Easy Allies Podcast #135 - 10/24/18

Yay, political propaganda! I wasn’t getting enough on every other fucking source of media

Estaban

Late to the podcast, but I appreciated the “Shouldn’t have done that” segment. Never bothers me to hear that kind of subject matter and I feel like you always handle it with sincerity and L&R

Bdun912

First off, It's a two-way street. Sure, you can't decide what offends people, but you also can't just decide to be offended by something just because... Second, I agree with a previous commenter that you guys seem to only bring up politics when it suits a particular narrative. For example, I've never once heard you guys call out David Jaffe or Michael Pachter for some of their vile, disgusting tweets directed at conservatives. I love you guys, but it's definitely no secret which way you lean.

aguynamedjosh

Switcher snakes 2k19

Joseph Field

Not sure if anyone will read this. But I just wanted to say that I wasnt a fan of their discussion about the GOG situation. Look, with regards to this situation, it involved an employee, and them possibly losing their job. We don’t have enough information, to know whether this was the company as a whole. Or whether it was multiple employees that were responsible for each example the Allies gave of the company doing “bad”. But the fact is, an employee of the company was Doxxed. A mob was started to out the person, and get them fired. And so, I feel the Allies discussion about this, is kind of dangerously putting them into the mix of mob rule. It’s 100% fair to criticize CD Project and GOG, because they are a public company. And if people feel they are promoting things that are intolerant, they should be called out. But without knowing specifically who was responsible for what, we should not be endorsing mob rule and the doxxing of individuals. While I think the individual that made that tweet was insensitive and wrong for what they did, I DO NOT know them on a perosnal level. I literally know nothing about them. I have no idea what their past job performance was like. I have no idea what their personal views are. And I dont feel comfortable, letting a group of random people on the internet, hunt them down and try to get them removed from their job. I think the company absolutely deserved criticism, because they have continually allowed this stuff to happen. But to say that 100% each of these examples are connected (or the same person), we just have no idea. And so while I appreciate the guys tackling this from a “marketing” perspective, I think the situation was already tainted, by the way things played out on the mob side of things. And I’m extremely weary, that the Allies are personally on forums, where people doxxed employees. So this whole discussion just felt wrong to me. If you actually looked at the anger of people, they were connecting the actions of the individual in the recent event, to the past issues with the company. Ie. They were putting the blame on ONE person - without actually knowing who did what. And I dont feel comfortable when Damiani and other Allies, make the suggestion that it might be the same person. Hell, at one point in this podcast, its suggested that the person should be fired. So just like you criticize CD Project for getting involved in something they shouldnt, you guys are now getting involved in something beyond your Scope as a company. Again, I think the joke that was made was abhorrent. I think the fact that there is a pattern/ history of this stuff happening, means its not a one off thing. I think the Company has a culture of this stuff. And they should be criticized. My issue tho is how this was handled going after individual employees, and how we are all making assumptions and judgments on people, without knowing who did what and when. If the Allies had focused purely on the company, I wouldn’t have taken as much of an issue. But they dont. And that makes me really uncomfortable.

Mewgia

Just as a friendly math reminder, the Gorgeous Gorillas are 1 win away from locking in the year and triggering Or Wars. The 3 other teams cannot beat them unless the Allies record a Christmas Day podcast, which seems unlikely, but all 3 teams are still capable of tying the Gorillas without that weeks bet.

This is it "people who love you guys don't want to (be) lectured and talked down to".

May as well toss my hat into the "Shouldnta Done That" segment discussion. I like the idea, even dare I say, for talking more on the social side of game news, controversies, etc. I am against muzzling people, and while I would prefer to scream to the high heavens not to do so, it's not my show or my place to say what you express openly. But, I think you gotta do it in a fair manner should you bring it back, even if everyone agrees, offer another perspective for the sake of discussion, or not focus on being ideologically one sided. I don't think people would mind political discourse (in general honestly) if it's handled in a fair manner where the panel doesn't just all agree the other side is horribly wrong and awful people for thinking differently. You guys live up to your mantra of Love and Respect pretty well, but remember you are talking to a wide range of people. From what I've gathered from the last several years, most of you are on a similar page for political ideas, and that's fine! Maybe I would fall on the other side in some ways, but I try to remember at all times to respect others differences, because I don't want a world where everyone thinks the same. When you decide to talk social issues and politics remember people who love you guys don't want to lectured and talked down to, at least not without being given a fair shake. I don't comment much, but I figured I had to say something since this could be a turning point for you guys, and I don't want to see strong schisms develop in the fanbase, or between you and your fans.

