Cup of Jones - August 7, 2018

That's the plan. If I'm not too busy with jury duty (fingers crossed I dodge that bullet) we'll put something together the week after. - Brandon

Easy Allies

Which Easy Livin event/game are you most excited for this weekend?

jif52

Hi Jones With reaction shots, spoiler mode and trailer jones being the main avenue for general movie/tv discussion at EZA. Have you ever considered revamping the 7+$ tier to include some exclusive interaction for all three shows with patrons at that level (i.e comments, polls, etc)? It can be marketed as such on all the shows and intice viewers to bump up their pledge. Just a random idea I wanted to share. L&R, Steven

Steven Vella

Business question : Would you like to teach all the easy allies to edit at one point to increase the workflow or simply have someone dedicated to that?

Sekiro505

If it's alright, I was hoping to be able to ask for some advice this week. I'm a person that you could say has somewhat thin skin when it comes to criticisms, and so I don't play games online against other people very often. Last weekend however I caught the bug from Evo, and decided to pick up Dragon Ball FighterZ again. I practiced some new characters for most of the day, and then went to try what I learned online. Just in the "casual mode", nothing crazy. After a few matches I realized I wasn't doing very well, but what got under my skin is that I still managed to have someone bothering to PM me on my Xbox after a match, just to tell me that I sucked. While I feel the obvious solution here is to ignore, block and move on, sometimes I just can't help but feel discouraged, and not able to shake it off as quickly as I would like. As both an online personality and gamer, I feel you might be in a unique position to both give advice on how to deal with criticism in situations like that, but also as it happens more generally through day to day life. Thanks Brandon, L&R

Eric Mitchell

Hi Jones, I've been closely following the Dead Cells plagiarism controversy and recently watched the response video from the editor-in-question. After finishing the video, YouTube recommended I watch Shane Satterfield's response video to the Cyberpunk leaked audio controversy. In both videos, the men in question claim to have been acting in good faith, lament the negative press resulting from the publicly-perceived infraction, and comment on what they consider to be good and bad games journalism (interestingly both specifically name Jason Schrerer at Kotaku, but on opposite ends of the spectrum). What is your take on both situations and their responses, and how do you feel about what both say about the nature of modern games journalism? L&R, Mark

Hello Jones. With last week's series of reaction streams, as well as during CoJ, I've noticed that when you use the podcast setup for a live stream the audio peaks a lot when you guys are close to the mics. I don't know if this is a setting that needs to be fixed or if you just need to speak farther away from the mic but I figure it's something that should be looked into.

Olf Himself

Business Q: Hey Jones. I've heard you mention a few times about EZA not necessarily getting advance review copies with the same regularity as you did at GT. I was wondering if you could perhaps expand on why this is? Is it because starting EZA made the industry feel like you're small fry despite your GT history? As reviews are your biggest draw to outsiders, is this something you're hoping improves in the future? L&R!

Hey Jones, I asked the following question a few weeks back but I didn't hear it get answered or addressed: "Hey Jones! A question asked three weeks ago here about the toughest thing you went through at GT, and your answer being knowing about the sale to Defy before everyone, got me thinking about GT's first sale, when you sold it to Viacom. How did that process happen? Did you reach out to Viacom or vice versa? Did you accept their initial offer or negotiate (you were a youngster, after all)? How long did it all take? Basically I'm just looking for the story (of course please do not think I'm looking for personal information). Oh, and how did it make you feel; proud, sad, happy, etc.? Thanks Jones, L&R!" Could you answer it this week? Or if there's something wrong about it let me know so I won't ask again. L&R.

Joseph La Russa

I always use that as well.

Agreed, if make a post saying that we hit 50K twice in a row then it'll encourage people to keep up the momentum and do it a 3rd time and a 4th

VGJunky

Just watched your reaction video to Red Dead Redemption 2, and it got me thinking. what is your opinion on Frontier Land in Disney Land? What is your favorite thing to do there? or any fond memories?

Hey Brandon hope your well. At the time I'm writing this EZA have yet to make any social media or patreon posts confirming that you hit 50k again in July. The only reason I know is because you mentioned it on Cup of Jones. Fully appreciate how busy you all are but I think this is very important information, and it should be communicated more openly once you know. It could help attract more patrons on social media, as it makes 50k seem more realistic. Also not even 20% of total patrons have watched Cup of Jones as i'm typing this. I'm sure a lot more then that care about the studio goal though. If this is corrected before next weeks show please feel free to ignore :)

Diablo

Still no podcast Jones! Just a heads up

Jason Rumsey

Hi Brandon, i looked at the couch and realized, how's the quality? why did you decide to buy that one? is it still comfy? i would like a buy a couch that last at much as yours.

