Cup of Jones - February 4, 2019

I just want to say I love the studio. Watching the reveal I was filled with ideas but I know you've barely moved in. I'm gonna hold any ideas for improvements until probably after E3 even because I assume you all have ideas for big and small improvements and changes. In the past you've always had to be involved in some capacity in almost any video or stream since they were at your house. Did you even know Ian and Huber went to the studio to stream Apex Legends on Monday?

Kris Fredrick

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Sarah Wampler

Is there any appetite amongst the allies to be more open about how EZA operates as a business. Not your financials but more how do you create and maintain a Patreon supported company revolving around video production. I have loved the behind the scenes videos NoClip has done on their filming set up. With everything that has just gone into the office I would find it very interesting to hear what you've upgraded and especially WHY you waited until you had a studio space to upgrade that specific tech. What with Defy going defunct (and Maker Studios etc etc) more and more people are having to figure out how to go independent. The Allies have been very successful in these efforts and I think it would be valuable to the wider community to get an idea of how you've done it (also just interesting). (Eg. Not investing in your site choosing to spend your funds doing ? instead)

Sarah Wampler

Hey Jones! Keeping it simple this week because I’m not sure what will and won’t be covered by everyone else’s questions... Would you, and/or the other Allies, ever do a cooking stream? It has always seemed like it would inevitably happen during Easy Livin’ (or a similar stream), but of course it has yet to. I think it would be a super cozy time, not to mention a bit hilarious if something went wrong (we don’t have to try the food, so that’s okay)! Also, for what it’s worth, I think taking the Allies camping, and vlogging it, would be awesome! L&R TAHK0

TAHK0

Have you guys thought about alternatives to patreon, maybe even straight up having a monthly sub system on your website? With the recent happenings with patreon and things like their "early payout" scheme. And the patreon execs acting more like they "employ" the creators instead of being just a facilitator of supporters' money to the creators. I fear patreon may go down a dark path ... I just don't want you guys to suddenly lose income / and me losing a way to support you.

Lymus

Dont delete me

Steven Beaumont

I am probably way too late to drop this message, if so I will put it in next weeks. Hey Jones, As everyone has their best ideas in the shower, one just came to me. If you want another edge to grow your brand can we please similar to Kyle with his box-peek one off pledge, get an incentive this December to save around $3000 for a sign-writer to make official EZA awards plaques to be sent to the winners. Of the dome if you spent $150 on the creations and $50ea on mail it would be around $3000 to be create 20 plaques for the 2019 awards. I also think it would be great if we could send one to Sony Santa Monica/Cory Barlog for this years GOTY as he have 256k and 107k followers each on Twitter and you know he would give a shout out.

Steven Beaumont

Hey Jones, just wanted to ask about the camera positioning in the new streaming space. Obviously placing it adjacent rather than over the TV has a very different feel. The way I see it, there are definitely pros and cons to both ways. It looks more pleasant the new way when positioned alongside another screen showing gameplay. But it also has the effect of feeling a little more distant from the center of focus. A bit less in the middle of things, like the Allies have to split attention to bring us in. Just curious about your feelings here, any plans to change of camera position for less game heavy shows like HoG’s etc?

hellsfoxes

In a recent earnings call, Disney's CEO Bob Iger claimed that, "We’ve had good relationships with some of those [publishers] we’re licensing to, notably EA and the relationship on the Star Wars properties, and we’re probably going to stay on that side of the business and put our capital elsewhere." What are your thoughts on that?

