. I love massive games, but having the agency to explore a breadth of options all at once compared to a funneled approach of something like Final Fantasy that opens up very gradually with the story, generally will overwhelm me more than entice me. The easy solution is to just play the types of games I enjoy, but nowadays more and more games are adopting large open world environments. Rather than writing them off, because I hate to be dismissive, what are some things I can do to ease this anxiety?

Happy Gaming

Mr. Jones, I really like the Far cry series, but I also know it has some serious flaws. My dream scenario for the next Far Cry game would be to keep the gameplay, keep crafting and do more with base building, have a unique theme and setting (like a Van Helsing style European setting where you hunt ALL the monsters) and to have the game ditch the serious tone, and psychedelic sequences from the previous games. I know you also enjoy the Far Cry series, can we hear your idea for an improved Far Cry entry? Respectfully, Morgan Mohalla

Morgan Mohalla

Do you feel the Allies produce enough content given the revenue stream ? What I mean is , you have 50k coming in a month from Patreon, plus some from Twitch and Youtube. There are 9 allies, yet you maybe get out 1 show which is an hour long a day. I don't know the salaries of the Allies or how it's divided. But assuming it's a full time position for most of you, there are individual content creators and streamers who produce more content in a week than 8 allies do. Random example, take Brad or Huber, sure they review games, Huber syndrome - 2 hours a week ? Tabletop Escapades - 1-2 hours a week Maybe show up on a podcast or frame trap ? 3-4 hours a week Group stream 3 hours ? That's about 12-15 hours. I'd love to know what else is being done or how the Allies' time is allocated. I love the Allies and everything they do and just would like more content given the amount of people there. It's pretty much the only thing stopping me from donating more Please don't take this as an affront, I just genuinely wonder what some Allies do or how many hours they are contracted to or actually work and what that consists of.

Sean Callaghan

Have you ever thought about a second tabletop escapades with the rest of the Allies? Or adding some Jones or Damiani to Season 3? I have seen the special episodes where you were in, I know you love it Jones.

darkPikachu

Hi Jones, you always get people badgering you for more EZA merch, so how do you feel about a MERCH TIER for the Patreon? Like a monthly exclusive t-shirt etc. This would appease those hungry for EZA gear and could be a good way to get more people to become patrons AND encourage current patrons to go to higher tiers. There are fulfilment services who can do the heavy lifting on logistics and I've looked around and many other similar patreons have merch tiers, so it seems like it shouldn't be impossible or too much hassle on your end (on paper anyway). You could even keep the tier limited at first till you got a handle on the production side of things. Just an idea, curious to see what you and the rest of the community think about it. L&R Dylan

Dylan Wiggan

The garage had many limits, as we all know. One good thing about how much moving around with it you all had to do, though, was its versatility. It had the podcasts and the group streams, yes (both of which the studio does better), but it also did a Pokemon tournament, Gundam streams with a big flat table to do them on, etc. By its very nature, the garage HAD to be versatile. And now that the honeymoon period is mostly over, I'm left wondering how the out-of-the-ordinary streams will work at the studio. Do you have a way in mind to set up for a Pokemon tournament? A Gundam stream? Basically, does the studio have space set up that can do streams that aren't from at the podcast desk or on the couches? L&R, Josh Read

Josh Read

Hey Jones, just wanted to update you on how things are going. Thanks for the recommendations for games during baby time, I do have a Switch and PS4 and I've already played through Wargroove, but I definitely downloaded FF9 to play while I'm waiting at the Hospital (I'm actually here now just waiting for things to get moving along...). I appreciate the good wishes and all. Anyway, my business question was regarding if any consideration has been put into community participation/integration in game streams. For example, for the INEVITABLE Pokemon Sword/Shield stream, what do you think about having a dedicated patron-choice stream in which patrons vote on the team and names of pokemon, or customization options etc. This could be extended to asking for ideas about streaming games in a different fashion such as doing a 2 Players 1 Controller challenge in Trials Rising, or having the allies do a Smash tournament where they are at the mercy of patrons voting for each Ally's fighter. Again, apologies if this has already been brought up. Thank you for taking the time out of your week to respond to the feedback of your patrons. Love and Respect, Matt. (P.S. it's pronounced "is-uh-gear-ee") <3

