Cup of Jones - March 29th, 2018

Hello Jones Have you guys thought about increasing the benefits of the lower pledge tiers as an incentive to get new Patrons? The average of each EZA Patron's pledge is fairly high which means if some drop off, for whatever reason, your monthly income can swing a fair amount. One idea for incentives I've thought about is recording a bonus Love & Respect question each week and make it exclusive to Patrons. It probably wouldn't be that much more work since you could record it together with the Podcast. It might sound weird coming from a consumer of your content but I think you give too much away for free. Exclusives are enticing to a lot of people.

Olf Himself

Hey Jones! I appreciate you answering my question last time. Today I have one that might be a little odd. I never liked Red Dead Redemption because I dont like the Western setting. I dont think its a bad game, I just think it might be one that's just not for me. With that being said, do you think I should try to power through it for the sequel upcoming, because its not a bad game, or do you think I'm okay with just ignoring it altogether? My wife calls it a "bosmanism" because I dont like it for that reason and wanted to get a second opinion.

Gaspard

Hi Jones! You have said you don't want to redo your garage if a studio move might be around the corner. What would be an okay time frame? Would you feel okay if you used the redone garage for a year? More? I want you guys to get to 50k, and I believe in you, though how quickly do you feel you'll make it to 50k if you believe the quick move after a renovation is a problem?

Parasitepaladin

Hi, Jones I don't know if you saw SomeGameNews' April Fools post, showcasing highlights form Mandatory Update. It's a fun and hilarious look down memory lane. However, reading some of the comments around the video got me thinking: do you think you were all happier being part of a corporation or are you happier now? Do you believe you have more creative freedom now than you did then, or not? Also, I was wondering how much direction you had from higher ups on the content and tone of the GT shows? From my perspective you all seem much more relaxed in EZA than you did there, but is this really the case? Just curious. Thanks! Steph

Esther Devil

Hey Jones, Long time listener, first time caller. Near the beginning of the year, you mentioned potentially doing a survey for Easy Allies to find out the demographics of the community, find which content was the most/least popular, and see other relevant data. Has there been any movement on this, or have you decided to move in a different direction? Obviously as you reassess the business plan moving into year 3, I think having as much data as possible would be of benefit to EZA. Thank you so much and keep up the great work, Matt Dwyer

Dear Mr Jones have you ever considered bringing back top 10 video's? Having shorter video's could attract new viewers, especially if it's a top 10 is based on a new game. As example; "Top 10 Japanese RPG's" at the time Dragon Quest 11 releases or, "top 10 best Mario Sport games" whenever Mario Aces releases. There are a lot of YouTube channels I found solely because they had some sort of "best of list" based on a property I liked." Thanks for all the great content Yours sincerely Michiel

Hi Jones, this post got erased multiple times last week, so I'll see if it goes through mostly unedited this time around. As of writing this question I have not played much of "Far Cry 5"; only the opening which I loved. Two things stuck out to me when I listened to Shane Satterfield's impressions of it over on SIFTD. One, he thought the story got nerfed to make it less political. Two, he absolutely could not get past the idea that because you're in Montana with access to planes, you wouldn't just leave and bring in the feds/national guard/US Marshals/etc; his point being the isolation of being on an island is not present in this game and that irrevocably breaks the immersion. First, do you feel the story was edited because of the controversy the debut trailer generated due to current events in America? Second, isn't the idea of leaving up to the player? Personally I feel all in to not run away. Third, I went off on an earlier version of this comment about my own headcanon for the reason why the government isn't stepping in. (I'll included that version at the bottom of this comment for perspective). Does the game need to address real life controversies in relation to the United State's history dealing with domestic militias or terror... inciters (the other word might have gotten me flagged)? Your character being used to help the local resistance deal with this situation yourselves seems apropos of the other "Far Cry" games. But does not addressing those bigger controversial ideas leave plotholes just too big to put aside? Does the game have the responsibility to raise those questions? In writing this, I see why Ubisoft probably did downplay the bigger questions as it would otherwise take away from what is essentially a wacky, silly game. Do you feel it's a determent that the game didn't tone down the "Far Cry-ness" and put the emphasis on the darker aspects of its story? From your review, it seems you wanted the opposite as you mentioned the story was tonally too dark in places for a game that still has all the silliness "Far Cry" fans have come to expect. And I quote: "It's a shame the story unnecessarily brings things down to such a dark place spontaneously interrupting your thrill seeking pursuits with nothing but bad vibes." -- Not a part of these way too long series of questions, but I haven't been a 'Far Cry' fan, but the setting and villains of this game really resonate with me. US militias and cults fascinate me. I feel I am here for those 'bad vibes' and probably why I loved the tone the opening set. Although from reviews, there may not be enough darkness here to satisfy me if that's why I'm attracted to the game's premise. Although I do think the silliness is a good thing to dilute the seriousness, because of all the real life violence that's become way to prevalent in our world. But where to draw the line between the two seems to be the issue most outlets are having with reviewing this game in particular. My weirdo headcanon backstory: ...The reason the government isn't stepping in in this game might be because they care more about their image than helping people. That they wanted to avoid another Waco and that the current seated President also seems to be at war with various law enforcement agencies like the FBI. Not to mention what little seemed to happen when the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge was occupied by a domestic militia in our own world... (Both they and the Seeds are also Caucasian...) I know the game doesn't state any of those reasons explicitly, but does it need to?

