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Cup of Jones - May 27, 2019 (Patreon)

Published:
2019-05-27 16:55:28
Edited:
2019-11-29 00:01:04
Imported:
2021-08
⚑ Flagged

Content

Look at that, another relatively short episode. Is this a trend? We have our meeting to plan the month of June immediately after this, so it's fortunate that there's not too much ground to cover. More people are inquiring about E3 specifics as we get closer to the show, and we've finally locked down the dates for this summer's Easy Livin'.

YouTube Link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuYvCeIui9o

- Brandon

Files

Cup of Jones - May 27, 2019

Your weekly Cup of Jones! Patreon updates and personal questions.

Comments

Anonymous

Hi Jones

Anonymous

I think this may have been missed last time, correct me if I'm wrong. My question is in regards to your content and who, in your mind, is your main demographic for this content. One thing I have noticed with a lot of Easy Allies content is that it's generally quite long with the main selling points of said content, being you, the allies. And I like that, I'm here for your perspectives, and personalities. It's what differentiates you from the other channels. But when I look at this content from the perspective of an outsider, it looks less appealing. Things like the podcasts, tabletop escapades, discussions, even the quiz show. Content that mainly dominates the channel. In my opinion, is content that people that don't know the allies would maybe find hard getting into. Have you thought about making shorter content, or something that has a wider appeal? Something that is low effort but might drive growth to the channel? Like short news updates as they happen or something like that (might not be the best idea because I don't think it suits the view you have for Easy Allies?). Maybe even film reviews, it's shorter to watch a film than play a game, and you can release those more frequently. But something like that, some sort of content that anyone can jump into at anytime, with no knowledge of the Allies. And then once they "dip their toe in" go into the other longer content.

Anonymous

Business suggestion: Please promote the Patreon heavily during E3. I remember it barely getting a mention last year during coverage, which seemed odd to me compared to other Patreon-funded people. It's the time of year when more eyeballs are on you than any other, with lots of new viewers hopping in and out – tell them!

Brandon K Gann

Hey Mr. Jones! Regarding when you were discussing embargoes last week, I’m curious how EZA handles multiple embargos at a time: How do you all keep up with all the different information such as dates, times, and what you can say and prevent mixing up info between all you need to keep track of? For spaced out games where you’re only dealing with one or two at a time I can understand being much more manageable, but in cases like Judges Week or during the annual Fall releases, how do you keep from misremembering which dates go for which embargos? Do you keep all the emails together for Easy Access? Is an Ally assigned that game’s specific embargo info when they let it be known they’ll be the ones to preview/review the game? Thanks for taking my question and have a wonderful rest of your day! Cheers!

Soul
>>23116080

The thing about this is like they’ve said is certain people just watch their e3 stuff n that’s all they want. It’s the same with everything else they produce not everyone watches everything.

Anonymous

Hello Brandon. I have a question about season 8 of Game of Thrones. Personally, I think it’s great and everyone I know thinks the same. But even if I wanted more character development and fewer storytelling jumps I don’t think it’s possible. Budget is limited and all production departments work around the clock so you can’t make the show longer. And you need to spend some time on a couple of new story lines to make season 8 an actual season instead of a giant epilogue. And you have to wrap up story for dozens of characters with their individual plots, but you need to keep intrigue until the final episode to not lose the audience. Since you are a writer, a producer, a performer and a rational person, I would very much like to hear your opinion about whether it was possible or not to make a better show within the given production constraints. Thanks.

Anonymous

Greetings Mr. Jones, what is the thing you fear the most about Easy Allies during E3?

Anonymous
>>23117205

HBO were willing to put more money on the table. There was more budget for more episodes but D&D didn't take it. It was also not the writing alone that was bad, but the rushed season as a whole. Because it all felt rushed the writing felt like it was meant to close storylines too fast and many shortcuts were taken. 6 episodes wasn't nearly enough to create a good and solid ending because of all the characters and story arcs. That's what really messed with everything.

NotYourMom

People are disappointed with Game of Thrones. I’m not disappointed in what happened, I’m more disappointed with how it happened. My question to you is, what games disappointed you the most to the same degree, or worst than GoT? For me, Mass Effect 3 still makes me rage to this day. The games were perfect until the final hour of 3. Worst than GoT, the story just went out the window. How they got there and what happened made no sense.