GmanSir

Hey Jones, I recently posed Chat a question 'Should I drop a hundred bucks on the Kingdom Hearts Collection to figure out what all of the hype is about or should I just start playing Bloodborne?' The answer was overwhelmingly in favor of the latter. I started playing last friday and quickly gave up after dying a few times trying to cross the street after the second checkpoint. First Souls game, so rite of passage I guess. I booted it up again during the Community Showcase. Missed reading chat, but I needed something to keep me grounded while playing. Spent what felt like forever (and dying several times) making it through the street with the mob, wandering through the sewers, and finally a creepy house before finally opening a gate connecting back to the second checkpoint in the game. Yay shortcuts. Really only made it because I was listening to the showcase and not the terrifying sounds of the game. The combat is incredible but everything else scares the crap out of me. Don't know if I'll be able to finish this 'Great', but thank you for helping me accomplish something, however minor, by distracting me from the scary sounds.

discardedDigit

Hello! Sorry, I was gonna wait for a time when you'd have less questions, but I was wondering if it would be possible to add some kind of white or black border to the team names at the end of the podcast. It may have just been an issue of timing, but the team names appeared when the desk lighting was a reddish color and I had a difficult time seeing it due to my colorblindness. Have a nice day!

Tyson Nguyen

Hi Jones, I asked a personal question a few weeks ago but something came up this week that I really wanted to get your thoughts on. Patreon announced their latest benchmark on Wednesday, saying that there's been an increase of over 1 million patrons over last year, the company is on track to deliver $500 million dollars in payouts to creators in 2019, tipping them over the $1 billion dollar mark in total payouts since Patreon's inception. However, Patreon CEO Jack Conte had an interview with CNBC where he said that Patreon will soon be facing the problem of maintaining growth. The increasing revenue from growth is seemingly not keeping pace with the increasing overhead costs. The interview suggests that Patreon plan to offer other services in the future, like options for merchandising, in order to maintain profitability, but this could ultimately lead to a reduction in the current 90% payout for Creators. Basically, what are your thoughts on this? Easy Allies are one of the biggest creators on the platform, so I could imagine you would have a decent amount of influence. Would you consider brainstorming as a group what kind of other services Patreon could offer that you would find useful and would help Patreon (and yourselves) further diversify their revenue streams? Have you made suggestions to them in the past? I don't think it's anything to freak out about, but just thought it was worth bringing up. Cheers!

Harrison Holt-McHale

Hi Jones, hope you're doing well, personal question here about the start of EZA : How did you approach asking Amanda about basically transforming your garage into your next workplace with the whole team coming and going all week ? Did you promise her it would be temporary, or promised if it doesn't work (as in, you don't get enough support) you would stop it quickly ? Now that you have your own studio, I'd be interested in knowing how all of it was handled at first. Also now is a good time to say : THANKS amanda for putting up with all of it : ) L&R Terence.

Térence Caron

Hi Jones! My topic is, what I consider to be the bread and butter of Easy Allies, next to the Podcasts and Reviews: The Live Reactions. Whenever you stream a live reaction, thousands of Allies show up to experience those events together with you, and the uploads on YouTube seem to do well. Yet, I have noticed, that sometimes when things go down, there is no live reaction. Now, you seem to have no problem with scheduling ahead. When we know that there is an event in one or more weeks, the live reaction will happen. Where I see a lot of room for improvement, is your ability and flexibility, when it comes to events that happen short term. The latest (but not only) occurrence of this nature, was the Apex Legends reveal. There was more than half a day of notice. The internet went nuts, and people made sure you knew about it, by using different means of communication. Yet, nothing happened. I could have understood this in the past, when it was just not always possible to invade the garage, or when the garage was already in use for recording. But the doors of the studio are open to you 24/7, and if somebody is recording something, you still got the other space. And honestly, even a one-person webcam reaction from home, would have been much better than nothing. I don't know what went on behind the scenes. I don't know, if people were currently editing a review, recording game footage or if just nobody raised their hand, to say "I do it!" But I think you should do something to improve the structures that are in place, to make sure live reactions are covered, even if things have to go fast, and you have to reorganize your original plans for that time span. If something was just impossible, let us know, and we will understand. But if it was just a question of priorities, or the willingness to reorganize your work day, then please let me say this: We don't get many opportunities for those golden live reaction streams, between The Game Awards and E3. Maybe, the odd Nintendo Direct here and there, but that it is. So, the respected and beloved developer Respawn going public and saying "We will reveal a brand new game tomorrow, don't miss out!" - That is a GIFT. I don't expect 100% coverage, but as someone who's favorite thing about EZA are the live reaction, which I watch over and over on YouTube, I really wish, we will miss as few as possible. And when it should come down, to you being unsure if an event is worth the live reaction, or not, I think you should go the safe route, and just cover it. Let's rather have the risk of mediocre streams, than missed reactions. Nothing can bring those back, no discussion on the Podcast can replace them. My dream: When an event like this is announced, you don't ask "Will we do a live reaction for this?", but rather "Who will do it?". Sorry for this being so long and salty (Giggity), but I just really care about this topic. Love & Respect, Snowcone Guy