Robert I.

Hi Brandon, How about doing an annual or twice a year Patreon marathon drive on twitch? I loved the concert this year and the ability to watch it live via the stream and understood doing a shorter anniversary stream. However one of the interesting side effects of last years Twitch anniversary stream was it actually turned into a Patreon fund raising drive. New Patreon members got shout outs, as did people upping their pledges to the new tiers. There were fun incentives, and most importantly those spikes in Patreon funding stayed! I think it'd be great if EZA set up a regular cadence for doing Twitch streams that focus on the group playing games but really pushing the Patreon more than normal weeks. Think of it like PBS drives. So you could have a rotation of, Concert in March, E3 & Easy Livin in the summer, hopefully a charity stream in the fall and then the PSX in December. So if you did one in April/May and then the other in Oct/Nov? You could also look to have raffle give-aways like i've seen streamers do (i.e. Maximillian_Dood) via gleam.io. Where you get more chances to win for subbing the youtube channel, follow on twitter, 20 more chances for a twitch sub, 30 more chances for being a patreon member, etc.

Greg Kettering

Hi Brandon, Could you give a behind the scenes peek (regular, not Box) into the glitched intro to last week's group stream? I'm curious who made it and who came up with the idea. I always get so inspired by those Random Acts of Creativity that come about every now and then and are one of my favorite things about EZA. P.S. Your comment about my username on my last post has made me want to roleplay as 3 people. Bob thinks it's a great idea, but Rob is not having it. Will is ignoring them and playing Battletoads in the corner.

RobBobWill

Hey Brandon! No question here, but I just watched your VR stream. I also was having trouble with motion sickness when I first jumped in, and found that taking Dramamine half an hour before putting on the headset completely eliminates it. I was able to go through my second playthrough of RE7 (about 4 hours) in a single sitting, no sickness whatsoever. Hope it helps!

Michael Brigham

Hey Brandon, can you edit out the empty video at the start of 'Cup of Jones'? The part where it says "Cup of Jones will begin soon"

Hey Brandon, Are you into the old Star Wars EU or New Canon (Books, Comics) at all? I'm finding myself looking into the EU far more lately because of how disappointed I was in the direction Luke Skywalker was taken in The Last Jedi. Some of the new canon comics are great though (the main Star Wars, Han Solo one-off, and Lando one-off series' comes to mind.) Keep up the great work, and I can't wait to see your thoughts on Solo when it comes out.