Anonymous

Business question: any plans to review beat saber now that it's out of early access? Ive been playing it constantly since launch on Rift and the current version has lots of improvements since you lasy played it on group stream.

Anonymous

I've got a question about review timing. I know you guys do your best to get reviews out as soon as you can, getting a review a week after release doesn't bother me at all. What I find odd is seeing a review go up in the middle of the night. Rage went up 3:30am and Observation went up a little after midnight. Wouldn't it make more sense to release it later in the day when the majority of your audience is awake?

Anonymous

Based on that awful take, I'm not sure Jones understands how much work still goes into planning and making the better Super Mario Maker levels as well as how small a percentage of the total levels made feature clever or interesting design and usage of the available assets and special properties between them. This is a real shame considering how many allies within EZA are skilled at this and how Don's Design Lab even used to be a thing. I think Kyle, Don, or Ian really need to sit Jones down with the game and run him through some of the interesting things people have done with what's available, because Jones is clearly undervaluing what is there and people's creativity employing it. The Nintendo World Championship sections featuring the game would be a good easy watch for seeing a taste of what skilled creators can do. Also a little surprised how negative Jones came off with complaining about the lack of a story mode in the first game showcasing ways to build, then acknowledging the second game has this, but acting like it doesn't matter it has this now solely because the first game did not. Why not celebrate that the sequel now possessing this feature you clearly wanted, instead of still looking back and scoffing that the first game did not? That early access comment also makes you sound like one of those "this isn't a true sequel" people, same as we saw many of between Smash 4 and Smash Ultimate or even between Splatoon 1 and Splatoon 2. I think this trap is easy to fall into when you're not well versed enough in a series to see everything the developers have tweaked between entries as well as what new things were added. I think Nintendo specifically did a great job addressing this in the latest Super Mario Maker 2 Direct by cutting it up into sections of old staples for newcomers and then digging into exactly what's new in a section labeled as such.

Mark van Dijken

Correction: the mic was definitely peaking this episode. ;-)

Anonymous

Hey Jones! Someone brought up the idea of doing a podcast trailer/teaser for the EZA Podcast but I was thinking more of just cutting clips out of the show and posting those separately. It's a trend I see a lot of video podcasts do and I think it'd benefit bringing in more people to the podcast as whole. Sidenote though, a lot of clipped podcast shows usually host their clips on a separate channel so I'm sure that's something that's counterproductive when you guys already have two running YouTube channels. L&R, SoulfulChris PS. Hope you're feeling better! I could tell those allergies were killing you!

Anonymous

Howdy Jones, I remember way back when there was a cozy outdoor ep of cup of Jones where your words of advice were to get out into nature and to take care of your health. Well I’ve been hiking almost every day for the last two years.. not purely because of that ep but I do admit it had an impact on me taking the first step. I think it’s time to turn it up a notch, Im going to try overnight camping. With so much information suggesting different things do you have any words of advice to someone who’s never camped before? I’m taking my dog, a backpack with a tarp tent, sleeping bag, food and a few extras like a saw, knife and fuel canister stove. Side question, I know you usually leave this to Amanda but easiest food to make when you camped on those 9 day hikes? L&R

Anonymous

Hi Brandon – I love polls! Have you thought of adding a monthly poll to Patreon? Preferably, the poll would be a simple question with no need for a follow-up to the results. The poll would be more of a fun temperature read of a random subject of your choice (although it could be more structured if you wish. Perhaps posting the final results at the end of the podcast?) Some examples: In your opinion, what was the most influential FPS? A) Goldeneye B) Doom C) Halo D) Call of Duty On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate the film “Aliens”? A) 10 B) 9 C) 7 D) 6 E) 5 or below You can restrict the poll to anyone with $1 or more sub. I believe the engagement would be great and it would give supporters a chance to have their voices heard. Not all supporters have the opportunity to submit feedback or questions every month and a simple click/vote in a poll may help keep them involved and incentivize membership. L&R! - Rammer

Anonymous

Can you tell us when the next Brandon Go will be? It's been about 2 years since the last one!

Anonymous

Hi Jones, Since it's officially Too Darn Hot out, I thought I'd go with Cole Porter this week: - Anything Goes - Kiss Me, Kate and, a bit of a curveball, - De-Lovely (the biopic of Porter starring Kevin Kline) (I also have a business-y question this week. If that's not allowed, feel free to ignore. For the past few weeks I've been enjoying watching both you and Kyle create your own video games. Have the two of you considered getting together to compare and contrast your experiences working on these projects so far? I think it would be a fun conversation and one I would be very interested in watching.)

