Cup of Jones - 02/27/18

Jones Talk to me about Broken Arrow. Is it the greatest Nineties Action Movie?

Olf Himself

No need to read this on show. I devised an everyone wins -review score for you, because I AM obsessed with review scores... Yes, I'm aware it's awkward to change it again but yay. The stars and scores directly translate so there's no misconceptions! Score 10.0 - 5 Stars - Masterful Score 9.0 - 4 Stars - Excellent Score 8.0 - 3 Stars - Good Score 7.0 - 2 Stars - Decent Score 6.0 - 1 Star - Inferior Scores 0 to 5.5 - 0 Stars - Terrible Final Score ★★★★★ 10.0 Masterful L&R

Lauri Laivo

Hey Jones, struggling through a cold and a scratchy throat right now. As someone that does a lot of voice work, and being married to someone who makes a living from their voice, do you have any secret tips to get me through my workday? Thanks!

Louis Sandiford

Hi Jones, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen is on my must watch list now because Brazil is pretty awesome. Have you ever directed anything? Have a great week

bjørnar haraldsvik

Hello, Brandon. I submitted for the previous Cup of Jones, but alas, the devious Patreon Ninjas found sight of my comment, and promptly deleted it. So I’m going to try this again, hoping for a little more favorable luck this time. I’m not too heavily involved with the community, so I think I should start by introducing myself. Hello, my name is Christopher! I’m a 20 year old from the great state of Wisconsin! I’ve been aware of GameTrailers and it’s importance for years, but I confess that I didn’t really follow the antics of the site. Though The Final Bosman was a particular favorite of mine. I did feel a crushing weight when I heard GameTrailers was closing down. I remember day 1 of Easy Allies with the fun announcement skit and I cheered on the sidelines, as a casual viewer. It wasn’t until September of last year when I took the full plunge into Easy Allies. Before I knew it, I was hooked on whatever the crew was up to. It’s a shame that I wasn’t a part of the discussions when they happened, but I’m having fun to go through the backlog to catch up.My pledge to EZA is my way of saying thank you for the entertainment you all have provided me at a time I really needed it. As for my question, there was one thing that has been on my mind for a while now. Why is it always your voice doing the reviews, Don’t Skips, and so on? Don’t misunderstand me, you have a beautiful voice. If there was a Patreon Tier to get you to narrate my day, I would greatly consider it, even though I (likely) wouldn’t be able to afford it. I ask because other sites usually have multiple people voice their reviews. As an independent content creator myself, I have to do my own voice overs out of necessity since I’m the only part of the process. With nine different crew members in Easy Allies, I wonder why another one of you doesn’t take a stab at it. If it were me, I would love to see what results from having someone else do the voice work for a day. Even if you are the only voice of EZA reviews for the next few decades, I will still support the show for as long as I can. I’m simply curious is all. Not only am I relatively new here, I also haven’t kept up with every Cup of Jones, so I apologize if this is a question you’ve been asked before. Regardless, thank you for taking the time to read my gargantuan statement. I just love to write. Love and Respect -ChrisTheFields

What game from 2017 do you feel like you missed out the most on by not playing it?

Kate Bishop

Hi Jones, I do appreciate that you guys have changed the scoring system for the reviews. But, who was the one that brought up the issue of the scoring system? Or, was it the entire group? I am asking this because if I can recall during the E3 Live stream in 2016, Kyle became a fusspot (or fussy in general) when using the old scoring system to rate the press conference (I remember it was the end of EA’s E3 press conference where Kyle grumbled about the 5-star rating). It sort of raise my suspicion that he may be the one that brought it up, or I maybe wrong. Thank You and Happy 2nd Anniversary of EZA. P.S: I still have not watch The Last Jedi and I am already fatigue of the Star Wars franchise.

Is it scary to know that at all times, Blood is listening to everything you say? One of these days you may slip up...

