Funny to see similar sentiment here at the same time I've also been feeling about EZA and the studio seeming like a dip in production rather than an escalation. Obviously there's been a lot of real world crazy stress stuff going on for a third of The Nine, but before even that it didn't seem like any clear goals had been set. I think they definitely suffer from not having a defacto 'boss' driving them in specific directions, and now Jones is off for a bit, thats going to feel worse still.
- I've never been particularly impressed by the studio setup. I dunno if thats a budget thing, but its just never hit the notes with me where it feels like a huge upgrade over Jones garage. It also doesn't feel like its enabled any 'New' content other than Mysterious Monsters, which it also seems ill fitted to because you need BIG ASS space to do a gameshow, especially with physical gimmicks. The main podcast room has always felt a bit too 'industrial', but then doesn't use any of its tech for a darn thing. They have monitors in the background now that just have logos on them, while Ian throws up images of stuff the viewer cannot see. Bit shit. Bit garagey. The tilt on the streaming set might be by design for space issues, but it feels a lot less direct than the Garage setup for Huber Full Playthroughs and the old GT Fridays. For a space created entirely dedicated to streaming, it doesn't feel like much of a bump from the Garage. In some ways worse as its lost the real world brightness that would pour into the garage and the streaming room is a constant state of dim.
-Funnily enough, the biggest time I 'felt' the studio was the segment of Bosman and Huber in the reception room getting joke-bollocked by Jones in the betting special. For that one brief moment we were back to GT and the Final Bosman, and it felt good. More than that, it made me think about The 1UP Show. I think EZA would benefit greatly from compiling their content into a weekly (fortnightly?) show format, with casual bookending and then some highlights of the week be that choice cuts of any big interviews they did, a Don't Skip (maybe even save a big review to premiere in the show), and also Best Bits from streaming that week. Its always been fucking absurd they got rid of Weekly Clips and just let youtube fans do it instead as its content I watch more religiously than the stuff I'm Patreon pledging for. Ditch a failing show, make time to get everyone au fait with the edit bay, package your own damn content like teenage bedroom youtubers are doing.
-With current shows, there needs to be a bit of a change up as they've gotten stale several years in. The EZA Podcast is a news podcast that feels like it covers 2.5 topics a week when there are lots more that could be discussed. It's much better in E3 insanity mode. For Frame Trap, I have skipped through the last 3-4 Hottakes as the segment doesn't feel like it works anymore. The guests are presented with an issue they can't research in detail at the time and just have to tread water for 20-40 minutes until a very loose consensus is made with Ben. It goes against the whole surprise concept, but if its to continue on in the same form, guests need to be given the topic ahead of time and consider a position with some facts and tidbits to deliver into the conversation.
- The Finaler Bosman. Box Peek has been fun, but not Kyle In Creative Obscurity For Two Years fun. Especially in a period where he and Ian's cloned lovechild (BDG) appeared, co-opted the format and has enjoyed great success with it. I remember being HIGHLY frustrated at the start of EZA when they were feeding into each others bad artiste habits by saying they shouldn't repeat themselves and completely cut themselves off from returning to some of those previous shows. If a format works, is good, and was the main pull and success story of the previous era, perhaps don't kill it?
-Shows that haven't been working. Trailer Jones has just felt weird. Dunno what it is, it just doesn't feel like the fun viewing that it was back on GT. Tabletop needed to give because I know people had fun with that show, but not "this is half of our production" fun. Game Sleuth should just be put to bed, why pretend. Now for the most unpopular take: The Retrospectives have begun to get a little too weak as well. The Devil May Cry one felt very thin, and not sure if that was by design to be a mini one, but it skimmed off the surface of each game without barely any depth on each entry.
-Things I want back. Gundam was the best content of theirs that I watched every single scrap of. The chillest, funnest time possible. Them being subconsciously distracted by a task at hand brought out a comfortable atmosphere. The same can be said for full playthroughs as they relax over the hours and just have fun. EZA Weekly Clips needs to return of they pay the people currently making them and bring them onto the main channel. Game Grumps did it to great success and many other outfits too. I can't even remember what the excuse was for canning it, but its definitely not brought about a Second Age Of Infinite Content in lieu.
I feel like 2020 needs to be a revolutionary year for the Allies, and they need to really evolve what they're doing into its next form. Which is a tall order when their father figure has some full-time dadding to be getting on with in that period.