Matt Kuryloski

My comment seems to have vanished, so I'll just post it again: Hey Jonesy, I just replayed Bioshock Infinite and I gotta say it feels damn good to kill some american racist a**holes :D I do wonder if that made you at least just a tiny little bit uncomfortable? (this was kinda written in a baity way(?), but I'm actually curious ^^) I forgot that there was a great game in which you actually kill some legit evil americans! And that lead me to the main topic of this post: I don't want to see people acting like that in real life, but exploring "taboo/sensitive" topics (racism, sexism, killing all kinda stuff [children included // because in most games that's still a taboo for some reason// ]) in games (and other media ofc, though I only watch Anime/read Manga beside playing games) is just too damn interesting to me (generally. there are obviously bad examples as well). I think I kinda know your feelings on that (based on EZA podcasts and my last question), but clarify on this specific topic please! May the dark shine your way, DiamondCrusader + The answers from last weeks game, is what I would like to say, but you only got 1 wrong! You got 9/10 correct! I guess I did make it too easy after all ^^ Bewohner Bose is Resident Evil and not Grow Home. ++ Somegamenews posted a really nice Mandatory update special for April 1st and I gotta say I totally forgot how dirty and offensive the humour is. I love it! That's what you should do with offensive and dirty topics: make jokes about them.

Hello Brandon, I am now already living in Japan for nine years and I have a long commute to my workplace, which is very common in Japan, but all the shows and content you and the allies are producing makes my commute so much more enjoyable. However, I cannot help feeling that the mobile aspect of the Switch is often underrated by you and other allies, as many of them always claiming the Switch is for them primarily a home console. I am a happy man, that my wife gave birth to our daughter 2 years ago, but this had a big impact on my life. As my wife is working on the weekends and I have to take care of our daughter during that time, it nearly never happens that me and my wife are both at home at the same time and even then I would feel guilty to play games instead of giving our daughter my full attention. Therefore, I had to stop playing consoles completely and I thought my gaming live was over or on a long break until my daughter is older. However, then came the switch and changed this completely, as I can use the switch to play some bigger games on the train every day and don’t have to give up completely on my beloved hobby. Now, I love commuting to work, because I can listen to your podcast and shows, but also play some triple A titles. Therefore, when I hear you and the allies speak about the mobile aspect of the switch, I have sometimes the feeling, that you don’t know how important this aspect is for some of us out there. I understand that it is probably hard for you or the other allies to recognize this mobile aspect of the switch for some people, but I thought I would like to tell you about this fact, so you and the other allies could perhaps also recognize the Switches worth from that side. By the way, I know that this was already under discussion, but is there already a plan to send one of the allies to the Tokyo Game Show this year and have perhaps a meet and greet with me and some of the other allies living in Japan? Love and respect!

Karsten Koller

Hello Brandon, Unfortunately, I don’t get to participate in a lot of live streams due to time difference and work responsibilities, but I still enjoy a lot of your EZA content from your archives. I managed however to catch a couple of your Bruce vs. Batman streams live during vacation and I decided to hop into the series as well. Now, just before the release of the final episode of season two, I finally caught up to you ;) . Having witnessed how some decisions play out, I even tried some different approaches, but I couldn’t save Lucious either. I created Two-Face on the other hand. I was hesitating to go into the last chapter of season two „alone“, but it was a hell of a ride. I’m really curious how your journey turns out. Does that particular steam have a spot on your schedule yet? L&R Andre Wessels, @wesan209 on twitter PS. Watching your shows really cuts into my gaming-time, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Keep doing what your doing!

Andre Wessels

I'm a music person so I gravitate towards music in everything. I rewatched the EZA Concert and I loved everything, but I adore all the musical segments. We have 3 great Easy Update albums from Ian, any chance for a Jazzy Jones one?

Bless you Mr. Jones. What do you think about either a first impressions video for new games when review copies aren’t sent in time ala Giant Bomb Quick Looks? Or a quick reaction webcam format that Allies can do from home so breaking gaming news can be quickly discussed and not wait sometimes over a week to reach us on the official podcast? I ask because I dearly love any opportunity to send content across the inter webs to entice new viewership, but it’s just harder when news and reviews get old so fast. Don’t get me wrong, I really appreciate the thought and meaningful discussions we always get eventually at EZA. But any thoughts on the value of those faster types of coverage?

hellsfoxes

Mr Jones, Just one question this week. I will try to be better about multiple questions in the future as well. Last week there was a L&R question on the podcast where a loyal viewer/listener shared their long history with the EZA/GT family. It was pretty moving how much you all were in his life to say the least. My question is would you or any of the other Allies be willing to call on the audience to share similar stories? Please don't think of it as self serving because I really enjoyed hearing another community members history with the Allies.

