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Easy Allies |OT2| Love & Reset
- Thread starter Nikpls
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I think I remember it coming up in conversation randomly somewhere, but I'm not even sure if it was Easy Allies? If it was, then it might have put the idea in someone's head.
Either that, or it just didn't make the Easy Livin' cut but someone wanted to play it.
these people are serious about this.... it's amazing, they even have a a legal battle with a russian that tried to steal work from them and sell it.
they have so much in that site I don't even know where to start
Have they said when Hall of Greats is? I'm assuming the Tuesday after this?
I have a question that i'm always scared of asking cause i feel it might be taken the wrong way but here it is: What is Brad's 'extra' ? What i mean by that is that everyone at EZA has either a show or an extra thing they do. Kyle has Box Peek + weekly stream, Damiani has Friend code, chat moderation and the occasional Game Sleuth, Huber has the syndrome, Blood has all the admin stuff + social media & yt , Ben has frametrap, Ian & Jones has lots of stuff too.. but i feel lile outside reviews Brad doesnt have an extra show or something. Am i wrong in assuming this? Does he review way more often than other allies maybe? I know his girlfriend Kristen has been helping out a lot too though.
Just a question, not a critique. L&R
Just a question, not a critique. L&R
Eh, some people naturally gravitate towards doing extra projects while others are happy to do there job and nothing else. That's not to say that brad never takes on extra stuff as he wrote all of the souls series retro.
Even if his only job was to be straight man to Huber, Brad would be valuable to the group. The fact that he puts in tons of behind-the-scenes work and is a reliable, attentive participant on any panel or stream makes him vital.
I don't know if he does the most reviews (Huber and Ben do a lot of them as well), but he does quite a lot of reviews, sometimes a couple of them in quick succession as well (mostly smaller games then, but still). He also appears a lot on the podcasts (and it seems he fills in regularly if someone else can't make it).
Didn't an ally create a spreadsheet which showed who did the most reviews? I believe Jones read it in CoJ at one point, but I forgot who got the most reviews. I believe it was between Ben, Huber and Brad.
I also don't think it's easy to compare their "time" as we can't know for sure how much goes on behind the scenes (and I personally feel like that's none of my business either). I honestly don't get the feeling that any of the Allies don't spend enough time on EZA (they probably spend more time into EZA than is healthy actually). I think they all do more than enough as is.
Didn't an ally create a spreadsheet which showed who did the most reviews? I believe Jones read it in CoJ at one point, but I forgot who got the most reviews. I believe it was between Ben, Huber and Brad.
I also don't think it's easy to compare their "time" as we can't know for sure how much goes on behind the scenes (and I personally feel like that's none of my business either). I honestly don't get the feeling that any of the Allies don't spend enough time on EZA (they probably spend more time into EZA than is healthy actually). I think they all do more than enough as is.
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The Allies are already pretty busy. It is probably a good thing that they have a dude that can fill spots on the roster for the podcast, or focus on reviews, and isn't married to any specific projects. Brad is the floater. Honestly, they could probably due with a another person that fulfills a similar role. It would take some pressure off of the shoulders of all the other allies.
Brad was also almost solo on the dark souls retro which has been a while ago but that was a huge project where a lot of work was done without viewers really knowing in the sense that there was no monthly report/weekly output from it.
Adam Sandler
Winnie-the-Pooh
Sick voices
Sick hair-do
He doesn't care
He's watchin' cartoons
He wears a Kylo Ren mask
Because it's fun to do
That's just Brad tho,
He's just a legit pro
Plat'numin' Dark Souls
Buyin' some Lego sets
Cloud Strife
Omni-slash
He plays guitar
But he doesn't brag
If you're a jerk
He's okay with that
He lets you borrow games
Even though you'll never give them back
That's just Brad tho
He's a legit pro
Plat'numin' Dark Souls
Buyin' some Lego sets
He doesn't care
He's watchin' cartoons
He wears a Kylo Ren mask
Because it's fun to do
That's just Brad tho,
He's just a legit pro
Plat'numin' Dark Souls
Buyin' some Lego sets
Boom, babeh.