Anonymous

I just read that Twitch is testing subscriber-only live streams. Would Easy Allies ever consider any sort of regular Sub-only stream?

EasyAllies
>>23131052

If something's already a week behind, there may be some small advantage to posting it a couple hours later, but in general, I still think that it's best to get a review up as soon as we can. They gain a lot of momentum in search and recommendations worldwide. Looking at your example for Rage 2, Europe was already well into their day, and the East Coast in the US was starting to get out of bed. For Observation, part of the West Coast was still awake, and the game had only been out for a couple hours at that point, with a lot of chatter online and people curious how it is. Sometimes even publishers' embargo times can come in what feels like the middle of the night, allowing reviews to start going up at 4:00 am because of time zones where a company is based. For me, it's really just like a hot potato; the longer you wait, the colder it gets. We'll take the time to get it right, but once it's ready, it's better to just get out there. -Bloodworth

Anonymous

Hey Jones, If you had all the time in the world to play any and all games you wanted OR watch any and all movies/TV shows you wanted, which one do you think you would choose if you weren't allowed to do the other ever again?

Anonymous

Mr Jones, What are some challenges that will be new or unique to your children's generation? What will you do to prepare them for said challenges. Amanda standby question: Best item to get from an ice cream truck in the summer?

Anonymous

Mic is really scratchy on this episode, sounds like I'm listening through a blown speaker

Anonymous

Hello Jones. Three things about your streams: 1. When chat says that the game or video in your streams isn't loud enough, Damiani often tells us that he can't make it any louder. Is there something that I'm missing, or isn't it the same as reducing the volume of your mics? After all, the problem is the balance between your volume, and the volume of the game you play or video you react to. The viewers can raise their speaker volume, but they can't separate the different elements they hear. Please tape a note to Damiani's desk that says "Higher game volume = lower mic volume" 2. Sometimes during streams, some of you are afraid to play certain music, for the stream not to get muted. But as far as I'm aware, this is about Twitch, not YouTube. Twitch is muting certain music in it's replays. So I have to wonder: Are you not recording your streams locally? I used to stream with OBS, and I always let it make a local recording of my stream at the same time. I hope you always do the same, so you have an unmuted recording (In possibly better quality) at your finger tips when you need it. 3. What happened to Porky Pig? It kept moving to the right, and now it seems to be gone. Tell Kyle that his actions don't go unnoticed. And at least give Porky a decent Goodbye or a cameo. This is not how you treat an industry veteran. Snowcone Guy

Anonymous

I have not tuned into CoJ for a while so excuse anything that may have been discussed in the past. I found it concerning how Jones poo poo'd the idea that technical issues are going to happen and just seemed to accept it as if its just the way things are. People have given tons of resources to improve the overall production value of EZA and its a bummer that their are still glaring issues. It also is a disservice to the roots of EZA which was the high quality productions of GT. For example, I tuned into the Pokemon Press Conference in Japan and opening moments before the show was watching the struggle of the group figure out the chat feed on the raspberry pi. It really dampens the mood and overshadows otherwise enjoyable coverage. I don't see that as much with similar outlets and have been tuning to others more often after each gaming event. I'll hold any other thoughts until after E3 but just wanted to communicate the concern. As a group you do so much right but I really think this is what's holding back casual viewers from getting into EZA. I get things are live but I think its not really selling the promise of a studio.

Anonymous

I live in FL. I find it completely bizarre that a house in California doesn't have air conditioning. If Florida didn't have A/C no one would live here. Blood can attest to this.

Anonymous

Very pleased to see the patron count approaching 10K, well done Jones and co!

Anonymous

On the last group stream, there was an issue with getting the Pi running chat to start. Didn't seem to be an issue with the tech, just nobody besides Ian knew the commands. This is definitely the kind of thing that should be put into a short Google Doc, so anyone can just pull up the instructions on their phone. Apply this to other processes as well.