Morgan Mohalla

Since it Sunday was April first, I have to ask, what was your favorite april fool's joke, have you ever pulled one on someone else or had one pulled on you?

Mr.V

Hey Jones, hope you’re well, and RESTED. (I kid, but seriously though, look after yourself dude.) Do you ever feel limited by your already funded goals on Patreon? I ask this because recently you mentioned how during the transition from GT to EZA you wanted to set goals that played on the strengths of what you were already doing at GT, and wanted to give potential backers something familiar, but now as time has gone by you feel more confident in trying new things, and how you want to have the Allies be happy in doing what they’re doing i.e. the shows their creating etc. If the situation arose that the allies expressed a disinterest in continuing to make a certain show such as TTE, Game Sleuth, Retros, or anything funded really, does it make it a harder decision to axe a certain show? As that might possible be the main reason a portion of the audience supported you to begin with? Bonus question: With hindsight, do you think you would’ve positioned any of the goals differently at the inception of EZA?

BeatenDownBrian

I presume when you say “Allies” you’re talking about fans (it gets a bit confusing sometimes lol), and if so, I think it may be simply due to the fact that they’re on an outside platform in the first place. When someone leaves a comment on Patreon, they might see it as talking directly to the guys (an opportunity not everyone has), and as such they are maybe a bit more careful about how they present their feedback, but when people are on reddit, discord etc. they tend to be talking with other fans, and what they’re saying is maybe not always intended as direct feedback for the allies, but rather someone just sharing/venting their frustration with an aspect of EZA, and wanting to see if others feel the same. Just personally, I don’t think it's necessarily a bad thing. While some people maybe a bit more brash with their criticisms, and of course there will always be a minority that will never be happy, or simply seek to troll, or make mean spirited personal comments, I think for the most part it can be seen as a net positive, as if these people are taking the time to visit a forum to voice those criticisms in the first place, well then that means those people care about, and are invested in EZA enough to where they want to see improvements/change, if they didn’t care, they wouldn't comment, and to me it would be far worse if people were not talking about EZA at all. Lastly, and maybe a bit of an aside, but something to remember for the internet in general, is that some people might have trouble articulating their criticisms well, or in other cases are just a bit lazy about it i.e. it’s much easier to jump in the youtube comments and say “this show sucks” than it is to say, “I didn’t like aspects “A” and “B” of this show, and it’s because of “X” and “Y”.

BeatenDownBrian

Mr. Jones! In the wee hours of morn I decided to take a look at Reddit and Gaf and the forums and the discord... in the beginning I was strictly looking at the fact that Kyle made an appearance on the subreddit but I started to notice a trend as i looked at the community. The farther away you get from the Easy Allies Patreon page the more negative the Allies seem to appear. So much so that I refuse to interact with those elements of the community. I know in the past you've said that you don't surf through all social media pages and so on but I almost want to say don't now. It's unpleasant today the least. Why do you think Allies are like this outside of the Patreon but so kind within it? Are you in any way concerned about these negative Nancy's?

Dominíc Brown

Hey Jones, One thing that has bugged me since the beginning of EZA is not plugging the patreon until the end of the podcast. I get Kyle is weird about this stuff but you should really try to sell yourselves better in your flagship content. It doesn't even have to be that big of a change. A short sentence at the start informing people you can get the podcast 2 days early for 5 bucks a month would be simple, unobtrusive and relevant to people who only listen to the podcast and nothing else. E.g. Kyle: "This ISSS the Easy Allies podcast, I am your moderator Kyle Bosman and for just 5 dollars a month on patreon.com/easyallies, you could be listening to this very podcast 2 days early! Joining us this week..." See? Simple. Keep the more general EZA pitch for the end but informing weekly listeners that they could be listening early makes a lot of sense to me. I don't have the stats but I assume more people listen to the beginning than the end. I also really liked Blood's 1 dollar challenge but that only happened one time, maybe start doing it once a month? 6k patrons vs 30k+ listeners, there must be some potential there for more patrons... Good luck in year 3. L&R

Falcon

Just so you know: P.T. can be redownloaded, so it totally can be nominated for Hall of Greats. Just google "P.T. redownload" and you'l find a bunch of guides about how to do it.