Matt Izaguirre

Hey Jones, just wanted you to know that we see, recognize, and value the hard work that you and The Allies are putting into Easy Allies. The lights, windows, cardboard and soundproofing will all come in time. What matters most is the heart, mind and soul that all of you put into Easy Allies. L&R

Corrigall

Hey, just a quick check-in. You talked about doing a Spoiler Mode for the Spider-Man DLC before, is it still happening or has it been too long? Just curious because I’m playing through the addons at the moment, and I’d love to hear what you and the other guys think of it.

Jimmy Liljegren

Jones, what would you say to someone who has Washington on their side?

James Kennedy

Business question: I was wondering if it would make sense to include the current status of the Patreon more in its promotion. What I mean by that have a graphic of the current dollar amount and what's missing until the next goal is hit in form of a bar similar to how you did for "the better stuff before E3 fundraiser". The reason I ask this from everything I've seen a lot of people feel a psychological satisfaction for filling bars. Putting up the graphic with the promotion on the podcast or having it be part of the stream overlay might work as an effective indirect call to get you closer to whatever the big next thing is. Of course I understand that given that it's not a guarantee that it would do anything and that the setup would require some setup work to automate the process as much as possible(something that creates the current graphic by calling the patreon API for the current dollar amount and blends the preprovided graphics together and spits out a new image, alternatively this might be more work than just having a photoshop prepared from a non programmer point of view) it's far from a priority. But even without that setup it might be worth considering to consistently include how close you guys are to the next thing in the spoken promotions on the podcasts.

Palu

Business question: In the last Cup of Jones, you talked about possibly hiring someone just to watch over chat and work the group streams. This made me think of Damiani and his role. Most of the time during the streams, that is what he manages. When he decided to join with EZA, was he hired to take on that role? Or is that just something he decided to take on himself? Or is he just most comfortable behind the salad mic? I hadn't really think about the roles that each person plays within EZA until you were talking about what another person would be hired to do. Personal Question: What do you think about Disney changing the older rides to newer IPs? Tower of Tower in California Adventure turning into Guardians, Maelstrom at EPCOT becoming Frozen, rumors about Coco taking over the Haunted Mansion (I love Coco, but please NO)? This is a newer idea for Disney but something that Universal had adopted for a long time. I'm a bit apprehensive about it personally, though I do love Guardians, and wanted to hear your thoughts.

Maggie Frayer

Long time watcher, first time commentor (on Cup of Jones). Just wanted to let you know that you and the allies are an inspiration and bring such joy and hype to life. Also, what is your favorite color scheme (besides the black/red/white EZA color scheme)?

SettlingGeek

Hello Mr. Jones I know you don’t produce The Easy Allies Podcast but there isn’t a Cup of Bossman so here I go - On Episode 150 a fellow ally shared stats regarding the series. It was revealed the most questions answered on a single episode was 6. This felt extremely low to me since sometimes hundreds of questions are asked (some are submissions for bits). I love the show and talking points Kyle puts together but would like to see a bigger community involvement. Sometimes only 1 question is pulled from the community which makes me sad. My 2 suggestions would be: 1) a minimum of 5 questions from the community per episode. 2) once a quarter an episode is made where every question asked is answered. Don’t pre-announce it because then the episode would get swamped. Thanks for taking this suggestion back to the team. Love and Respect, Chris PS - I would love a Cup of Bossman show.

Christopher Peterson

Hey Jones, after listening to you talk about seeing all the Allies doing their thing in the studio it made me realize something that would really excite me with the new studio is seeing some sort of vlog. I just would enjoy watching a one time video about a day in the studio life. Especially after hearing your story on walking in seeing the Allies made me want to just see that myself. Is there any interest from the Allies for this kind of content?