I actually deleted a comment which was as harsh as this. Pushing a narrative to support a political view to virtue signal is a waste of time on a video game podcast. You gain nothing but people saying thanks and never caring again, and a hit to your reputation for people who actually look into an event more then they did. They didn't talk about left leaning jokes from publishers but when it's a right leaning joke they talk about it. An example being Bethesda "make America nazi free again" implications are evident but it fits a narrative. Then on the flip side they didn't discuss Dooms trailer which was clearly poking at left ideology and making fun on them. It's a slippery slope of bullshit I'd rather Easy allies just avoided entirely. Avoid the culture war it's toxic.

Isn't it funny how none of you made one mention about the doxxing of the CDProjectRed Employee...because you know, you wouldn't want to actually have a fair and even handed conversation, now would you boys? Let's actually summarize what really happened here; CDProjectRed made a joke that was in no way offensive or derogatory to trans people; quickly realized the joke could backfire on them; deleted it almost quickly as they posted it; but not quick enough since it caught the attention of the crybabies over at REEEEEEset Era. REEEEEEset Era made it into something more than it ever should have been; people at CD Project Red who had nothing to do with that Tweet were doxxed because of all of this (but don't dare talk about that because it doesn't fit the narrative.) But why mention any of that, right? This isn't REEEEEset Era where you get banned for being a voice of fucking reason so spare us the bullshit if you don't mind. I'm not going to say you shouldn't have talked about it, but I do find it disheartening that you ignore things that don't fit the perspective that you want to sell. Try having an honest conversation about something instead of just force feeding us the "shame on you" bullcrap that we're all so fucking tired off. It's dishonest and it makes you guys look like hacks who are too afraid to have a true discussion. There's some honest constructive criticism for you that you won't get from anyone else here. I like you guys, I like supporting you guys, but when you discuss stuff like this and you completely ignore shitty aspects of it because it's not the narrative you want to focus on then it just makes you guys look like third rate hacks. Unless of course this podcast was recorded before all the doxxing, then I will forgive it but still, that whole discussion added up to nothing more then shaming people for "wrong think" and I would like to think you guys are better than that. Don't become the moral grandstanding mob just to win points with a forum that wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire.

REEEEEEEEEEEEEset Era can go fuck itself! It's a worthless board full of pretentious up their own ass wankers.

I loved it. It was a decent discourse on a relevant gaming industry issue. Like Damiani said, saying nothing is in itself a statement on the topic and it’s good that they addressed it on their own terms.

Regarding Rockstar credits, I work in 3D animation for TV/film and it's the same at every studio I've been to. If I'm not at the company during a specific window leading up to release then I won't be included in the credits. That said, I'm new to the industry and I don't know if it's the same everywhere or if it depends on the type of project. But I can see how Rockstar don't necessarily view that as a negative. I think it's the standard.

Matt Lopez

<a href="https://www.gamerevolution.com/news/435903-dragon-quest-11-sales-have-to-reach-a-certain-amount-to-justify-future-localizations" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.gamerevolution.com/news/435903-dragon-quest-11-sales-have-to-reach-a-certain-amount-to-justify-future-localizations</a> Correction (and good news)! It sounds like SquareEnix says sales of DQ11 have justified future localizations! On this topic, do you guys think there is any chance of DQXI eventually coming XboxOne? It seems possible with games like FFXV and KH3 releasing on both PS4 and XboxOne, that there could be a chance for DQXI, but it's probably still a slim chance.

I don't understand why people get upset about the Tomb Raider price drop. Because it's not something that really hurts you. You bought the game at full price at launch because you thought it was worth it. Your money is spent. You are not hurt at all. There are OTHER players that can get it cheaper, but you payed a price you deemed fair. That is not affected at all. Your wallet remains the same. You are hurt because others get a good deal. It's nonsensical.