Daniel Garza Andrade

Good morning, Jones. It was a real treat to get Smash Direct reactions from you and Kyle this week. Smash's marketing buildup always does things so differently from the rest of the industry, and both of you do a wonderful job of pointing that out. Are there any other franchises that could make such a grand, flagrant display of infographics, UI teases or machinima-style bits? Should there be, or is this style of marketing forever a unique selling point for Smash? I'd certainly like to see Red Dead have fun with a bar graph. I'm also curious for your opinion on the call to not have one of those character reveal trailers—or even a tease—at EVO instead of just the Direct announcement. Bookending the Direct made for great momentum, but was that at the cost of properly capitalizing on a captive crowd of over 140,000 strong?

Kirbu

Note for Brandon: Last time in the comments I've recommended <a href="https://www.onlinevideoconverter.com/mp3-converter" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.onlinevideoconverter.com/mp3-converter</a> to make audio version of Cup of Jones and you've said it failed every time you've tried. I've tested it for this and previous Cup of Jones and it works. I've noticed that downloading Cup of Jones from YouTube is usually available only several hours after the stream, and even if you already can watch full video on YouTube it still can be processed for download. So give it a try in the evening or on the next day - it should work.

Alexander Zyryanov

I remember his brother showed up to build legos on a Lego Dimension stream a while ago at EZA. Was a good ep! Check it out!

Audio would be great. Became a habit listening to COJ and EZA PC on my way home. Propably trouble with the upload again?

r3k

Hi Jones, You mentioned your brother a couple times today, and even though I've been a fan for a few years now, I somehow never heard you mention siblings before. I was wondering is you wouldn't mind sharing more stories about him (or other siblings if you have them). As a guy who only had sisters, I'm always interested in people's stories about having brothers growing up. L&amp;R, Nick

I hope you'll upload a seperate 'studio' promo with the new tiers that wont be attached to Easy Livin' ? Cheers

Sven Van Lathem

I just watched your Smash Bros. Direct, and it occurred to me that you may not be super familiar with Richter. When Nintendo made that comment hinting at the ambiguity of who the echo is, that was more than a throwaway line. Almost all the moves, including that "Masterful control of his whip" (the whip flailing he does), were taken directly from Richter. It really feels like Richter was the base, and Simon was given the limelight because he is the character more associated with the Nintendo brand. Back to the point... have you played Rondo of Blood, Brandon? Have you played Richter mode in SotN? I know you are a super busy guy, but Rondo is an AMAZING game. I would love to see you do a playthrough of it. I would say that Rondo of Blood is quite possibly the highlight of the Castlevania series (and I love me some Dracula's Curse/SotN). Hell, if you haven't played through it yet, I would be plenty stoked to see you do a Richter run in SotN, it is an incredible way to replay that game. Once again, I know you are crazy busy, so I wouldn't expect you to have time to do that, but I just wanted to plant the seed in your head. As always, love and respect!

James Kennedy

I didn't notice an audio version of last week's Cup of Jones. Did it just slip your mind or no more audio version moving forward?

POKEY CLYDE

Business question: Hey Brandon, when will you consider parting ways with Patreon? I know you have answered this question and reiterated the back-end benefits of the platform on a number of occasions. Equally, as I’m sure we can all attest and numerous patron comments will verify; the user experience is often a steaming pile of [insert appropriate term here] and as a result maybe contributing to Patron churn rates. I’m not suggesting this is a current business priority, but with the studio becoming a reality and the business going from strength to strength and with no expectations around what that phase would look like, i.e. being hosted elsewhere or complete autonomy; would you care to offer a little more detail about the specific conditions that would need to be met for this to happen? L&amp;R Elliot Moscow

Elliot Moscow

Regarding your answer to my leading question about Top Ten Man or Woman Babes videos: Fair enough, that's a reply that makes a lot of sense. I must have purposefully forgot all those hot babes top tens you had to do. Sounds bad.