ToastySol

Hey Jones, I listen to Cup of Jones every week, and it's been painful for the last few weeks hearing you misinterpret the "White board" comments for Trailer Jones. The banter leading up to scores SHOULD inform the scores. If you bring up an excellent point about how the trailer builds and another panelists agrees and they decide to look more favorably on the trailer, that is good. The thing that people don't want is SCORES informing scores. Say you have a bad impression of a trailer, and let's say Ian was overall positive on the same trailer. If you reveal your score of a 7.8 first and Ian was thinking of giving the trailer the same score but because your impression was more negative than his, he decides to up his score purely based on the numerical value YOU gave. A white board that you write the scores on AFTER the discussion is what we would want. Don't come preloaded with a score, don't alter scores based on scores. Let your negative 7 stand beside someone's positive 7.

POKEY CLYDE

Ya know, I'm so far behind on these I feel like I'm listening to a history documentary about the early days of Easy Allies Studios. By now people probably know what's behind "the door" but I've still got like, 3+ weeks to catch up on. Ian and Sofia made the streaming stage look very cosy. It seems like a great space and opportunity to revive spouse quest and potentially extend it to other allies and willing partners. Cool idea huh? I didn't know how to turn my statement into a question. I look forward to hearing the answer in April. Crazy that thing that happened at the end of March.

Kif

Personal: Hello Jones, Short time listener, first time writer (well, second time but I submitted too late the first time). I’ve recently been considering the way we play games, and I wanted to ask: what is your favourite way to play? Considering someone in your profession, I’m presuming you’d play a game differently depending on whether you’re streaming, reviewing or just playing privately for your own enjoyment. Do you feel streaming and interacting with chat can detract from the immersion? Does the looming deadline for review submission cause you to rush through certain parts of a game that you otherwise might enjoy? Would you have enjoyed Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey as much as you did if you had to rush through the open world to finish the review or were distracted by chat during important story missions? Maybe I’m wrong, and it’s all the same to you, in which case feel free to put me in my place. L&R Wergiforce P.S. I think I’ll put money on you pronouncing my name wrong.

Wergiforce

Hi Jones! In the future, will we see a series called "Brandon Sword, Kyle Shield"? *wink* *wink* L&R - Henk Groenendijk

Henk Groenendijk

Hello Jones, Reggie Fils Aime's recent retirement announcement got me just a bit misty eyed. He's quite the character and he was incredibly effective at sparring with journalists and winning over fans. I always looked forward to seeing him in Nintendo's E3 presentations. As a brand manager yourself, what are your thoughts about his PR style at NOA and what do you think his lasting impact on the company will be? L&R Jay

Jay Zifer

Hi Jones! How was the Easy Allies Podcast Mega Sponsor echo sound created ("and......our MEGA SPONSOR")? I think it's incredible that the echo effect accurately conveys your voice in whatever pitch you say that phrase at, like it's actually reverberating across the studio.

jif52

Well met, Jones! Long-time EZA follower, first submission to any EZA thing ever. I'm pretty nervous about doing this, and I apologize if this kind of thing has been asked before. Back when No Man's Sky was first being shown, there was a somewhat infamous conversation you all had about what exactly the game was going to be. You showed some serious reservations, while others on the panel stood their ground with some die-hard faith in the product. At the time, I thought this was one of the most fun and intense moments in GT history. But after its inclusion in a CrowbCat montage, the clip picked up a lot of attention and became surrounded with an attitude of, "look at these dummies falling for the hype, and this lone hero vigilante skeptic shining light on empty promises." Since then, I've felt terrible for the other allies involved in the discussion, as you can still go to the comment section of the video and find new, unkind things being said about specific people. For the record, I thought it was a great moment all around. It's also not too different from many other heated conversations you all have had with one another on camera, so if it weren't for a third party on YouTube calling attention to it and sliding it into a montage to fit a narrative, it probably wouldn't have gotten so much negative attention. But enough rambling, my question is this. When something like this happens, when a specific ally or allies are criticized by the public, how do you all handle it? Do you share feelings about these things at your meetings? Or maybe the nine of you don't discuss these things whatsoever? You all have been known online personalities for so long now, I'm wondering how you handle these sort of nagging comments. This event in particular seemed to have such a huge wave of negativity, but it didn't seem to phase any of you. It's damn impressive, really. I ask because I have personally been in similar situations online (though much smaller in scale), and I'd like to know how to "keep it together". I'm also wondering how that dynamic changes when just a few people within a full unit are being picked out and criticized. Thanks, Jones, and apologies for the long comment.

