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The top 10 was cool. I didn't know a lot of the protagonists though.
Watching the podcast.
I get that AC and LM3 weren't crazy hype announcements. But I still don't get the announced too early angle they're taking since they're 2019
It's not a Bayo 3 or Metroid 4 situation as they compare it to. I get being annoyed at those two.
But both AC and LM3 were given 2019 dates. That makes it completely different.
overall, I think they're a bit too hinged on the announcements.
NPD Segment was great. I like when Kyle actually gives hints and stuff.
Watching the podcast.
I get that AC and LM3 weren't crazy hype announcements. But I still don't get the announced too early angle they're taking since they're 2019
It's not a Bayo 3 or Metroid 4 situation as they compare it to. I get being annoyed at those two.
But both AC and LM3 were given 2019 dates. That makes it completely different.
overall, I think they're a bit too hinged on the announcements.
NPD Segment was great. I like when Kyle actually gives hints and stuff.
If you can't put together more of an announcement than just a logo and no other info then it was announced too early. To me It's not how far from release it is, but how much you show with the announcement to build excitement.
Those announcements give you nothing really to speculate on, or dream about what it could be. Compare that to when Spider-Man or god of war was first shown. Yes it was announced much farther away from its release but you really saw something there to get you pumped.
Will they get more excited once they finally show something? Sure. But until then they're going to react to what they've seen which is essentially...nothing.
Those announcements give you nothing really to speculate on, or dream about what it could be. Compare that to when Spider-Man or god of war was first shown. Yes it was announced much farther away from its release but you really saw something there to get you pumped.
Will they get more excited once they finally show something? Sure. But until then they're going to react to what they've seen which is essentially...nothing.
Hopefully he won't be too hard on himself just because it was his advice to spring for a new engine that put Telltale under!
My response that somebody needed to check all the streams and that it was a full time job was to somebody who more-or-less said it was crappy for asking the community to clip stuff out and that they should have done it themselves anyway. I was just trying to point out that it would be almost impossible to do. I know it's not how it works for EZA clips, but he implied they should have done it themselves instead of asking the community.
I know they have the Clips archive and I am sure you can create a legit episode in a day, but a day is way too much time to spend each week when you can work on other projects which are funded on patreon during that time (Retro's or Game Sleuth to name a few). Searching through those Clips and trying to find the best ones is probably already taking an hour at least, which I can imagine will get to you after a few months. It's full on reviewing season at the moment and there is a good chance they are working on a lot of other projects as well. I understand how spending half a day to edit those episodes each week can get in the way of other work.
Agree to disagree then.
Smash announcement was hype, but honestly it showed nothing. It was CG. It showed splatoon characters (not gameplay though), which is nice, but the most easy newcomers to guess...ever.
But it was 2018 so that was a good announcement to me. Since info would clearly be coming soon and regularly.
"Yarn" Yoshi was shown in 2013, will full gameplay footage and was talked about in a Nintendo direct. The gameplay showed the gimmick, the artstyle, how the gameplay works, etc.
But it had no time frame and went radio silent. So Woolly World had a terrible announcement for me.
So yeah, time until release definitely matters.
If a game is 2,3,4,5 years off, then I don't want to see it announced. not to mention stuff like FF7R or KH3.
I love Telltale games (I played all of them from The Walking Dead Season 1 on) and I didn't mind the engine at all (that said, I could go for a new one as well to be honest), but they should be honest with themselves. They just tried to grow too quickly and it backfired.
They tried to create way too many different games in the last couple of years. They did to themselves what Activision did to Guitar Hero (and what Traveller's Tales is doing to the LEGO games as well, I wouldn't be surprised if something similar happens to them in a couple of years).
I just heard it here and I really think it sucks that they have to shut down, but they should have focused on a couple of series instead of creating 10 different ones. People were getting tired of their series and they created somewhat of a niche type of game to begin with. I still love most of them (the Game Of Thrones one was probably their worst imo), but I do have to admit that most of them felt the same. I would have kept playing them, but the general public probably didn't (which I can understand).
The other thing that didn't help: In the beginning I bought the seasons day one, but after a couple of games I noticed that they were discounting their season passes before all the episodes came out. So I never bought a season pass for full price after that (except for this last Walking Dead season because I knew they were having a bad time, I haven't touched it yet, but still).
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Also, let's hope I didn't screw myself with buying that last season full price this time. Let's hope they can finish the story (and that they all find new jobs as quickly as possible at other devs).