Anonymous

Mornin', Mister Jones. I just wanted to say that I recently picked up Red Dead 2 on sale and started playing it. I managed to avoid any spoilers or general discussion about the game besides hearing that the "controls are bad." Honestly, I don't even know what they're referencing. I haven't gone back to listen to anyone's controls complaints, but I haven't a single one so far. I'm in Chapter 3 and enjoying my time playing poker at the saloons, fishing, hunting, and just overall taking my time to explore the game. And you're right to love this game so much. I've been feeling open world game fatigue lately, even getting bored of Horzion Zero Dawn and not finishing it, for example. But Red Dead 2 has rejuvenated the genre for me, and though I think I'm still very far from the end, I could hardly be more happy with this game. Cheers, Jones. L&R.

Anonymous

Hi, Jones. Today Square Enix confirmed Crystal Dynamics' Marvel's Avengers will be revealed at their E3 2019 press conference after 2 years and a half from its announcement back in January 2017. That's great news and I'm very excited for it, hopefully it will be as great as Insomniacs' Marvel's Spider‑Man. A few gameplay ideas that came to me are flying and shooting lasers and rockets with Iron Man - similar to Anthem's javelins, but then you can also choose to be on the ground as Captain America fighting with his shield and fists or as Black Widow with her martial arts and gadgets, similar to Batman in the Batman: Arkham games. Hulk could scale walls, similar to Spider-Man in Marvel's Spider‑Man, or crash through walls with his strength, similar to Adam Jensen in Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Mankind Divided. Thor could fight with his hammer, similar to Kratos in God of War (2018), which can fight both with his Leviathan axe in hand or by throwing it, the difference here would be that Thor could control his hammer in mid-air, being able to do combos either with his bare hands, wielding his hammer, using the hammer in mid-air or using his bare hand and hammer simultaneously. These are just a few ideas I came up with in a few minutes, so I'm sure the developers must have created even more creative and fun ways to play - at least they should have in 2.5 years of development. Also, any developer of a super hero game should look not only at those blockbuster games I mentioned, but also at the Lego super heroes games as well, some of which nail having many super heroes in a single game, like Lego Marvel Super Heroes. Sorry if this is an abrupt turn, but I will change the subject from Marvel and Avengers here, because this news also made me think of another developer and another brand, namely Rocksteady and DC. I'm a huge Batman fan and love the Batman: Arkham games. If Rocksteady is working on a super hero team game - which they most likely are, then I can understand why it would take time to nail down all the different gameplay styles, as well as creating a world, enemies and physics that can accomodate many super hero abilities like flying, fast speed, super strength, teporting, etc. Though these same challenges are also present in an Avengers game. Bearing in mind that many of the type of gameplay elements I mentioned earlier would also work for super heroes in a Justice League or Teen Titans game - for example, Iron Man plays similarly as Superman/Star Fire and Captain America/Black Widow as Batman/Robin. What would you want from such a game? And what would you expect from it? By "expect", I mean something that has to be in the game. Like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, The Flash and Green Lantern need to be in a Justice League game, otherwise it wouldn't really feel like one to a lot of fans, myself included. But also something like Superman needs to be able to fly, otherwise that's not really Superman you're playing. L & R

Anonymous

Hi Jones I just wanted to say I love that you guys have started waiting to watch hype trailers until you are all in the studio to do reactions. It always seemed like a missed opportunity to me not do that considering how many views your reactions get.

Anonymous

Hi! What breed of dog is Sophie? I know this has been asked and answered before, but can't find the answer now. Thanks!

Anonymous

Business: Have you thought about adding YouTube community posts about when new patreon exclusive shows are published? Things like "If you liked last week's Achieve it Yourself, our new one was just posted! Unlock it and more for just $1 on patreon.com/easyAllies" and link the previous video. This might be a good way to let people know what they're missing out on and get good reach to non-patrons.

Anonymous

Hi Jones. Recently the youtuber Mark Brown of Game Maker's Toolkit made a video about creating trailers for indie games. This featured quotes from professional trailer makers, and it got me thinking that someone like that would make for a perfect guest on an episode of Trailer Jones. Hearing trailer critiques from someone who makes trailers for a living would be really fascinating, and it gives you a chance to flex the studio a bit. Cheers.

