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Cup of Jones - December 14, 2020 (Patreon)

Published:
2020-12-14 17:53:54
Imported:
2021-02
⚑ Flagged

Content

Last week was stacked in terms of Easy Allies content. We had a public Spoiler Mode, 2 reviews, reactions to The Game Awards, Gen That Was, Hunting Huber, Reaction Shots, Friend Code, and Huber Syndrome. Even the EZA Podcast was somehow longer than Frame Trap. What a week. Hopefully that’s enough for you all to digest over the holidays as our production schedules slow to a crawl and in some cases halt entirely. We’re meeting today to finalize those details and figure out what we all need to prioritize in the next few weeks to get ready for GOTYs. One of this week’s questions brought up the dangers of crunch as it pertains to the EZA work schedule, and since it’s a hot issue right now I think it’s worth addressing in today’s editorial.

Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTTnle_H-BU

- Brandon


DISCLAIMER: I take questions from the post comments on the previous week’s episode here on Patreon. You can ask a business-related question which I may answer live, or a personal question which I may answer below. If your business question was not answered live, I either replied to it in the comments, or referenced the answer in a recent episode. Feel free to inquire why your question wasn't included, or ask the same question a second time if you think I may have missed it. I will edit your comment/question before reading it live to ensure the show moves as quickly as possible. I typically grab all the questions by midnight (PT) the night before each episode.

Files

Cup of Jones - December 14, 2020

Your weekly batch of business updates and community questions. Support us through Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/EasyAllies Schedule: http://easyallies.com/ Merchandise: https://www.fangamer.com/easyallies http://shop.spreadshirt.com/easyallies Live streams - https://www.twitch.tv/easyallies Stream archives - https://www.youtube.com/easyalliesplays https://twitter.com/easyallies https://www.facebook.com/easyallies #EasyAllies

Comments

Brandon K Gann

Hey Mr. Jones! I think it’s something that goes unstated, but just as a point of clarification: Is January 4th (or the week thereof) the tentative return date for EZA post winter break? And will it be a full return of an “average” week of content, or will it be a slow ramp up back as individual Allies come back at their own pace? Just curious to know when to expect EZA goodness to return. Thanks for reading, have a wonderful rest of your day, and a very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to yourself, your family, and to all the Allies and their respective loved ones! Cheers! P.S. No, I don’t have a bad week if anyone else is first. (=-D) I’m just nuts for having a question I have prepared to post once the episode concludes to make whatever it is I’m asking isn’t a repeat subject. Only on rare occasions where I’m forced to miss it live do I take a little longer to post the next week’s question. QUESTION: I’m sure it goes without saying, but just to be sure, is the week of January 4th when EZA will return for winter break and will it be a slow ramp up as Allies individually return or will be back to a “normal” week instantly?

Professor Metal Gear

After watching your Cyberpunk 2077 review, it had me wondering about how Easy Allies will handle reviews in the future where developers are specifically excluding some versions of the game in either previews or review copies. I did enjoy your Cyberpunk 2077 review and how it added the warning to PS4 and Xbox One owners, but felt the review was missing actual examples or experiences of those versions in the video. There are other reviews where you specifically show different console versions in your videos for comparison and those types of details really add to the quality of an Easy Allies Review. I understand that timing is important when getting the reviews out to the public and if Ben had ample time to review the PC version of Cyberpunk 2077 to meet the embargo, would EZA publish a review with a big caviat that the console versions had not been available during the embargo or would EZA have waited to at least try out the console versions and hold off releasing the review at the end of the embargo? How will EZA balance such situations in the future? Love and Respect.

Anonymous

Good evening Brandon Jones

Anonymous

Hey Brandon I’m glad you saw the lighter side of my ‘Shout Out’ observation last week and took it as intended. Though you summed up my feelings beautifully when you described the bit as sloppy, I have often wondered if it is just me who feels the way I do. I‘m an avid listener of ‘Cup’ and as you mentioned, I’ve never noticed a comment or criticism leveled against it. While the vaccine line may have been a step too far (my sense of humor can be a little too dry) my hope was that the post would be thought-provoking and equally, I wanted it to be a fun read and as always you knocked it out of the park. Thank you for all you and the Allies do! Best wishes for the holidays and into the New Year. Elliot M

Anonymous

Hello Brandon. When I’ve said that you’ve produced 4 reviews in a month, I meant Watch Dogs: Legion (Nov 3), Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (Nov 6), The Pathless (Nov 21) and Haven (Dec 6). Yes, it’s technically a bit more than a month, but still very impressive. And if you combine HowLongToBeat’s “Main + Extra” category for these 4 games, you’ll get 65 hours, while for Assassin's Creed Valhalla it’s 81.5 hours. So, it’s not like you’ve being working only on short games.