GmanSir

Mr. Jones, 1- Do you ever consider the parallels between your situation and the plot of Wayne's World? (producing content from home with a rag tag group of friends and doing what you can to stay true to your ideals). Is that a comparison you like or would want to distance yourself from. I can't help but think of how awesome it would be to see you and Kyle dress up as Wayne and Garth for Halloween. 2- Far Cry is a series that gets my dopamine pumping and I have heard you mention it on a few occasions. I know that the Far Cry games are usually 7 to 8.5 stars range games but I get all 10 stars worth of enjoyment out of them. What is your feeling on the series and can you share your thoughts on the upcoming Far Cry 5? What are your thoughts on the B-movie style season pass? Morgan Mohalla

Morgan Mohalla

Hey Jones, With Star Wars Rebels ending wanted to ask if you been watching? And if not then i would highly recommend at least watching from season four episode ten and up, They have some strong vibes of Indiana Jones and big repercussions for anything Star Wars.

I think I remember you saying you were a fan of musical theater. I am as well! If true, I was curious if you had any album suggestions as I've exhausted most of the ones on my playlist. My current infatuation though is the Finding Neverland album.

QUESTION: Could you create a latin character in a story, even though you are not latin yourself? !!!maybe Horizon Zero Dawn SPOILERS ahead!!! + These are just MY opinions and impressions, I'm NOT attacking people who like HZD. Except for getting a lot of awards and the EZA opinions, I don't really know what others think about HZD, cause I'm not paricipating in forums and stuff. // Whenever I put something in quotation marks, imagine Kyle saying it the way he quotes some "dumb" quotes. UPDATE: I'm playing Horizon Zero Dawn right now and unexpectedly don't have a headache. Once in a while there's a strange feeling in my head while palying it, but it's mostly fine. And now some things I gotta say about HZD (at least one point is gonna be a HOTTAKE): - machine design is awesome after all, but why can I only mount (basically) 1 machine?! I wanna ride a Snapmaw damnit! - story is surprisingly dumb (I only have the last mission and Frozen Wilds left to do) - I like the voice acting for Aloy in general, but the things she's saying are just so dumb most of the time - collecting stuff is still annoying as hell + my inventory is always full, cause every machine has unique parts - listening to the latest Frame Trap, where Huber talks about Kingdom Come Deliverance's main character not caring about his mothers death and only acknowledging his fathers death. Why does Aloy not care about her real father? In the beginning (when dhe doesn't know anything about her parents) she only ever wants to know who here "mother" is, not her "parents"...I probably wouldn't have noticed that, if Huber didn't mention the exact opposite on Frame Trap. - it seems like the creators must hate men, based on how dumb most of them are compared to the female characters. There are so many stereotypical "all men are perverts and think nothing of women" lines in there, which makes me really sad that someone actually thinks that. Very often it just sounds patronizing, like "You shouldn't look at women that way you pervert *slap on fingers*. "Men are not better than women, women are better than men", like NO! We're all EQUAL, creators of HZD! + I won't ask what you think about this, cause even though I love this community, I know there'll be people "attacking" you, no matter what you're saying baout this "sensitive" comment of mine. - Score: 7.5 All human (should) have the same rights, DiamondCrusader P.S.: The QUESTION is a SSX Tricky DVD extras joke.

Greetings, Jones! I hope you've been getting more rest lately (but reading the post on the audio version of the last Cup, somehow I doubt that's the case...). I just finished watching your stream of Dragon Quest Builders, and I have to say, it's one of my favorite streams any of the Allies have done to date. It had such a nice place, great music, good vibes, and that sweet, slow progression of seeing your town come more and more to life. A few times during the stream, you apologized for the "boring parts" or for how slow the grind can be, but that's exactly the reason that stream was so great! There are people out there just like you who love the slow grind of a game! During Brandon Plays Pokemon, I nodded and audibly said "Heck yes!" to myself when you admitted loving running in circles in the grass grinding fights for hours on end. There's something so satisfying about grinding in a game, taking hours and hours just to see those little numbers get larger over time. Was the reception to the stream warm, and is there any chance of getting more Brandon Jones X Dragon Quest Builders? I would happily tune in every week to watch you do whatever you wanted in DQB!

rrice64

Hey Jones, I noticed recently that I have a pattern of how I handle character creation. On my first playthrough I will create a character based on me. For any playthrough after that, I create a cosplay character (a Granny that only uses a cane as a weapon, Abraham Lincoln, Frodo, Gruntilda, etc...) or create my own 'unique' characters, giving it a backstory and creating other characters with backstories relating to it after that playthrough is finished (a marshmallow-man-Zoro-esque woman called Hulga, along with a myriad of others in Dark Souls 3&2, for example). I'd love to hear how you tackle character creation in games, and do you have any memorable characters that you have created?

realwar44

How come Don't Skip's are so far and few between? I feel like you have great power in your ability to feature smaller games outside of their release cycles, and it's one I'd like to see you use more. Also did you know that Neil Armstrong backwards is Gnorts, Mr. Alien?