Known Fink

I just saw the incredible Jim Henson exhibit at the Museum of the Moving Imagine in NYC. How would you recommend getting into puppetry? Is taking a class worthwhile? How did you hone your puppeteering craft?

David Lingenbrink

Will there be a spoiler mode on the detective pikachu movie?

Jeremy Ferris

He talked about it in a recent episode, but was worried about some potential issues that could arise. Things like if someone bought something outside of the official registry and then they end up with multiples, or if someone sends a piece of equipment and it doesn’t function (returning it then becomes a hassle with having to try contact the person who sent it for a receipt), or even if it does function, but it doesn’t fit their needs like they thought it would, which then could lead to the person who sent it being mad that it’s not being used. There was other stuff too, but I can’t fully recall. It’s just my two cents, but I think you’re better off either upping your pledge or giving a larger one time donation if you want to help out, as it’s all going towards the same goal at the end of the day anyway.

BeatenDownBrian

totally agree.

Chris Georgaras

Not a question for the next episode, just a comment. That whole post about crackdown 3 reminded me about how very often fans of a very low reviewed game will make it sound so people didn't understand this and that feature because they didn't do it a specific (weird) way. In that case, the lore, the platforming, or the difficulty in crackdown 3. I'm totally OK with people not liking games I like but I won't ever say to those people they "don't get it", especially if I can see the flaws. For example, Destiny has tremendous Lore and backstory. It's in the game in Destiny 2 (it was not in D1). But the way its implemented is very poor, never integrated to the missions and main narration tools. So if I read someone say "The story in destiny 2 is bad and I don't understand where most badies come from, or their reason to fight", I will agree. At the same time I love destiny 2, I like the lore. Same goes for difficulty. Why would you say someone's perspective is bad because they played a game on "normal". Normal is how 99% of players play, it's how the game is when you boot it up. All in all, there's nothing wrong with explaining why you like (or don't like) a game, but I can't care for people explaining why I (or Jones) don't "understand" a game. Just a silly rant, don't read it on the next episode Jones :p

Térence Caron

Hey Jones had a suggestion for full play through Fridays since you mentioned you guys might play games that you check in again with periodically. Xcom 2: War of the Chosen I feel like would be perfect for this especially with Ben in the commander seat and every Ally having a character created for the mission squads. Having the tension ramp up with each decision made and each squad member death could be a cool on going stream. Thoughts?

Andrew Burt

Business: Do you have anyone lined up to review Left Alive? The game looks amazing and features Yoji Shinkawa (MGS) as the art and character design director. Just curious as I believe this game to be a dark horse no one is expecting to be good. Just like Nier Automata, I think it will blow everyone away.

Siddique Baksh

Greetings Jones, On last week's COJ, you talked about how you were most excited about live content and how streaming has evolved since the GT days. How would you like to see Easy Allies continue to move forward in this space? Are there any specific goals you have from a live content perspective now that you guys have settled into the studio? How do you feel about the VOD experience for viewers that miss out on watching live with chat and watch on Twitch VODs or Easy Allies Plays instead? I love the combination of both your produced shows and live streaming content and would love to get your thoughts on how you foresee this balance moving in the future or how you would like those two things to cross over or evolve as Easy Allies continues to grow. Love & Respect, redskyy

redskyy

Any chance you and Brad could do an Episode 9 prediction special? I think it would be fun to see where you guys think the franchise is going and revisit it in December after the movie comes out.

Steve S

We absolutely need more Amanda, please. Actually, let's redo the title to "Cup of Jones's". Brandon, are you cool with this?