Anonymous

Hey Jones, mostly answering a question you asked about the Quest 2 and playing Half-Life Alyx on it. If you buy an Oculus Link compatible USB cable you can use it with your PC much like a Rift. I use a 5m Kiwi Design cable myself but there is an official cable as well. If you feel like really messing around you can actually play wirelessly using apps called Virtual Desktop or ALVR, however you will likely require a dedicated wifi 6 router and much fussing to get that going, however it can pretty awesome cutting that cord. I do highly recommend you check-out quest 2 standalone titles such as SynthRiders, Pistol Whip, Shadow Point, The Climb, Robo Recall, etc. many of these are 'cross buy' meaning you can buy them on either the Rift or Quest store and you will own it on both (sometimes it's actually cheaper to buy on Rift store).. also make sure you look up a guide on how to get SideQuest going as there are tons of cool indie games there which aren't on official stores. I'm excited for you to get more into the world of VR! I'm always trying to get more people involved in it, bugging Ian, Ben, Brad, to try things like DoomVR, Half-Life 1 VR, or even VR Chat.. not much luck yet. Cheers!

Anonymous

Hello, Jones! The Hall of Greats is nice and filled out after all these years! How do you feel about letting in only one game every HoG? And to push it even further, how about a minimum point amount for entry?

The Canipa Effect

Hi Jones! I really enjoyed last week's Hall of Greats and I really appreciate that you've all kept it going throughout the pandemic. I was wondering if you've ever considered doing a community version. Like, Patrons of a specific tier send in a 5 minute video nomination for a separate EZA Community Hall of Greats that get discussed and voted on by the Allies. Just a thought, since I think there's a lot of people that would want a shot at convincing the Allies.

Anonymous

Howdy Jones! So over the past few months I’ve upped my Patreon a few times and didn’t really have a place to leave my reasons or feedback as to why. So I thought I’d do that here if that’s alright? (If there is a better spot for this please let me know.) I’ve been super happy with all the content and love what you guys have been doing. This year especially has made me appreciate you guys even more. What really pushed me to up my pledge though was all the guests that have been on EZA content lately. Damiani and Ian have been bringing in a lot of great people to Friend Code, Reaction Shots and Fiasconauts. I love seeing you guys have guests on your content and would love to see even more. Two of my favorite Frame Traps have been the Max and Mitch episodes. Ben Hanson on the podcast was also a highlight. Bringing in guests during E3 2019 was also awesome. I love the podcasts with all allies but it’s always fun to see it mixed up every once in a while. Especially while everyone’s still working from home it would be great to get those it would be harder to get in the studio. But anyway, long story short: I love what you guys have been doing and I also love it when you have guests on your shows, that’s all! Just some feedback from a very happy and satisfied patron. Thanks Jones! Love & Respect, -Beeks

AvailableIn4K

Hi, Jones. I don't know if it's been mentioned or not, but I'm wondering if there's going to be a Demon's Souls Spoiler Mode? I know how busy you all have been with reviews and other coverage, but with it being a Souls game, how multiple Allies are already done with it and it being a PS5 launch title, I would have thought there'd be a spoiler mode on it. There might not be a ton of story talk, but I think it'd be interesting to hear their thoughts on the changes and how the new one stacks up to the original. Thanks a lot.