Alexander Zyryanov

(You do not have to read this on cup of jones) There are actually more positives than negatives, from multiple sources, about swearing but there are some guidelines. An excerpt from psychology today: "health benefits of swearing include increased circulation, elevated endorphins, and an overall sense of calm, control, and well-being. The key is to do it sparingly and not to get angry at the same time, which would be very bad for you." Other sources: huffingtonpost, thecut and sciencealert. From what I gathered as long as its not used to hurt someone or when youre upset then it has some benefits and, according to sciencelalert, is a sign of intelligence.

Joey and Cait

Do you think more games will say "early access" in order to avoid critic reviews? PUBG and Fortnite didn't have critic scores for people to research. Everyone is streaming it, it looks fun, pay and/or download. If you don't like the game, oh well, money may already be spent. You said on the last Cup of Jones that Huber wanted to review Fortnite but it's still in early access. However, I feel the game is complete. Any patch that is released for Fortnite is no different than let's say Overwatch. But Epic is behind that early access barrier. People can't go to Metacritc to look up reviews, so all they have are youtubers, personalities, etc etc. When the game stops making money from their microtransactions, BAM, release the game in retail and people will buy it. Now they will have review scores, but at this point EPIC won't care. I think adding "early access" to a game is pointless in this day and age. All games get patched and most western games are vastly different than the version that was reviewed. I think the next generation of gaming will have a LOT more early access games in order to avoid critics.

NotYourMom

GOOD MORNIN' JONES! Not sure if you are familiar with the Happy Console Gamer but in a recent video he was saying how when his wife Kim is going to be on a video with him they have a kind of pre-shoot ritual to psych themselves up. They hug, jump up and down, laugh out loud and tell stupid jokes they know would make each other laugh. They do this so that they enter the video with high energy and don't come in 'cold'. I think of it almost like doing stretches before a run which is always a good idea! Anyways, I was wondering whether you or any of the Allies have any pre-shoot/stream rituals to get you in the right mood and frame of mind. Much love and much respect.

Hey Mr. Jones! You stated near the start of the last Cup of Jones about doing a Q&amp;A stream about Far Cry 5 but opting to instead discuss it via Frame Trap, but it got me to thinking: Would EZA consider about doing having such a stream that lasts about 20-30 minutes about a specific topic, nothing else, and the focus is to garner thoughts about how a show is going? I understand Cup of Jones, the Monthly Q&amp;A, etc. are platforms where any question can be asked, but having like a Town Hall kind of thing would be a neat, if albeit a sparse, idea to help gauge how the community about something that is outside of YouTube/Patreon comments. Regardless, have a great day, thanks as always for reading and Cheers! P.S. As for the Kinda Funny tournament.... I highly suggest you are able to check out the most recent Game Over Greggy show. I think you'll get a kick out of it. Sadly, it's an hour and 45 minutes, so here's the link timestamped during the Kinda Funny Games bracket portion (a little over an hour in) to give you understanding as to why you placed where you did. Four minutes from where this starts is when you are mentioned. Fun fact, Mr. Huber was also considered for placement. About 11 minutes in is when seeding took place. Total watch time I'm requesting is 14 minutes in total. It's incredibly entertaining. <a href="https://youtu.be/5HHCRoR93CM?t=1h4m" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://youtu.be/5HHCRoR93CM?t=1h4m</a> P.P.S. When I got to meet you at Kinda Funny Live 3, you dropped an F-bomb and while I wasn't expecting it, my surprise only lasted a millisecond for pretty much the reasons you gave about cursing to begin with: There is a difference in being on camera and in person, and when you're in person, you're more comfortable with the people you're around and that you know specifically.

Brandon K Gann

What about Edinburgh? They could show us their own city! Beautiful setting and a unique brand of terrifying gangsterism ('thur's been a murrrrrrder!')