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Yeah, outfitting a whole office with furniture and 9 workstation computers alone would be an enormous expense. Easy Allies didn't launch with a day one sponsorship from Origin PCs like Kinda Funny Games did, after all. But I think it's totally natural to expect the studio to become a more natural hang out spot for you guys. Assuming there's at least enough furniture around for people to at least bring their laptops in when they want.
"Thanks For Playing!" is the most appropriate "office" show. It was great. It's the kind of thing that makes you really feel like the studio is a real thing for a big benefit over what we have now. But unfortunately that's not the kind of thing we will be getting if allies are only going to the studio for shooting.
They will also probably want to be looking at what shows are working for them and which ones aren't and maybe drop some in favor of adding something new. I could see Reaction Shots and Friend Code going away. I would see them dropping Top 10, but that's a Patreon goal.
Honestly, I think their biggest problem right now, and they've mentioned similar things, is not having a behind the camera person. The entire crew of EZA are on-screen personalities. It makes it a lot harder for off-the-cuff videos to happen. Right now, it's like, okay we have an idea, who's going to shoot this? Who's going to edit this?
They will also probably want to be looking at what shows are working for them and which ones aren't and maybe drop some in favor of adding something new. I could see Reaction Shots and Friend Code going away. I would see them dropping Top 10, but that's a Patreon goal.
Honestly, I think their biggest problem right now, and they've mentioned similar things, is not having a behind the camera person. The entire crew of EZA are on-screen personalities. It makes it a lot harder for off-the-cuff videos to happen. Right now, it's like, okay we have an idea, who's going to shoot this? Who's going to edit this?
The issue I (and more than a few others, if the comments I've seen on Patreon are anything to go by) have with EZA's output is a reliance on streams and panels over more heavily produced content. The addition of Top 10s was a godsend, and previews have become more common, but reviews are still a bit on the sparse side, Don't Skip and Trailer Jones are fairly irregular, and Game Sleuth and Retrospectives feel almost non-existent.
Not all of the Allies are editors. And if they can raise $30,000 in 9 hours, they can raise enough for some IKEA furniture with the drop of a hat. Though to facilitate efficient editing/content/management, a central file server should absolutely be on the list - THAT would cost more than a few pennies...
There are more reviews (149) than episodes of the EZA podcast (130). Obviously because of the nature of game releases, they can't have a fixed schedule, but it averages out to more than 1 review per week. So that's... just not true.
Also, Trailer Jones is a regularly scheduled monthly show, and Retros are a strictly annual endeavor, which I believe has been made clear at some point (though if that's a point of contention, of course they could delve to communicate that more blatantly). Produced content is always going to take a lot more time because production itself is innately time-consuming. Wanting more produced content is totally fair (Box Peek and another seasonal Patreon exclusive show should be coming later this year) but it's also a matter of opinion- lots of folks prefer panels and podcasts.
(..and in the end, EZA has control over the direction they want to go.)
I am inclined to agree with you as well. The date at the end of the announcement makes all the difference in the world.
Also, I am surprised nobody mentioned the connection those particular announcements have.
Metroid Prime 4 was announced just before showing a 3DS game (reassuring fans the series will continue on Switch)
Continuation of Bayonetta was announced for Switch before announcing the 1+2 ports to release in two months
Luigi's Mansion 3 was announced just before showing a 3DS game in the series (reassuring fans the series will continue on Switch)
Isabelle was announced for Smash just before reassuring fans the main series will continue on Switch
I feel there was always a reason they announced those games "too early". I don't think they would actually have unveiled them at that time if not for that other reason (3DS games or imminent ports). In fact, some were only announced and not really "unveiled".
Anyway, I still get why a fan of Animal Crossing would be let down. Though I really don't understand the fear that there might never be an Animal Crossing Switch game, especially not when one knows how much New Leaf sold. Brand Manager's fear over his favourite Nintendo IP was clouding his reasoning.
But as always I did enjoy the podcast a lot.
Streams and podcasts are mainly what I follow EZA for. Apart from some of the scripted 'bits' and things like Box Peek I personally don't care about reviews and Don't Clips and Retros etc. all that much. I know I'm in the minority there but I'm more into the Allies as individuals I can watch and listen to than as an editorial organisation.