Anonymous

Business: There seems to be a real and ongoing issue with losing whole episodes of Frame Trap and Friend Code, whether it’s during recording or somewhere between recording and uploading. What’s the issue here? Is it hardware, software or do people need training to better ensure this stops happening? Not only do people miss out on content, which I’m sure is a bummer for most people but, and this is my biggest concern, it’s a waste of your collective time to be recording podcasts that never see the light of day. I don’t see this issue with other podcasts or gaming YouTube channels I follow, with no interruptions to their output, so what’s the issue here? Love & the utmost respect, Daf (pronounced dav like have)

EasyAllies
>>23236558

I've definitely seen it happen elsewhere. It's happened to What's Good Games recently, and I've listened to plenty of radio segments when they've lost connection to whoever they were talking to or even gone completely off-air as new equipment inexplicably failed. I also think that most of the time when it happens elsewhere, they just re-record without even mentioning what was lost. So it's not that such failures didn't happen, you're just never informed of them. Aside from that transparency, I'd say the main contributing factor is that for most things we shoot, there's no one behind the camera to monitor everything. If there were, we likely would identify the problem 10 minutes in, address it, and re-do the intro. That said, if you're following us super closely, it's easy for those instances to stand out and stick in your memory, but it's really only happened a handful of times out of hundreds of podcasts. -Bloodworth

Anonymous

I understand all that, and honestly I think it’s down to not having someone behind the scenes making sure it’s all running smoothly. It would explain why The Easy Allies Podcast doesn’t miss an episode due to these issues. And I’m sure it happens elsewhere, I’ve just literally never seen it with the very select podcasts and couple of YouTube channels that I follow. Love everything you guys do, Daf

Anonymous

Hey Jones, I was just curious whether the other guys change all their “I’s” to “We’s” in the review scripts, or if that’s just something that you do on the fly?

EasyAllies
>>23256399

You don't have to change "I's" to "We's" if there are no "I's" to begin with. ;) -Bloodworth

Anonymous

Hey Jones, Not really a question for you but more of a statement. I wish to say goodbye...for now at least on a temporary basis. Unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances in my life, my finances are going to be extremely tight to the point of I am not sure I will be able to cover all my costs for the next few months without having to dip into my savings to stay afloat. Because of that, I am trying to cut any and all extra costs I have for the foreseeable future which sadly includes supporting you guys on Patreon. Easy Allies is my favorite games media outlet for reviews, opinions, and fun shows to watch on the internet today. I have been following you guys since the early GT days and always appreciated and loved all your hard work on what you guys produce! That hasn't changed for many years now. I wish I could continue to chip in my monthly contribution but for now i will have to stop being a Patron. I will still watch everything you guys post on your YouTube channel and continue to spread the word about you guys with my friends and colleagues to continue my support of you and all the allies there at EZA through the means I am able to! Hopefully I will be able to come back and become a Patron again in a few months time once my financial situation stabilizes. Feel free to read this on your next episode if you want, I don't mind, I will just have to try and come back to the episode you address my comment ( if you do) once I become a Patron again since I wont have access to Cup of Jones by the time you get this. Until next time, All the Love and Respect in the world, Chris Eyerly

Anonymous

Good morning, Jones. I hope this isn’t too nit picky for a first comment, but I noticed at the end of videos when you discuss $1 patreon support you mention you get access to “weekly updates, spoiler discussions, and exclusive shows.” I would assume most people don’t check out that fast, but why do you bury the lead on exclusive shows or spoiler discussions? If other people are like me then weekly updates is pretty low on what I want to spend money on. I understand it is a pre-recorded bit you add onto the end and is probably not worth the trouble of changing the list, but thought it was worth mentioning.

Anonymous

Hey, Jones. I enjoyed the latest Trailer Jones episode. Have you given any consideration to doing some kind of year-in-review? Maybe picking a trailer of the year or giving "awards" for different categories? Just a thought...

Anonymous

Achieve it Yourself is an excellent show. I feel that it fills a noticeable gap in EZA's content: short, tightly-edited, easily-digestible, and simple-to-understand weekly videos. And it shows off not just the allies' personalities, but their skills. I genuinely believe it's the perfect show for Easy Allies. And, for that reason, I believe making it a Patreon exclusive is a mistake, AND making it a miniseries is mistake. That being said, I know this is the type of thing a dedicated editor would be perfect for. So, my question is, why haven't you got a dedicated editor yet? Love and respect, Josh Read.