Mikehook1

Hi Jones, So over the last few weeks I have heard you mention some new equipment you would like for the studio. "Smaller" items in the range of $50 - a few hundred dollars. Is there a way that we could purchase them on your behalf? Like a new studio registry? I am willing to buy items you guys want for the studio. I could just up my patreon pledge but I would rather just buy what you guys need. No credit ever need be given but I'd like to help out if possible. Thanks, Joe

Joe Frantik

oh man the audio quality is low for some reason on this one and it's a bit grating - it sounds like low bit-rate

Actually, Boba, Bubble tea, and Pearl Milk Tea are just various translations of what this drink is called in different places. Pearl Milk Tea is what it's called in mainland China, "Boba" comes from cantonese, and "bubble tea" is more commonly used in SIngapore

Mengsha Gong

Hi Jones, As I'm listening to this week's C.o.J., you are commenting on the difficulty of hanging shotgun microphones in the streaming space due to the wide camera shot that you have during group streams. You mentioned not wanted booms hanging in the room obstructing the view of the back couch. I have a suggestion that may (or may not) work for that space. CHOIR MICS. Choir mics are mini-condenser cardioid mics (1/2" or so) and usually hang or suspend from above from a thin cable and could provide you with the desired sound that you are looking for. I'm by no means an audio engineer so there may be some unknown reason why this isn't the best option, but in my experience with churches, those things pick up the room pretty well without blocking the view. It may be worth checking out. Thoughts? -Alex C.

Alex Castellanos

Hi Jones, I had a dream the other night where I was able to buy tickets for a live touring EZA show here in Chicago and about 6-8 other large cities across the US and Canada but was disappointed when I woke up and it wasnt true =( and then I thought "Hey that would be really cool!" What do you think it would take (just dreaming here) to actually make that happen? $75k/mo? $100k/mo? Would love to hear your take. L&R Jessie Blue

JessieBlu

lack of dairy gives him energy superpowers... =)

JessieBlu

I enjoy the long episodes of CUJ since I am fortunate enough to work at a job where I am able to listen to podcasts while I work but this has got me wondering the future of CUJ. As EZA continues to grow and more people decide to join the community CUJ also continues to grow in length and although I enjoy the long episodes will there eventually be a cut off if say the average CUJ becomes 5 hours or longer each time?

Joey and Cait

Hello, I recall Bosman and Damiani playing through link to the past for a segment along the lines of "Settle it" to convince Bosman that it was better than he gave credit for. This seemed to die quickly which I assume was due to ideas. I also recall Ben and Huber giving a go at God Hand since Huber had never played it and Ben thought he would like it. I thought it would be neat to try combine these two, and create some content where an Ally has a shot to convince another ally to pick up a game to play, or otherwise push it to the top of the backlog. For example, Huber could sit down with you one on one and try to convince you to start Yakuza Zero asap, or Bosman could try to convince an ally to play megaman legends. Just thought I would drop an idea. Cheers!

Dingle Dee

Regarding the microphone for Cup of Jones. Here is a Youtube link with timecode: <a href="https://youtu.be/7iyzhky7L7M?t=3353" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/7iyzhky7L7M?t=3353</a> , if that does not work its 55:53 in this episode of Cup of Jones. On the word "infatuated" you should be able to hear the audio issue that keeps reoccurring with this microphone. When listening back through speakers it's not very audible, but when listening with my headphones it sounds similar to a compression artifact. Even if you can't fix it right away an acknowledgment that there is an issue would go a long way.

Zuldark

Hey Jonesy... You've probably been sat for at least an hour of intense business questions (probably mostly about logos and curtains) before you even get to this one. So, for a start let's both, along with the viewers, just take a knee for a sec. Feel free to use this time to take a deep breath, stretch your legs and take a swig from that cuppa Jo(nes). There we go, regenerated and ready for another 3 pages of questions. Starting with... How's it going man? You feeling good? Sophie feeling good? I hope the stressful part of Easy Allies isn't getting in the way of you enjoying to the fullest what you guys are achieving here. Thanks bud... really. L&R - Brabbzy

Chris Brabbs

What game would you say you are most skilled at? What game do you think each Ally is most skilled at as well? - B-Ray

Brandon Ray

Unfortunately review codes are not eligible for giveaways. I redeem any leftovers at the end of the month to make sure they're on our accounts if we ever do have need for them. -Bloodworth

Easy Allies

Now that Cup of Jones is on Monday, will you consider returning Community Showcase back to morning? It would be nice for the European audience to be able to watch it live, so that they can write in chat if their comment is skipped.