Btw for people that are upset about Clips being gone, i really recommend following the twitter EZ Giffin. Lots of posts and Clips from funny moments. Like this one:
Yeah, shows such as full plauthrough Friday, a Huber game show and the live interview show. It allows the next goals to happen.
That's such nonsense. It was never stated that way.
"Huber Game Show" is another thing that I got issues with.
How can you expect others to put more money down when you don't even have an outline for what the show is going to be like. I'd call it a nebulous concept but even that feels too generous because there is no concept. Jones mentioned that Ian has a lot of ideas but that's it, no specifics nothing. No mention what type of show it is, how long it's running, if it's weekly, monthly or quarterly. Nothing. No wonder the new goals barely moved the needle. They're so bad at communicating, it's baffling.
Goals didn't need to move the needle, it was good to get something on the board as we move closer because they're naturally growing towards 51k anyway. Better to do that naturally like like this.
The Huber game show is the thing I would like to know the least about before it happened. Even of they were communicating the planning of it after the goal was reached, I'd be on media blackout. Jones said there would be more details as we got closer, as it would be many months off anyway.
The Huber game show is the thing I would like to know the least about before it happened. Even of they were communicating the planning of it after the goal was reached, I'd be on media blackout. Jones said there would be more details as we got closer, as it would be many months off anyway.
Yeah, it's secretive, but it's very real. We're already paying people to develop stuff for us to test with. I don't think we need to say much more about it just yet. There's a lot that needs to happen first just getting into the studio.
One thing with the studio that I'm looking forward to on the editorial side is just the opportunity to bring in more developers. Cory Barlog we felt comfortable with since he's a genuine fan and we've met before, but Brandon's place has never felt right to bring in people we don't really know.
Honestly, for the $50k goal on Patreon, the phrase "create new content" is so general it's pretty much meaningless. If we're splitting hairs, then technically every new stream they do or any new video they post is new content. I think the more important part comes after that ("create new content while inviting more guests to be a part of our shows and streams"), and I don't think it's wise to read too much beyond that.
All this discussion on what a new studio would mean has been good though. It's been such a nebulous concept for so long so it's good to recalibrate our expectations now that it's getting closer to reality. Realistically, though, we won't know how everything will play out until the Allies secure an actual studio space. I think this is why they've been cagey on the specifics of what will change; location/size/layout will all have an impact and it would be bad to promise something and have it not be possible later if the actual studio they get precludes it.
This is also why it's smart that they haven't given too many details about Huber's game show. Full Playthrough Fridays and the Live Guest Show are straightforward, but the game show will have to fit into the studio space, and they don't have that yet! Plus, I've always been skeptical that the goals themselves are a primary motivator for people to become/stay patrons. I think they're good in signaling that EZA has ideas on how to further grow/improve (which gives people confidence to join up), but it's the tier rewards, the desire to help out EZA, and/or even just advertising (which they've done recently with the Spiderman Spoiler Mode promo and the studio update video) that increase patron numbers. So not having details on the game show isn't super important yet, IMO. But it will be once the Patreon total starts nearing that goal.
All this discussion on what a new studio would mean has been good though. It's been such a nebulous concept for so long so it's good to recalibrate our expectations now that it's getting closer to reality. Realistically, though, we won't know how everything will play out until the Allies secure an actual studio space. I think this is why they've been cagey on the specifics of what will change; location/size/layout will all have an impact and it would be bad to promise something and have it not be possible later if the actual studio they get precludes it.
This is also why it's smart that they haven't given too many details about Huber's game show. Full Playthrough Fridays and the Live Guest Show are straightforward, but the game show will have to fit into the studio space, and they don't have that yet! Plus, I've always been skeptical that the goals themselves are a primary motivator for people to become/stay patrons. I think they're good in signaling that EZA has ideas on how to further grow/improve (which gives people confidence to join up), but it's the tier rewards, the desire to help out EZA, and/or even just advertising (which they've done recently with the Spiderman Spoiler Mode promo and the studio update video) that increase patron numbers. So not having details on the game show isn't super important yet, IMO. But it will be once the Patreon total starts nearing that goal.
This 1000%.
Please less streams and more produced content with them doing stuff together.
At best you'll get more streams of them doing things together. Who's going to edit these things when they're heavily produced?
I'm down for more panels that are easier to edit, but some of you are thinking the $50k goal is a full time editor or something. There's no time with their current output for heavily produced content even if their studio is on a planet with longer days.