Snowcone Guy

Hey Jones, I know that you are also a big fan of Avatar the last air bender. I have a few questions. Are you hyped for the new live action series coming out on Netflix? Who was your favorite character? Out of curiosity, do you have the Avatar The Last Air bender series on DVD? What element are you most aligned with? It being one of my favorite things to revisit, I like to know what other like minded individuals are thinking. L&R! Jarod

Jarod Shulista

Hello Mr. Jones! I've been a patron for a few months now but this is my first time commenting and asking some questions. First, congrats on the new studio. I'm excited to see the what's next for EZA in the new space. When I first saw the main stage, I saw some similarities to the Kinda Funny studio. I was surprised when I realized that's because you guys worked with Matt Scarpino and his company to build the sets. How was your experience working with Matt and his team? Do you have any fun stories on how you met him and some discussions either before or during the studio construction? And finally, whose idea was it to put the new table with the lights on the main stage and the monitors on the windows of the streaming stage: Matt's and his team or EZA's? The main stage table looks really cool but the window monitors seem to be quite hidden to be fully appreciated. Thanks and L&R!

Nate G.

Hi Jones, Hall of Greats is one of my favorite streams you guys do. During the last stream there was some debate pertaining to the 2nd & 3rd place tie. Several of the allies didn’t want to have to wait a week to find out the winner. With that in mind, I thought I could offer a couple of ideas for tiebreakers if you want to have the winner decided on immediately. Tiebreaker #1: The game that had the most allies vote for it wins Examples: In the last stream Portal and God of War both tied with 11 votes. Using this tiebreaker, Portal would have won as six different allies voted for it (Ben, Blood, Damiani, Don, Ian & Kyle), while God of War had five different allies vote for it (Don, Huber, Ian, Jones, Kyle). When Super Metroid and Street Fighter tied in the first stream Street Fighter 2 would have won (5) over Super Metroid (4). Tiebreaker #2: The game with the most 3-point votes wins Examples: Using this tiebreaker with Super Metroid and Street Fighter 2 as an example, Super Metroid would have won since it received two of the allies’ 3-point votes and Street Fighter 2 received none. Portal and God of War would have still been a tie. You could start with tiebreaker #1, if it’s still a tie go to #2, and if that’s still a tie, do the Patreon vote. If you only want to go with one I like the first one the best. I hope this helps if you ever decide you want to go in a different direction with ties. Finally, I’m glad you guys seemed to enjoy my trivia during the last Hall of Greats stream. Maybe in a year I’ll submit a round 2. I already have some ideas for new questions. I promise there will be less Nintendo troll next time. Honestly though, I do think all those games belong. Thanks, -Runfire

Runfire

Howdy Jones, I love the new studio space and look forward to seeing you all doing great things in it. One thing about the main stage that I noticed is that it is a little inconsistent with the EZA theme. The (black, red, white) color tone of the EZA logo which was a bit more present back in your garage space. There is a blueish tone to the new main stage that I don’t see the old EZA themed poster fitting anywhere within it. Was that a thought you had when picking the look of the new main stage or do you foresee a change in the theme of EZA as a brand or simply just a logo change. In my Opinion, the original EZA logo is a classic but at the same time I get if you didn’t want to revolve the entire look of your new studio based on a logo, just a thought I had. L&R

Father Bill Sniff My Fumes Babe

I think you should definitely roll out the new logo everywhere - looks really new and fresh!