Small Leviathan

Hi, Brandon. This weekend I've tried to play Fortnite Battle Royale. I very rarely play multiplayer games and I'm extremely bad in competitive shooters, but I'm still having a great time in Fortnite. You've enjoyed this game for months but I never even thought to give it a try until Huber stepped in. Why do you so cautiously talk about stuff that you really love? I mean, you tell everyone that you love Batman/Disney/Red Dead, but it feels like a personal story, not like a recommendation.

Alexander Zyryanov

Are there any events planned surrounding the 2 Year show? Last year it looks like you had something at a park, so I was wondering if that was happening again. ps I asked you about Disneyland about a month ago, saying I’ve been to Disney in Tokyo. Dad was in the army and we were stationed there for 5 years or so, that’s how I made it out there :)

Tony

You may hear us give a heads-up when that happens, but much of the time we are getting them fairly well in advance. Even at GT, there would frequently be games that didn't come in until launch, and a lot of the games that we aren't getting early, next to no one's getting early. I'll hear IGN, Polygon, etc. making the same complaints about not having certain games. Of course, there are certainly some instances when we're clearly not given code at the same time as other outlets. While it may sound bizarre, public relations representatives are typically allocated certain numbers of codes in waves at different dates. Since there are a limited number of codes in each wave, then naturally, they have to prioritize which outlets get them first. There are a lot of factors at play, not least of which is how well the reps know each outlet, but the size of the audience is always going to be a significant factor. Considering we're a relatively small outlet, the fact that we actually get so many games in advance is a testament to how trusted we are in the industry and the clear, passionate engagement of our fans. This will be less of an issue as we continue to grow, but most of the time, it's not a major obstacle, and it will likely never fully go away. -Bloodworth

Easy Allies

As someone who has a pretty big appetite for the long form material (Retrospectives and Game Sleuth) that will admitting probably never be fulfilled, I wanted to inquire about amount of content being produced in this form. Apologies if this sounds forward but I tend to think like a business person on these type of things. The tiers would suggest that $15k is going to these videos (15-30k) per month but over the 2 year history of EZA their are 6 Retro videos and 5 Sleuths. That would imply that roughly 30k is the investment needed to create one of these videos which seems crazy high from that nutshell. I know its not as simple as all tier dollars go into that category but maybe as EZA has evolved the tiers should be restructured to better reflect what is being produced? I got into EZA because of these types of videos and wanted to support the creation of more. I enjoy the podcast and other offerings so I'm happy to continue to support but to me these videos are a product that have yet to be matched elsewhere. Their are plenty of good gaming podcasts and streamers but only a few who can do long form videos as well as EZA. A fan's plea for more, L&R, Zugdar

Zugdar

Just to add more GTA Talk: Years ago now, before Leslie Benzies was ousted from Rockstar, he had mused that where he saw GTA Online evolving to was an ever-growing platform that would implement the maps of past GTA games. GTA IV's LIberty City heavily rumored to have been in development to port to GTA V; a rumored fueled by portfolio artwork from developers and the shut down of OpenIV's Liberty City project. I assume you'd absolutely be down for Rockstar to add the older game maps as online locations, so my question is how do you picture that experience working? What dreams would you have going somewhere like Vice City now rebuilt to be GTA V quality? There was a mostly scrapped snowy Liberty City map intended for San Andreas, what if that existed for the winter holidays in online? Dream big and share, please.

Robert I.

Mr. Jones, it was brought to my attention several times that EZA doesn't get the review games on time, either is a day before or the very same release day, what do you think EZA needs or lacks to be on the same league as GT was or the other sites that has the game reviewed a week before the game comes out.

Daniel Garza Andrade

I know I know merchandise has come up a lot lately ^^ but my old easy allies shirt is so worn out that I'm in desperate need for a new one, but if you are going to release a new set of shirts I would wait and maybe order a few more. Are there going to be new shirts until this years gamescom (around August)? If yes, I'm happy to wait ^^

Tim Bechen

Good Day Jones, I know you might of said it before, but I was wondering what is your favorite batman the animated series episode. Personally, my favorite one is "Beware the Gray Ghost".