As has been said as well, there's been more reviews than there has been podcasts. That's more than one a week. Yet you want more of that too, but they're supposed to be in this group of heavily produced content instead of playing a game for review... So I don't even see how these ideas are even physically possible.
I'm down for more panels that are easier to edit, but some of you are thinking the $50k goal is a full time editor or something. There's no time with their current output for heavily produced content even if their studio is on a planet with longer days.
As has been said as well, there's been more reviews than there has been podcasts. That's more than one a week. Yet you want more of that too, but they're supposed to be in this group of heavily produced content instead of playing a game for review... So I don't even see how these ideas are even physically possible.
I think this is more of a normal one. Yeah some people get too upset about it, but overall it can start some discussion. The towns one was genuinely a bad video, but the recent one is completely reasonable to me.
Trailer Jones = 1 per month. Its been specified with the the patreon goal. Don't skip is bonus content, dont count on it as its not a Patreon goal (yet).
If you want more content, there's exclusive shows if you're a Patreon aswell
Trailer jones is once a month and they haven't missed an episode. I don't know what you're talking about there. Don't skip has been targeted as trying once a month but when push comes to shove they'll prioritize reviews over the show. Which is the right call. Game Sleuth is something I feel damiani is trying to do 2-3 a year. Retros are targeted one a year. They have never missed an easy update, or Syndrome or TTE. All patron tier weekly goal content.
And you're way way off on saying their reviews are on the sparse side. They're vastly over producing on the amount of reviews they thought they'd be doing at EZA when they first started. Plus they have continued to do more and more stream reactions as a group in a lot of cases with little to no warning from the various game companies than in past years.
I know people want to claim most of their time and effort is spent on podcasts and streams but I'd say the reality is their #1 focus and source of most of their time consumption is reviews. It's where all their editing time goes to, they're pumping out more and more reviews at embargo, and these games are getting longer and longer.
The bottom line is they are producing significantly more content than they did at the end of GT
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Jones said multiple times the goals beyond 50K would be studio-related in the way the studio would made those shows doable (or easier to do). So yes, what Hasney said is (some of) the new content the studio will allow them to create.
The thing that people forget is that it takes up to 100 hours to create a review, by just playing the game (eg. Dragon Quest XI), writing the review, editting the reviewscript, doing the VO and editting the video. You can imagine that Retro's take up even more as those are bigger scripts en more games to play. A podcast or stream probably doesn't take that much time to cut. The podcasts take some more time to put in the sponsors and things like that (I am not saying it's done in 2 minutes), but especially the streams are relatively easy to convert (correct me if I'm wrong, Blood).
Of course filling out all the youtube stuff still takes time and things like timestamps take time, but I do think it's fair to say that they spend a lot more time on reviews and other produced content compared to streams and podcasts. It's not because those have a longer runtime that it takes more time to produce them.
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An other thing people seem to forget is that you need a lot more space, computers, power, ... to put down 9 desks, not just the furniture. It's that space that makes the studio/office a lot more expensive. It's a completely different scale than they ever talked about. That people imagined a GT like space is because of they own imagination. I don't think something like that was ever said at all.
The studio space will be great for EZA. Less/No hauling around tables and couches. The set can stay where it is and an easy place to come together without having to bother Brandon and like Blood said, it will be much easier to invite guests. It will probably also boost morale. It's fantastic what they have accomplished over 2.5 years.
Of course filling out all the youtube stuff still takes time and things like timestamps take time, but I do think it's fair to say that they spend a lot more time on reviews and other produced content compared to streams and podcasts. It's not because those have a longer runtime that it takes more time to produce them.
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An other thing people seem to forget is that you need a lot more space, computers, power, ... to put down 9 desks, not just the furniture. It's that space that makes the studio/office a lot more expensive. It's a completely different scale than they ever talked about. That people imagined a GT like space is because of they own imagination. I don't think something like that was ever said at all.
The studio space will be great for EZA. Less/No hauling around tables and couches. The set can stay where it is and an easy place to come together without having to bother Brandon and like Blood said, it will be much easier to invite guests. It will probably also boost morale. It's fantastic what they have accomplished over 2.5 years.
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The truth is, they never made a public video clearly stating what they were looking for in a studio. It's always been vague. This office vs studio argument has never been brought up in those update videos or in the patreon pitch. They probably should clear that up for everyone.