Anonymous

Hi Jones, The Maria and Draco Opera scene from Final Fantasy VI is one of my favorite pieces by Nobuo Uematsu. I listened to the new arrangement on the recently released album Distant Worlds V: More Music From Final Fantasy and it featured additional narration, vocal work, and scenes I hadn’t heard before. Do you think a full length opera adaptation could work or is the current length and scope enough? If this were to be expanded upon, what would you like to see get more time and development?

Anonymous

Part Business / Part Personal: Yo Jones! I recently read an article on a deep learning AI tech that is able to replicate a real human voice with near perfect precision. ( You can have a listen here https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2019/05/this-ai-generated-joe-rogan-voice-sounds-eerily-like-the-real-thing/ ) Some Allies in the past have expressed concern that one day in the future, the voice of EZA will step away for one reason or another. If in 5-10 years, deep learning AI could perfectly replicate your voice, Huber for example could write a script and have the AI read it for you with the EZA audience being none the wiser. Does this excite you? Scare you? Would you allow the Allies to use your voice in their reviews etc? Your voice could be used for the next 100 years! Or longer! Perhaps you may have to look into some kind of copyright protection for the unique waverforms of your voice, lest random Youtube channels begin popping up with your voice narrating reviews/critiquing trailers etc. The future is crazy. PS. the mic peaking thing is almost a meme at this point. I can never hear any of it.. maybe extreme audiophiles can.. I think we have some peaking trolls in our midst.

Anonymous

Will there be a spoiler mode for your visit(s) to Star Wars Land and Batuu?

Anonymous

Hi Brandon! Curious about how the discussion went when you chose to have a pretalk to PC E3 press conference instead of Uploads E3 VR showcase. L&R

Anonymous

(apologies if this is a repeat, I think Patreon deleted my question) Howdy Brandon, I was curious about your thoughts on Disney repurposing old rides in Disneyland to fit new properties. I haven't personally been to Disneyland in a number of years, but to my understanding Tower of Terror is going to be a Guardians of the Galaxy ride, while Space Mountain was temporarily a Star Wars ride, and Pirates continues to get updates as new movies come out. I can't argue that it's definitely more financially reasonable to repurpose a ride instead of constructing an entirely new one. However I go through a back and forth on this, where on one hand it's great to see rides getting attention and new themes added, but alternatively I would hate to see Indiana Jones updated with Shia LaBeouf to reflect the most recent movie, or Haunted Mansion lose its history and theme in placement of something trendy. I'd much rather explain what the Twilight Zone is to a youth than have it be lost to the history of the ride's archive. Maybe I'm being too sentimental and nostalgic for the rides I rode the first time and am being biased and unfair. What are your thoughts?

Anonymous

Hey Jones. Please consider premiering the E3 Betting Special on Twitch, even if you have to give short notice of the stream. Chat wants to share the hype. And betting specials seem like more fun with a live audience.

Anonymous

Hey Jonesy, thanks for talking about the Bloodstained trailer for this month's Trailer Jones. I was glad I wasn't the only one to find it incredibly interesting. The whole attitude of "I will prove them wrong" actually got me super hyped about the game because Iga has consistently proven he doesn't want this to be a repeat of what happened with Mighty No. 9. Pretty inspiring. Anyways, for this week's question, is there a gameplay mechanic or feature you've either want to come back from years past or one that is a more recent addition that you want to see implemented more going forward?

Anonymous

Said my name wrong. Unsubscribed! (I know one thing I'm gonna be doing between my old job and new job, watching Easy Living)

Anonymous
>>23136159

As an Eagle Scout, my first advice is the same as Jones'. Go easy your first couple times camping, I've gone with many first time campers and the amount of stuff they don't know is insane. Things like 30 year olds not being able to start a campfire, or how to pitch a tent, or how to protect your stuff from bears. There's a crazy amount of "unknown unknowns" when it comes to camping. Any time we went on a backpacking trek in scouts we had a meeting where we talked about the gear we needed and we had another meeting where everybody brought in their fully packed bags and senior scouts would go through them and tell them what they forgot/didn't need. That's what your first couple car camping trips should be, and make good checklists. On final word of caution, no matter how good you are at hiking/camping, ALWAYS give people your full itinerary along with time schedules, where you will be, when you should be there, etc. If you ever get lost, STAY WHERE YOU ARE when you realize you're lost, and use a whistle at regular intervals so people can find you. A higher percentage of children are found lost in the woods compared to adults because they don't try and think/walk their way out, they just stop close by the trail when they realize they're lost.