Mr.V

Great Jones rant on T2! Somebody (a fan) really needs to take notes and clip these rants together into their own highlight reel

VGJunky

Hi Jones! From the note, I got the sense that it wouldn't be practical to mass produce that EZA lego set. What are the odds - however unlikely - that you could partner up with Dave C to do a limited run (maybe attached to a crazy patreon tier like 20 available at $750-1000+, with the proceeds going to a tricaster or sending someone to PAX or whatever)? I'm guessing you won't want to profit off a fan's gift and I would fully understand if you would rather not just in order to keep the original set unique, but well... I want that frickin' kit. No harm in asking, right? Thanks! ~Adam

Adam

As mentioned in the previous Frame Trap post, Patreon has a hard cap on upload size. So longer episodes can't be posted to Patreon. Both Frame Trap and Fiasconauts have their individual podcast feeds, so even though it's not as convenient, they are still available. -Bloodworth

Easy Allies

For the first time in my life I built a gundam and a lego set within the past month and it is all owed to Ben, Bosman, Brad and of course you. Do you have any lego build suggestions? I really like Disney and star wars and am looking for something more intermediate level.

Joey and Cait

For me, Easy Allies is mostly a podcast network. I rely heavily on the $5 combined podcast feed, but lately a lot of shows just aren't getting posted there; Cup of Jones, Fiasconauts, and Frame Trap being the most frequent offenders. Is there any way you could post content to that feed more consistently? I also really enjoy when special content is posted and would love to see more audio-only versions of things like Spoiler Mode and preview discussions.

Mr Jones, I have a tricky one for you. Talking about twitch subscriptions, is there any difference (in income) if someone suscribes using the Twitch prime vs someone paying the $5USD subscription fee? If there is, do you see any difference between different prime subscribers? say, from different countries. Just curious because the other day Michael Pachter twitted (<a href="https://twitter.com/michaelpachter/status/960918810801811456)" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://twitter.com/michaelpachter/status/960918810801811456)</a> the prices of prime in different countries; if they pay you as low as $2 USD a month for my prime subscription, amazon is losing money with me; given that my first year was only $450 pesos. I know there are other things to take into account, like the Peso/Dollar exchange rate, that is something so fragile that if moves every time yours &amp; our president discuss their favorite Pink Floyd album; but I couldn't help but ask; check if you can provide some light about it. L&amp;R César. (Yes, sorry; while I initially was curious about the prime income; in the end I just wanted to sneak a "The Wall" joke in there).

César Villa

Hey Brandon! Next time you do a game trailer reviewing episode, could you include a small window with you, kyle, and blood in the corner? One of the best aspects of EasyAllies is actually seeing you guys when you are discussing things. Your body language has a major impact on my perception of your discussion. This is why your E3 coverage is amazing.

I asked a while ago on Twitter but have you thought about writing a Biography or creating a Documentary about the creation of Game Trailers and its life? From your perspective if its a Biography of course.

Calvin Delaney

Short and goofy question: Jones! How could we keep the Easy Allies community going, without the internet? Bottled letters?? thread-and-mug telephones? Smoke signals?!?!

irene035

No, it looks like the video may not have survived, but he was referencing an episode of The Final Verdict. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/gametrailers/posts/10151672744799285" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/gametrailers/posts/10151672744799285</a> -Bloodworth

Easy Allies

The GT Asylum vs City argument was for a countdown. Top 10 Batman Games, City was the winner <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2P_1M8ImGo&amp;ab_channel=GameTrailers" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2P_1M8ImGo&amp;ab_channel=GameTrailers</a>

Ibrahim Sozer

Hello Jones, I hope you are well. I am a recent patreon supporter so apologies in advance if this has been covered. You talked about shifting the Trailer Jones away from the 45k goal couple of times now, which I 100% agree with. What would personally get me excited is a goal that ensures more Allies can work full time, or closer to full time, if they want to for EZA. Or fill gaps in your roster you feel you need to behind the scenes, so less of the 'tedious' work load is on the Allies. More streams, more shooting and editing of ideas they want to do with no worry of reviews they have to cut due to lack of editors on hand or having to go to their second job. Obviously I don't know the numbers, nor the personal lives of each Ally, not even how many are working full time already! But what are your thoughts on your current staff situation, and how much time Allies are realistically able to devote to EZA content? Also if a patreon goal to cover that (if it's a problem) is something you thought about? Thank you. L&amp;R.