Anonymous

Hi Jones. Hopefully you are having a great day. Sadly in recent weeks I haven't been able to follow EZA stuff outside of the podcast as much as I would love to (been a bit busy with work), so I apologize if you've already talked about this subject in other EZA related videos, but I felt like it was an appropriate topic to bring up here so Question: Do you guys have any special plans in regards to Cyberpunk 2077 and how it'll be handled in EZA's 2020 awards? I know that you guys usually try to be focused on a game's contents and its own merits rather than the controversies surrounding it, but Cyberpunk 2077 does seem like a special case that might need to be treated a bit differently. Not only CDPR tried to deceive the console players by hiding console footage of the game, but they tried to do the same with Sony and Microsoft by promising that the game would be ready by launch in order to pass through the certification process (they later admitted to this during a conference call with their shareholders). Ofc that didn't happen in reality and the game was/is quite broken. This led to the mess of mass refund demands from console players (which came from CDPR promising those without clearing it with Sony and MS first) and Sony for the first time ever pulled a game off of PSN because it was too broken. Not only that, but CDPR has also lied to their shareholders (more than once) about the state of the game and its development, which according to a recent report from The New York Times, is now most likely gonna result in a class action lawsuit against the company. Again, I know you guys are usually focused on the game itself and don't want to have the situations surrounding the game affect your judgment of it, but as someone who had to go through all this mess with buying the game digitally for PS4 Pro, I feel like it'll be weird to see a game that basically tried to pull a fast one over the entire industry (and in the process its publisher/developer broke the law as a publicly traded company), be celebrated and possibly given awards to. Sorry for the long and possibly uncomfortable question. I hope y'all have wonderful holidays. Love & Respect - Ali

Anonymous

Heya Jones, I mean, sure, why not? We could all use some right now. But if Easy Allies were to celebrate Christmas, would they want it to be turkey lurkey, loosey goosey, snow blowy, or mistletoey? Anyway, whatever you choose, here's wishing you and all the Allies the merriest Christmas. I can't imagine how I would have made it through the year without you all and I hope you're able to enjoy a few well-earned days to yourselves.

Anonymous

Hello Jones, Going into the new year, I would love to see some more streams for party games. Things like Among Us, Fall Guys, At Sundown, Back 4 Blood, etc. Also, maybe change up the teams streaming together. Damiani and Huber streaming with others would be nice instead of with each other all the time. Same with Ian and Don. I do enjoy the pairings but anything to break up the routine at a time when we're all sick of our daily routines would be appreciated. L&R, MistahShowtime

Anonymous

Hello Brandon, I am positively loving you and Amanda on Fiasconauts. I think you both bring a fun and light hearted energy to the show and your inclusion improves the overall product. To make matters better you really seem to enjoy flexing your creative talents. That being said, how likely is it that you two would be staples on the show? Do you fear you may stealing the show from Ian and Jessica if you keep showing up? Unrelated but I've been meaning to mention. I love the sound bites at the end of the podcast. Find myself listening more closely to what is said and could be taken out of context. Would you consider picking one soundbite from the current podcast and letting the community pick one from the previous week's podcast as a form of engagement? I know it would be more work so feel free to turn this down. Respectfully, Morgan Mohalla

Anonymous

Hi, Jones. Since this is the last Cup of Jones for 2020, I wanted to ask you if you have any plans/changes that you can share with the community for Easy Allies in 2021? For example, any plans for a guest show or changes to CoJ? Basically, what would you like to accomplish in 2021 that you can share with us? In the name of the community: Thanks for always answering our questions. I know sometimes we ask the wrong thing, make very long comments, or just give a badly worded criticism. But I truly believe we all mean well and it comes from a good place. We are very passionate about EZA and sometimes, we fail to express our doubts, concerns or ideas in a passionate, but calm and composed way. So to you, Bloodworth, all the Allies, the community and everyone's families: I wish you all happy holidays and an excellent 2021! L & R

Anonymous

Howdy Jones, Haven't commented in a while but never missed a cup! I just watched the mandalorian season 2 spoiler mode (great spoiler mode by the way and please bring back Amanda more often!) and i noticed you missed one thing I thought was important when talking about all those new shows: how Disney is moving forward with star wars! I don't know if you watched the actual Disney's investors day stream, but while the announcements where happening, Kathleen Kennedy mentioned that some of these future shows (including ahsoka and rangers of the new republic) are, and i quote: "set within the timeline of the mandalorian" and will " excite new audiences, embrace our most passionate fans, and will culminate in climatic story event".. as in an avengers-like multiple show arc. How does this make you feel Jones? L&R, André Roda

Anonymous

Hello Jones. I want to suggest you to create a new category for GOTY deliberations. A category that is suggested by the community. I'm sure people on the forum will gladly choose a new funny category for you.