Alexander Zyryanov

Hey, hearing you guys talk about having several extra game codes sent to you gave me an idea: Would you be interested in having giveaways of your extra game codes, maybe on group stream nights or exclusively on patreon every once in awhile depending on how many you have? Or are the codes mostly for review/media purposes that you cannot hand out? Just an idea for another incentive for people.

Trooper

Hey Jones My housemate and I have directly opposed views on the new studio. I love the clean and professional look whereas he misses the memorabilia and visual noise that broke up the background. "Baby's First Studio" has been a term thrown around much to my chagrin. I've tried to assuage his fears by talking about how you've mentioned that the current setup is more of a stepping stone to a more personalised look and feel down the line and that your first priority was (and still is) to simply to get the studio functional and comfortable, but alas this hasn't been enough to stop his whinging. I was hoping you could say a small piece as to how "finalised" the look of the studio and streaming space is and to what level are things able to be changed moving forward.

Daniel Rona

Hey Jones, heres a pronounciation guide for my name: It's Fah(do-re-mi-fah)-bí-an (like Obi-Wan) Over-Dyke-Ink. Kind of, anyways. Heres my question: as you might've derived from my name, I am European, Dutch to be precise. I was wondering if you have any experience of travelling through Europe. You've probably been to GamesCom, but besides that, any fun stories of exploring London, Amsterdam, Berlin or any other city or country?

Fabian Overdijkink

Hi Jones – longtime listener, first-time writer here. Have a personal question for you: Over the past couple of years, I’ve been taking a ‘deep dive’ into the Final Fantasy series, as I never played many of them when I was younger. It’s been a fascinating experience to see the games evolve through the generations, and though my personal favorite is FF4, I also greatly enjoyed FF7, FF9, and FF12. Each of these games had a nice blend of ‘something old, something new’ to their core gameplay, as well as stories and characters that I grew rather attached to. To date, the only core numbered entries I have not yet touched are FF2, FF3, FF11, and FF14. A number of friends of mine recommended FF6 to me, a game which I know is also a personal favorite of yours. I found the characters to be a likeable bunch, the soundtrack was stellar, and it is easily one of the most visually impressive games on the SNES. But what threw me for a loop were the character-specific ‘desperation’ moves, as well as gimmicky (almost mini-game style) gameplay elements that frequently interjected themselves between the exploration and combat. Ultimately I got about 6 hours into the game and decided that it just wasn’t my cup of tea – I didn’t outright hate it, but it was a very different experience from what I had expected, and I realized I wasn't having as much fun with it as I had hoped. My question for you is this: has there ever been a game (or series) that your friends recommended to you or your peers spoke very highly of, but when you eventually had a chance to play it, you found it just wasn’t up your alley? Not trying to bring the mood down or anything, just curious if there are any games that didn’t click for you in the same way they might have for others. L&R

Andrew MacMillan

Hello Jones! Firstly I wanted to say I like the position of the camera in the lastest EZA Podcast. It's a small detail but I very much appreciate it. Secondly you said you wanted to take the brand manager route more this year. You've talked about this some but currently what does that mean to you and do approximately how many reviews do you think you will do this year?

Sekiro505

I think he was aware :) notice how his head just bounces then just stops when the segment is over

Sekiro505

Hey Jones, on the last podcast that you weren't there, it was a very funny one,what did you think about watching it and see that Kyle and Ian did with Blood acting like he was you? i think it was very funny to get blood unawared and catch him off guard

Daniel Garza Andrade

Hello Jones! I am about to move to a city for my new job and I want to ask as someone who has experience in moving, how do you get to know your city? Do you just walk around, do you go to the meetup things that meetup.com does or do you find local joints that find your interests? Thanks again L&R Michael

inrainbow09

Hey Jones! I recently picked up embroidery as a hobby, and while I've already seen someone ask specifically about gundam construction streams earlier, I was wondering if any sort of creative stream might be a possibility in the future? I tend to work on art (or recently embroidery) while listening to y'alls podcasts and such and in theory I do the same with you streams but I tend to get sidetracked with reading/interacting in chat during more typical streams. Also, side note, are there any podcasts you're listening to currently that you've found fun? I'm trying to expand my comfort zone and try new podcasts out, and thought I'd ask! L&R Kit Snow