DancingElk

My jaw dropped when I realized I was seeing the old vs new shots. Thanks so much, it's so cool to see :D And thanks for the link to Sean's little documentary. That was great as well!

Zkarts

Edit: Jones answered my first question about the trusses in the video. That's what get for posting before watching the whole thing! My other question is just pure curiosity: When Ian or anyone else is in the control room, are they switching the camera feeds live during the show, or is the output of all cameras (wide, close-ups, control room, etc) stored separately and then pieced together during editing? Overall love the space, love the work, and love all you fine folks! I'll echo the sentiments above: You're all awesome but Ian in particular is absolutely crushing it with all the work he's put in for the studio. Keep it up, and I'm excited for all the content that's going to come out of the new space :D

Neale Genereux

The sides of the main stage (your and Kyle's seats) appear poorly lit compared to the middle. Will it be balanced out soon?

TurboChickenMan

This is my first Cup of Jones question ever. Hype. Been a fan for about two years and a patron for almost one year. I love everything you guys do and I always get excited when we see a bump in quality in the content that you guys produce. So my question is this: Are there any plans to incorporate your multiple cameras into shows other than just the podcast? I know for the podcast Ian switches them on the fly, but for all the other shows that are currently just a lock-down shot, is there a solution? Maybe recording on multiple cameras and cutting it together afterwards? Just wondering if there is the possibility for an opportunity to bump the quality of your content once more. L&R

Oliver Bacus

Future improvement suggestion: replace the black curtain valances in the streaming set. They are just ugly. I think replacing them with matching red would be fine. I appreciate trying to match colors with the EZA theme, but it comes off as DIY and amateurish, which clashes with the rest of the studio's professionalism.

David Schluckebier

Were there any shows pitched at GT or even here at EZA that you liked but ended up not coming to fruition? Can you tell us why they didnt end up happening?

Riley Donoho

Just wanted to say congratulations and it looks great. Looking forward to seeing how the space evolves!

Matt Brookbank

In the video in this post he talks about some ideas they've gotten for behind the main stage. He's also mentioned in a previous video about probably getting a bigger couch for the back row as well, then that couch can replace the green room one hopefully.

Kristen Rogers

They're all pretty much considered full time at this point.

Kristen Rogers

I was super bummed to hear Huber wasn't able to make it to Kinda Funny last week. It got me thinking: Jones and Huber have collabo'd with Kinda Funny a few times, but have Tim or Greg ever been guests on an EZA podcast? If not, you guys should make that happen--take them by force if necessary. Tim and Huber are the ultimate crossover.

Nick Geurtsen

What's the current camera situation? On Easy Update Ian said he got two new Blackmagic cameras and better lenses for some other cameras. From the studio tour it looks like there's five in the recording room, one in the control room, and two in the streaming room. I remember from the fundraiser you bought two Sony FS5s and three Blackmagic Micro Studios. Are the FS5s still the main cameras for each set? Are they all fixed or do you move some around? Is there a dedicated off-site camera? Will we see the return of salad cam? Speaking of Ian--he seems to be killing it lately. He's basically the technical director of EZA in addition to video editing and producing weekly content. Are there any plans for him to be more of a "full time" ally now that you have the studio? Thanks and congrats on everything. You guys deserve it.

Selarmor

According to EasyAllies.com, it is scheduled for Saturday, March 23rd at 8:00 PM PST at Tommy's Place at (or near) the USC campus. As a fellow east-coaster, have a nice time on your trip!

Jon White

Any Plans for the EZA Anniversary? I know you guys have been slammed with this move. But IF you are doing anything I would like to plan ahead as I have to travel form Pennsylvania.