Miguel Pires Ramos

So people show their support by buying the game day one but immediately want to hurt the game because they supported it too much? I bought the game day one, why would I care what others are paying for something I agreed to pay for?

Rui Fidalgo

Now I'm secretly hoping for an Easy Update episode where Ian goes up to strangers asking if they recognize Goku.

Nimbus

After having known some truly racist/sexist people I find it ridiculous that a few off color Twitter jokes are newsworthy. I'll never be one of those people that tells the allies to never be political,in fact I believe the opposite could be a good opportunity for dialogue. I just hope that it doesn't make this community less accepting of those with differing political opinions.

Less a correction and more so some background about the WWE games from someone who has been following for a long time. Starting when 2K took over the series, many entries felt bare bones, with a ton of glitches. This came to a peak with last year's entry, which was horrible. 2K actually listened to a lot of feedback and made some very positive changes in 2k19, with the addition of a fully voiced career mode with the best story to be in a wrestling game ever being a massive highlight. I believe this dip from last year's sales is more a result of the feelings toward last year's game and this new one will gain more traction over time. If 2k continues with their improvements and shows that commitment next year, I could see it rebounding.

Kate Bishop

1. NPD's of September make me so happy. Well I'm not from USA, but to have those games on top 20 give me so many hopes for all those game studios. 2. Please do The Missing Stream Ian!! or someone, because It's really, really good. 3. Hi Kyle, for some reason, I think showing a capture of the Tweet helps a lot giving context to the section. 4. I didn't see the brown color on the Steam page for Shadow of the Tomb Raider. 5. I love that Solaire plush!!!! Where did you get it? 6. Dude day 1 patches are not fun at all Huber!! Plus, not all patches are 1gb or 500mb. Xbox One exclusives requires you to download the complete game if you want the 4K patch. Hell, even last time I remember had to download the Halo Masterchief collection completely due to the new patch, but at least i understand that. 7. And I'll be watching Box Peek day one :) 8. No! for one second I thought you chose my Shadow of the TOmb Raider L&amp;R question, but It's fine, I haven't red that dude's question, It's really detail, good stuff.

Leo S. Luna

Also, "shouldn't have done that" was great! I'd even encourage to be more political if you can! Everything we do in our lives is based on politics so the more we know each other's viewpoints the better we can understand each other. We can't turn a blind eye to everything we don't like.

DangerZone

A fun correction: I bought the physical PC version of Black Ops 4 this year, for giggles, and because I get the employee discount at GameStop. I was humorously surprised to find a cardboard disc with a code printed on in place of where a regular CD would be. I thought it would be funny to buy a physical PC game in 2018 and I was very satisfied.

DangerZone

WATCH BOX PEEK

Karl Williams

Early adopters always have to pay a premium . It's nothing new. If you buy a game on launch you get to play that game for a month and a half more than someone who waited for a price drop. Most people who bought on launch probably completed the campaign by the time of the price drop so I don't understand why they feel something was taken away from them. Being able to play early and be part of the discussion of a game has inherent value. Review bombing a game is punishing the developers who most likely had no part in choosing the pricing strategies. That's my opinion anyways. Enjoyed the podcast as always everyone. L&amp;R

I very much appreciated the 'Shouldn't have done that' segment. It means a lot to me that you were willing to talk about this on the podcast. Thank you. &lt;3

While I appreciated the stance on the CDPR tweets, I think 20 minutes was way too long of a segment. I understand this is an incredibly important topic, but I also think it would have been a lot better if we could have moved on. Possibly summarizing the events in a few sentences would have been enough to get the point across that these tweets were in bad taste. I’m hoping these more political topics do not come up often or covered as extensively again in future podcasts. I understand that sometimes you cannot take a neutral stance on something you believe in so I can respect that. I only ask that it be limited in the gaming podcasts we receive. I see and read so much divisive hate online and it just becomes so exhausting. Also Kyle mentioned that he would see this exact post because of it, but I hope he still reads it! P.S. – “Release Me” was amazing! Love and Respect to the Allies and our Community -

Rammer

That Jigarbov ad was sublime. Well done

GW Fawkes

If their is any way to bring up the "Shouldn't have done that" this is the way. I was unaware of the longer trend and I'm assuming the topic was brought up to bring awareness to listeners who want to make informed decisions and opinions of the companies they support and in that effort it succeeded. That being said, I'm hoping discussing social/political topics will be discussed sparingly. If it becomes a regular occurrence it becomes diluted like any other topic frequently discussed. As the core gaming podcast of EZA that is always pressed for "going too long" I was hoping for quick candid impressions of Soul Calibur, Starlink, Dark Souls Switch impressions and other topics that went AWOL. I liked the micro rant of Intel as it was not something I was aware of.