Hey Mr Brandon Jones !!! First of all, couldn't catch last week EP live but saw that replay and CONGRATS on securing those 50k and the studio goal, it means a lot for everybody in the community, we are so happy for you !! Just a shower thought/suggestion I have, could EZA maybe make a MILESTONE video ? I was watching a video called " Fortnite Year 1 in 6 Minutes" where they recap all the majors changes/milestones. Maybe you could do something similar with different stats and milestones EZA have achieved since creation !!! Like how many reviews, how many hours of podcasts, how many money raised for fundraisers and special streams, pretty much every major event that makes EZA what EZA is at his best !!! I know you already have a similar vid already up that presents all of what EZA is about, but I still think a Milestone vid could be great publicity. That's about it for today, just one minor improvement i'd like to see in the future, is for EZA to find a way to shout out all the new subs/resubs and donations in a better way. The way it is now is not satisfactory. I understand you can't shout out every single person who resubs as it's hard to track and annoying for the audience. I know this has been suggested countless times, but maybe you should do a little recap of all those subs/resubs at the end of a group stream or something. I don't watch KF but the only time I did (for them EZA/KF colabs) I thought the way they do it is pretty efficient. Don't be ashamed to do something similar, be like God of War 2018, borrow the best ideas around and apply those to EZA to make EZA better. Have a great one Mr Jones!

tahitianwarrior

Kyle could have some serious fun with Evil Allies

Cash

Wow, it is so great. I feel as exited right along with you guys on hopefully getting a bigger new place so you can do so many more things in the gaming industry. Take care.

Personal question: I think most people think their own voice sounds odd or different when they hear it recorded. Since you do lots of voice overs, recording, and editing do you notice a difference between the way you perceive your own voice when speaking and when you hear it recorded?

Blake York

The apocalypse has happened and you have survived! What do you do now? Do you become an engineer for a local water purification project? An announcer for a raider battle arena? For that matter, what apocalyptic future could you see yourself being in? A Fallout irradiated world? A world where monsters took over? A "left behind" rapture?

Daniel Askew

Good day Mr. Jones. I have a small suggestion for Hall Of Greats. Right now the procedure is fairly simple with one ally presenting a game for 5 minutes followed by a 5 minute Q&amp;A period. I think this procedure is really straight forward and I kind of like the simplicity of it, however I also feel that the Q&amp;A portion always feels rushed and a bit unfair as both sides have to share those 5 minutes and not everyone is allowed or have time to chime in. So here's my suggestion. After the presentation each ally is allowed to either ask one quick question regarding the game or pass, the presenter can take quick notes if they want. The presenter is then given 5 minutes to answer these questions in which ever order they feel is best for them. By potentially having 8 questions out there in the ether, some of them juicier then others, the presenter might have to pick and choose what to focus on and what to ignore. I feel like this would not only add a little more fairness giving everyone not presenting a chance to voice their opinion, in the form of a question, but also give the presenter plenty of time to answer them in their preferred priority order. What do you think?

Jones, I was wondering once things have settled down more, would you consider streaming the Mass Effect Trilogy as your next full play through like you did FF6?

Jordan Buitendyk

Hey Mr. Jones! Now that there's two Top 10s out, I'm enjoying the diversity in the topics and entries, but I do want to ask: Why no lower thirds? I ask because it was initially a surprise because I was used to them at GameTrailers, but I figured it was a style change to be differnet. However, for the Silver Foxes list, there was one entry (the first) that I didn't know and I found out elsewhere. It's only one instance, but I figured having some info like the entrant's name and game would help in the future. Regardless of the reason, I'm sure it's a sound one. Thanks for taking my question as always and Cheers! P.S. In regards to changing the Community Showcase: I can only plea that you don't because it's one of the main reasons why I'm at that tier. I'm capped at what I can pledge (Despite always wanting to go higher), and being able to be a part of the Showcase (and the Showcase itself) is one my overall favorite things pertaining to EZA. Just my two cents and I don't expect it to be taken, or if it's given weight.

Brandon K Gann

Mr Jones! What do you think the chances are of a Mini Editing Competition between 2 (or 3 or all..) of the editors at Easy Allies? To keep it as simple as possible you could collectively select a few short clips (or let another ally collect them) and then each of you make a quick edit (off stream probably preferred) followed by you all showing each other your edit and discussing the choices you made. Then the editors choose their favourite (or other allies/the audience does). To me it doesn't sound entirely impossible to do a couple times a year if the clips are short enough and the end video is in the 20-30 seconds range`. This would serve as both a showcase of your skills and teach the audience about the editing process and different perspectives going into the editing of your produced work. This might have been suggested before, I'm not sure. What do you think?

Benny Samuelsson

Hello Jones, huge Life is Strange fan here, and you being the one to review the original at GT if I can remember correctly. I’m just dying to know how you feel about the new teaser trailer that came out and what your theory is for the new season? Thanks for answering my silly question and feel free to answer it in the comments if you want.

Megan Linart

I just became a patreon today, like you guys, wanna see more reviews for smaller games