Mikey "MyxeQ" Novak

Hi Jones! I first wanted to say congratulations on the new studio. I am so proud of all of you. I am excited to see what you will be able to do now with the new space. I just had a few questions and suggestions that I'm sure you are already aware of but I thought I would mention. My first question is, are there any plans to add the easy allies logo to the main stage? I was thinking monitors behind the allies or in front of the desk, Similar to the set up at GT Live? Or even Kind of Funny games. Even your E3 streams have the Easy Allies logo up top. Any plans for this for the new stage? My second suggestion is regarding the streaming room. While I know you guys just bought the sofas, I do think that the area still seems way too cramped. I thought it was a little strange that even with the new larger room and brand new furniture that some of the allies still have to sit in folding chairs. Any plans to remedy this? Other than that, everything else is looking awesome. Keep up the great work!

Babak Karimian

That's typically the name of the room reserved for guests to hang out backstage before shoots. So I'm guessing if ever Cory Barlog stops by the studio, he can comfortably sit on the couch and drink a Mountain Dew while waiting for the guys to get things ready. It's essentially the lounge.

Chris Leroux

I think the curtains are there to help hide the thickness of the TV and frame. Take them off and suddenly you have a 3" television jutting out of the wall. Definitely agree with what you mean though.

Chris Leroux

Hey Jones -- why is it called a "green room"?

iconmaster

Can I make one very small suggestion for the streaming stage? Make the curtains a little thinner, maybe even get rid of the middle curtain all together. It's such a great idea to have video game environments out the window, but as it looks right now, it's very hard to see what's actually displayed on the screens.

Chris Brabbs

I posted this on the YouTube video, so I'm just going to copy what I said there to here: Congrats! I have said this before and I'll say it again, I'm excited to watch and be apart of the evolution of this studio. I'm asking this of of curiosity... You mentioned that if you did not get this place, you put in an offer at another place, anything you can tell us about that other place? like did it have bigger or smaller rooms... have less or more rooms... stuff like that.

SoulCaster

The space looks so cozy! Also, while it's a bummer that you couldn't totally eliminate reverb right away, I kind of like these small errors of beauty, cuz EZA was always a bit less professional than the regular sites and old Gametrailers to me, in a really good way. It's especially satisfying to see how you guys are figuring things out as you go, and how much you involve your fans in that process. Love and Respect!

Lunk

Loving all of the moving in/out documentation and the first stream and episodes these first couple of weeks! So excited to see the space evolve, especially with some shelves and/or pictures on the streaming stage like you mentioned. Hyped about multi set streams in the future! For E3, surely Bloodworth could convince some developers to come and demo their game(s) on the streaming stage! If nothing else, any kind of casual, relaxing segment on the couches would be a lovely way to fill the gaps between reactions, impressions and live podcasts on the main stage. Gah, E3 hype always gets to me... no matter what time of the year it is. (No need to read this aloud on CoJ)

GermanScientist

Still excited to see more out of the studio, the new graphics are really great, surprised to hear the new podcast logo isn't taking over as the new primary logo. I think it looks really great.

Rob Traini

Jones has said previously that the garbage room will eventually be an office room. EDIT: In this video, the office space is labelled too in the before constuction videos

Skankman

Hi Jones With E3 coming around the corner, would you consider having the community to come up with the forfeit for the betting special?

I was wondering, do you envision using any of this space as an office space? I didn't really get that impression from this tour. I know that not all of the allies work at EZA full time but I imagine that having a large space to call your own would have the biggest benefit of accommodating all of you for longer periods of time and on the regular, rather than a day or two of shoots. I feel like that would benefit the content even more than fancy new sets. Just in general and knowing what I know about internal communication in organizations, it can only help to have the team under one roof.

Michal Dudic

Love you guys.

See You When I Get There

Just wanted to make a small comment on something that was mentioned in a Cup of Jones last month, I appreciate EZA's transparency with its revenue stream from Patreon while other outlets are not or they were to a certain point in time and now aren't; which seems a little disingenuous when said outlets run fundraisers yet don't disclose what they're making on the platform, which makes me pretty hesitant to become a Patron of those sorts of content creators, so I appreciate that a lot. Sidenote: I work long night shifts that gives me time to listen to long podcasts and such, so don't sweat the long episodes Jones! L&R, SoulfulChris.

SoulfulChris