Kit Snow

Any time a YouTube livestream goes over 2 hours, it takes additional time to process the archive after the stream, resulting in this weird issue. It should appear in full after a few hours. -Bloodworth

Easy Allies

uhm, is the video like cut at the beginning or is it just for me ? ;c

irene035

Hi Jones, I had this week's three musicals locked and loaded but then you had to go and mention you liked They Might Be Giants. 1st Question: Musicals and TMBG? Dude, where have you been all my life? Let me know if you ever get hooked on British comedy panel shows. 2nd Question: Can I get your top 5 favorite TMBG songs?

Asbo Zappruder

Hi, Jones. Thanks for replying to my last comment. Loved it. I know you're a big fan of camping and trekking, so I'm curious to know which US' States and countries have you travelled to? Are there any States and countries you and/or Amanda plan to travel to in the future? What aspects of other countries' cultures do you like? L & R

Daniel Ribeiro

Hello Jones I'm sure you get this asked this a lot but do you have any interest in doing a smaller meet and greet on the east coast? I would love to meet you guys but right now it's hard for me to get to California from Pennsylvania. I know you are probably sick of hearing people ask for this but it's something I would really enjoy, otherwise I will continue to admire you guys from a far.

strawhatninja

Would love to hear thoughts and opinions on being part of such a public business where everyone takes a sense of ownership (or at least feels it, as a result of patreon, etc). I can only imagine the highs and lows. It is a fascinating insight. A confluence of the public life, public funding, and gaming culture seem like a frustrating end, but I feel all of you navigate it with the utmost elegance. I appreciate all of your infinite patience and optimism. It is very rare and inspiring!

zk

Save my, Re-Ply-Kenobi, you're my only hope.

Rayluaza

Hey, Jones! Quick questions about full playthrough Fridays: 1) are they going to be of games you beat in one-sitting or are longer games to be completed in multiple sessions also acceptable? 2) I know the Allies will choose which games they feel like streaming, but would you be open to receiving some suggestions here on Cup of Jones? 3) If not nevermind this, but a live Brandon Plays Pokemon Gold, with Kyle, would be amazing.

Rayluaza

Dang it, I'm gonna always forget this is Mondays now

Tokyo Slim

Hey Mr. Jones! A super short question this time: I'm curious if, at any point during your busy schedule, you are able to watch any other content creators, and more specifically, are there any ideas you would like to see EZA put their own spin on? Thanks as always for taking my question if you do and have a great rest of your day! Cheers!

Brandon K Gann

Any word on a retrospective? It's been a while since the Souls series. I understand there has been a transition and a lot of change but an update would be helpful as I'm a big fan of your work on these. Any idea which retro would be next? Thanks!

TravelingSnowman

Just wanted to give my two cents that I think Allies with a capital 'A' indicates one of the Nine. And that allies with no capital means the general fan audience. A patron would only refer to people giving money to the patreon.

Alec Church

Would it be possible for you to do a bit of an approximate cost breakdown? How much goes to the studio, how much goes to equipment, do all the allies get paid about the same amount? I know living in California isn't cheap, so even getting 50k a month, you're not living like kings splitting that between 9 people.

Robin Clower

This is just a minor/silly question, but... I feel like this was answered before, but what do we call you all? I have heard the word Allies (for obvious reasons), but I also heard that word being used when referring to us (patrons or as was pointed out to me other people of this community). It kind of gets confusing, lol... I just like knowing that I'm calling people/addressing people by the right term(s). Also, how goes the Library build or would it be stocking? Any plans to show it off again? Oh and from watching this stream I was reminded... how goes that BB-8 LEGO construction? P.S. This is my low-key (aka pathetic :P) way of getting any answers to wither Gundam Construction Streams are still on the table? But I am kind of curious on how the BB-8 construction was going.

SoulCaster