Zugdar

thanks for addressing the GOG controversy, and for taking the time to cover the fact that this is a pattern, not a one-time occurrence. “shouldn’t’a done that” isn’t a segment for every week, but I appreciate that you came up with a lighthearted way to address game companies’ missteps in dealing with sensitive subjects in public forums.

Ray Aldiar

christ huber think about the audio for once and don't shout like a maniac please. there is a limit to what you can do with audio in editing

Christophe Fettouhi

I hope they at least give you early adopters some kind of bonus down the road, because that seriously sucks.

MBUN

Last week I purchased The 7th Guest Big Box for PC and am playing it through Windows 3.1 emulated through DOSBox set to autostart from my Steam Library; I highly appreciate an Optical Drive in 2018 even if I do have a rig capable of running our most anticipated releases!

Mac

The time stamps arent there in the description

Riley Donoho

really big fan of "shouldn't have done that", it's honestly something i've wanted from eza for a long time now and i'm excited to see it return. love hearing all of your takes on issues like this. thank you L&amp;R &lt;3

Esther Devil

Damiani should just get a Ryzen CPU, the price is a lot better and even though they don't perform as well for gaming, by a tiny amount, you could still get more cores for a lot cheaper.

Nice job on the Shouldn't have done that segment Allies.

If any of you had used steam for more than 10 minutes you would realize the problems you brought forth are non-issues

Tom Smith

Dragon Quest note: <a href="https://twitter.com/MatPiscatella/status/1054961609700007936" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/MatPiscatella/status/1054961609700007936</a> "Some folks asking about Dragon Quest XI... it was the biggest launch month in franchise history with dollar sales more than double the previous best, DQ9."

I thought you all handled the various topics covered on this week's podcast very well, and second the comment that expressed thanks for the 'Shouldn't A Done That' segment. It's hard to please everyone but I for one am glad it was addressed and enjoyed your discussion. L&amp;R

fuyunotabi

Yeah I saw the sale on PS4 too and I was shocked how shortly after it was. I did also attribute to it to low sales. Spider-Man was dominating so it’s rough. Someone I knew was thinking of getting it cuz they’ve played the prior games. When they heard of the sale it just made them hesitant even more.

Soul

This isn't exactly the same situation as Tomb Raider because it's an expansion, but Destiny 2: Forsaken similarly went on sale a little over a month after releasing. However, it didn't just decrease in price (on psn at least), it also added content to the product. Previously, Forsaken was only playable if you had bought the previous two DLC packs, thus requiring you to purchase the season pass along with Forsaken in order to play. Just a little over a month after launching, Activision announced that Forsaken would now come with the previous two DLCs automatically. So people (like me, which is why I'm commenting) who finally bought into Destiny 2 with Forsaken and purchased the old DLCs on top of the $40 expansion were basically shafted. Obviously, their new way of selling Forsaken is much better for the consumer, but changing their stance just a month after launch hurts early adopters.

Please retire "Shouldn't have done that". I can see where you're coming from but it ruins the vibes of the podcast.

Correction/clarification : PS4 has Bluetooth for controllers, move etc. But for some reason Sony decided not to put an audio profile in for headsets. I believe it's something to do with how the authentication for controllers works now, so headsets have to go through a controller or usb.

SwinBob72

Thank you for doing the “Shouldn’t Have Done That” segment. You guys handled it well and I’m happy you guys addressed it. Love and Respect.

YawnSong

‘Shouldn’t A Done That’ is my new favorite segment!

Castno

Dragon Quest was my most anticipated game of this year. No interest in Spider or RDR.

Chris H

Love it when the podcast goes up at a suitable time for European watching on the same day! 11pm in the UK just perfect time to watch before bed! You’ve made my night guys