Samuel Cardwell

Didn't the Sun finally give up on Page 3 newspapers? I'd say we're more buttoned up than most Europeans. (And to be quite honest... I prefer it that way...)

Samuel Cardwell

Hey Jones! We are all excited about Red Dead 2. However I can't stop fantasizing about a new GTA. I know Rockstar has no plans for a new game with their Red Dead focus and they are probably still milking GTA V Online. I must admit that the online multiplayer doesn't excite me as much as the single player story. I would love if they move the setting to a differerent continent: My home town London with petty cockney criminals, crooked property developers and a heist that involves stealing gold from the Bank of England with a double decker bus as getaway - obviously driving on the left. Other settings could be in an Asian country such as India (imagine cows and elephants crossing the street and motor rickshaw drivers cursing your crazy driving) or China (Hong Kong in a Bruce Lee setting or a lively Shanghai). Or simply moving the time line - to a 1950s James Dean or 1960/70s Steve McQueen setting with classic cars. What would be your favourite GTA setting?

wouldyoukindly

Test2

Robert I.

But they're not...real, you know. And in fiction, anyone can look like a teenager while their profile says they're 5000 years old, so they're not actually a teenager at all (just one example of how fiction trivialises age of characters amonst other things)

What are your goals for E3 this year, both as Easy Allies, and your own personal ones.

mikkel hervel nemmøe

Questioning sexual content and commodification of a woman's body is one thing and it's another when said women turn out to be teenagers, as they often are in JRPGs and the like. It's not that we should shame sex amongst teenagers or whatnot but clearly there needs to be line drawn considering a lot of the people who play those video games are adults.

I recognize the irony in a name like mine asking a somewhat hard hitting question like my previous one lol. It wasn't my intent to be critical it really was purely only from a curiosity standpoint, but I appreciate the thoughtful and detailed response. Nino Kuni 2 released recently! Nino Kuni The Wrath Of The White Witch is my all time favorite game and is the only game thus far to bring me to tears. The story; without getting spoilery, was told maturely and how it handled it's core themes hit me on a very personal level. I have heard you mention crying at the end of some games (Horizon Zero Dawn) but was that due to personal impact or just an immense sense of gratification or admiration for the story,content , or completion of the game? If the latter is the case are there any games that have impacted you on a personally relatable level that evoked a strong emotional response? Hopefully this question elicits warm feelings ;) L&amp;R.

WarmFeelings

Good Morning Jones, Although considered some of the weakest entries in the franchise, Final Fantasy XIII and its sequels are some of my favorites. I'm wondering, Is there any game or games you love, but others consider bad? Love &amp; Respect.

Jones, its the Sun that has Page 3 girls. And the Sun is the worst newspaper in the UK. So it's nothing to be aspiring towards. The overall point is valid, in that the UK is usually a bit more open to sexual content. But we are starting to get silly in this as well. Porn streaming was blocked on Mobile/Cell Networks, because THINK OF THE CHILDREN. Once you contact your phone provider this can be unblocked, but this is a really 1984 thing to do in my eyes.

Wesley

It is because of two things, internet speed and bandwidth. it is no fun to play a game with 100ms - 200ms of latency.

Jesse.P

Good morning

ZatVunDoot

Hi, Jones. There is one cultural difference I’m struggling to understand that maybe you can help me with. It seems that you and many other US gamers really like Switch’s mobility. You once said that you will not take your Switch on your trip to London, but you love it for ability to play Dragon Quest Builders while editing Easy Allies Podcast on your PC. Yet I don’t recall you speaking about other options: PS4 Remote Play or Xbox App’s Game Streaming. In your case it should be a much better solution since streaming inside your house is free, has no delay or image degradation, you will not need to buy the game again and its performance will not be limited by mobile hardware. I’ve streamed a bunch of games to my PC and Vita inside my home and across the city, and I can confirm that it works like a charm (at least with Russian online infrastructure, but in-house experience should be universal). I live on the other side of the globe and I’m struggling to understand why game streaming is not considered as an option in US. Can you please share your perspective on why it’s OK to stream movies but not OK to stream games?

Alexander Zyryanov