This is the truth of the matter. Obviously they were not trying to deceive anyone but Jones has said specifically that they want to emulate kinda funny as setup to a degree so it's not illogical to expect that to mean having desks in the studio space.
Maybe it's just a lack of understanding on some of our parts but when I heard studio I thought production area+work area. I know that has been clarified on cup of Jones but it should have been publically clarified as well since plenty of patrons and just general fans dont watch cup of jones.
I think they didn't know back then what would be possible and what they were exactly looking for.
It's been 2.5 years since they created that goal and I am sure they didn't expect to get there in 2.5 years (which is an amazing feat).
It obviously wasn't even in the back of their mind what a studio had to be as they were just starting out, hoping to get a couple of thousand dollars per month.
Whatever it's going to be, it's going to make EZA better, especially in the long run when they get used to the new place.
I am sure we will see better quality in the shows as well and who knows what else they have in the works.
After the Bloodborne Retro they decided to keep stuff to themselves and not promise things before they were finished. I am sure they are working on some great content. We just have to be patient.
It's been 2.5 years since they created that goal and I am sure they didn't expect to get there in 2.5 years (which is an amazing feat).
It obviously wasn't even in the back of their mind what a studio had to be as they were just starting out, hoping to get a couple of thousand dollars per month.
Whatever it's going to be, it's going to make EZA better, especially in the long run when they get used to the new place.
I am sure we will see better quality in the shows as well and who knows what else they have in the works.
After the Bloodborne Retro they decided to keep stuff to themselves and not promise things before they were finished. I am sure they are working on some great content. We just have to be patient.
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I don't think they needed to shit on him so much, especially saying how he needs to go away forever. I don't especially disagree (never really liked his games), but still it's weird to be this much against him to not even want to see him ever again. Let's say the video took a turn with the last entry.
I think what everyone needs to sadly grow comfortable with is that with every top 10 there will always be massive amounts of sodium.
I thought so too, that and the P5 Mc being shown in the footage before and after the actual list. But last night someone in his Road Trip stream someone asked him about the Top 10 and he said "I'm gonna be honest with you, chat, I have very little involvement with the Top 10s." Then later he said he wondered if they put the P5 Mc in the video for him.
This is it exactly. Don't blame people for expecting more heavily produced content, of course their minds are going to go wild when a "studio" is hyped as an ultimate goal.
Also, maybe on average they're doing a lot of reviews, but depending on the time of year, they seem erratic. Games are constantly coming out, and I don't mean Steam shovelware, I mean legit, hyped titles. I keep thinking "oh, they're DEFINITELY going to review THIS one!", but it seems like it only actually happens 25%-30% of the time.
No, even at GT they didn't review EVERYTHING, but reviews of big releases were MUCH more dependable. If there was strong buzz for a game, 50%-60% of the time we'd get a review.
I know how much effort they're putting into EZA, but even so, it feels like at least some of the crew is treating it closer to a hobby than a proper job. I envisioned them going back to a strict office atmosphere with the "studio", but that vision is starting to fade...
This is crazy. You think they're aren't reviewing 70-75% of "legit, hyped titles"? What do you consider hyped, what are some examples of recent hyped titles they didn't review?
I think you may be underestimating how much more work there is to be done when this is our thing and not just part of a massive corporation. I spent a big portion of the last month tracking down expenses and moving charges to a new bank account. That's the kind of thing I'd never have to worry about at GT. Without Matt Blair, it falls to all of us to do the uploading, write descriptions, make thumbnails, organize the website and playlists, etc. Patreon itself adds an entirely new dimension to the workload for just about everyone. Plus there's just a ton of stuff we didn't do before like the extra podcasts, Hall of Greats, etc.
Agreed, of course they're not going to compete with ign on coverage but honestly I can't complain at all EZA reviews far more than I could ever play in a year and I generally do play ~1 game per month. About the only thing I'm missing from them are more streams on some indie titles that get some hype around them. Like stuff like that cross code game? But it's not like they haven't vastly improved on that front as well.
Watched it, pretty much on par with the usual Clips. Nice work, whoever that is!
Believe it or not, this is exactly what popped into my head not long after I made the post - I didn't consider the overhead. It makes perfect sense.
See, this is why I miss Bloodworth as a permanent podcast member. He's the man with the facts and the clarity.
Bring back the super seat, Kyle!!
Why is that an of course? A studio doesn't edit videos for people or produce fancy graphics. It's just a place where people sit.
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