Hi Jones! Answer these in whichever order you like. Serious question: What is more difficult for you? Falling asleep, or staying asleep? Have you done anything to improve either? Fun question: What did you think of the episode "The Bar" of South Park? The one with James Cameron looking for the bar. You talk about him last episode made me think about.

Parasitepaladin

Hello, Jones, I have a question about EZA game reviews! With the recent change to the way the Allies score games in reviews, I've developed some thoughts and curiosities regarding the role reviews play as a part of Easy Allies. I, for one, usually don't watch them, because 9 times out of 10, if it's a game I have any interest in, someone (usually the person who's reviewing it) will discuss it at length on one of your podcasts or other shows I already subscribe to, making the review itself somewhat redundant. What I DO find interesting about them, however, is the particularly high degree of attention and energy that seems to go into the presentation of reviews, compared to the rest of EZA's content, as well as the concerns with how they are perceived by the public outside of this community. Are reviews the aspect of EZA that introduces the highest volume of new people into the community?

Anontastic

Hey Jones! Any updates on making some new merch available? I know it has been brought up many many times, but I'm curious if there are any plans to add some new items since y'all had your meeting back in January. Eager to buy another Easy Allies t-shirt (or two)! Best, Brian Denu (pronounced den-OO)

Brian Denu

Hey Jones! What makes Goldeneye better than other fps's/ makes it special to you compared to later, more refined shooters?

mikkel hervel nemmøe

For fun or otherwise, you're a game critic Jones, so you need to be playing video games at least sometimes. Maybe schedule a set chunk of time away each day / every other day / once a week for you to enjoy it? Alternatively, if this is more practical for your workflow, during those times when you've finished your work and should go immediately to bed, instead spend thirty minutes or an hour playing a game you wanna play before doing so. Just hold yourself to the strict time limit with an alarm or such so you do get some sleep. I'd also say stream more, but you've explained before how much of a pain it is to setup, which is unfortunate, because I do enjoy your streams, well most of them.

MBUN

"Next Big Tech Thing" is self driving cars. If it weren't for general public, they'd already be out. Can't wait for that to take 10 years... Also. JONES: That rant on T2 was phenomenal. Thank you for that

GW Fawkes

Hiya Jones! Quick question: I know there will be exclusive merch available at Revengeance, but will there be anything new on the online store afterward for the rest of us schlubs? I need to decide what I'm getting myself for my 31st birthday... Cheers, James (@BlindlyFumblin)

James McCoy

Just wanna say Jones, you're a trooper. Keep up the great work.

drd7of14

Hey Mr. Jones! Thanks for last week's answer on not retroactively adding number scores. I thought as much but it couldn't hurt to ask. But onto this week's question! I have been really taken by the amount and quality of collaborations across content Kinda Funny has been doing recently, and I know the subject of collaborations has come up before here on Cup of Jones, but I'm curious: Whenever you can bring in collaborators, what content would you want to bring them on? I absolutely enjoyed Mr. Huber on Games Daily and the Gamescast, but it made me realize most members of EZA are special guests and not the hosts. This is NO WAY a bad thing as it is has been AWESOME whenever I see the Allies in other content such as Huber on Kinda Funny, yourself on Fireside Chats, and Mr. Moore contributing to some of my friends stuff (Irrational Passions and Handsome Phantom), but bringing in people would be just as beneficial (for example, I know you've stated you wished to do something with Game Attack). Thanks as always Mr. Jones, and for Cup of Jones comments from here forward, I want to also wish you: Cheers! P.S. Mr. Jones, if you would like to, whenever you get the sentiment that people want to be noticed, could you suggest during a Cup of Jones to just consistently post? I'm pretty sure you know of me only because I consistently leave something. Whether or not it gets picked isn't as important as just being there and contributing. Granted, I have had plenty of questions and comments taken here, Frame Trap and the main podcast, plus having the good fortune of meeting you in person. Just a thought. Thanks again!

Brandon K Gann

I just got tickets to the concert! Looking forward to it

Molly Bittner

Are there plans for a meet and greet before or after the 2nd year anniversary live show? There was one last year the day after, but have not heard if one will be held this year. Thanks

Professor Metal Gear