Winnie-the-Pooh
Sick voices
Sick hair-do
He doesn't care
He's watchin' cartoons
He wears a Kylo Ren mask
Because it's fun to do
That's just Brad tho,
He's just a legit pro
Plat'numin' Dark Souls
Buyin' some Lego sets
Cloud Strife
Omni-slash
He plays guitar
But he doesn't brag
If you're a jerk
He's okay with that
He lets you borrow games
Even though you'll never give them back
That's just Brad tho
He's a legit pro
Plat'numin' Dark Souls
Buyin' some Lego sets
He doesn't care
He's watchin' cartoons
He wears a Kylo Ren mask
Because it's fun to do
That's just Brad tho,
He's just a legit pro
Plat'numin' Dark Souls
Buyin' some Lego sets
Boom, babeh.
I'm going to pitch it until the wheels fall off, but if Brad ever wants to (not that he ever has to!) do a show, it should be a quick-look at new local co-op games with a rotating cast of Allies (and Kristin of course). It would give EZA another piece of short-form content, and hit home for something that Brad seems to enjoy.
"Co-Op Corner" with Brad Ellis, coming to you in 2020 as a Patreon stretch goal.
"Co-Op Corner" with Brad Ellis, coming to you in 2020 as a Patreon stretch goal.
Yup. Came in to say just this. I am struggling to stifle loud obnoxious laughs at work.
If Damiani were to pivot Friend Code into a comedy Nintendo podcast, I would never complain about it ever again.
Few months? He has said a bunch of times that his paternity leave is going to be about a month.
Oh for sure, but Kyle and Ian are just funny, period. They're great improvisers. If Damiani told Kyle and Ian to be funny, regardless of their levels of tiredness, it'd still be very funny.
I think he'll be back for the podcast by end of August, but anything else a lot longer. Streams will probably be a rarity for Jones for a while!
Oh, when did he say this stuff? I must have missed it.
Lttp, but their "what if smash 64 today" discussion on frame trap was pretty terrible. Great concept ruined by just nonsense goofy picks.
I haven't listened to that episode yet, but I feel like that is always a risk with Frame Trap. A lot of great moments come from Ben allowing the show to breath, and allowing it to go off the rails, but the opposite is also quite capable of occurring. When shows embrace chaos you have to expect the odd derailing.
I think they realized it would be a very boring list otherwise. Swap falcon for inklings and jigglypuff for a different pokemon and your done. Nintendo still has the same core franchises now that they did back when smash 64 released.
You wouldn't have star fox or ness in a 2019 smash 64 either.
That's true. I forgot about ness. I think star fox might still make the cut.
Nothing official! I just expect his paternity leave to be longer than the 3-4 weeks he's saying, which it should be anyway!
I expect the same. He's being generous with the 4 weeks paternity leave, it'll at least be 8 minimum.
I think Easy Allies has a weird identity thing going on these days. They make a ton of great things, but so many of them that are produced are basically retreads of GameTrailers shows (and I honestly think the formats are dated or changed for the worse) or are released only once a month or so that they don't "latch" on with people because of how infrequently they are released. Like, I really love Mysterious Monsters and Top 10's, but they're a rarity when it comes to their overall released content and they can get lost in the shuffle.
Unless I'm completely wrong, I don't think people sub to their Patreon so they "make" Huber Syndromes (or other shows). They sub to "support" them and mostly for the early access and to the tiered community rewards and the exclusive shows. I feel having these shows behind goal amounts is short sighted. As a day 1 Patron, I feel absolutely zero incentive to increase my pledge to reach their show goals if there is no organized effort to do so and the average $ amount per Patron is steadily decreasing. It's just kind of a shitty "ask" for us as the shows can be taken away if others lower their amount.
If they TRULY want to make a show, they should raise the $ for it before it goes in to production and create that show. That way, I'd feel great about throwing extra $ towards them for something if I knew that $ wasn't just going to "nothing" as others decrease their pledge.
Like, I personally find the "full playthrough funday" goal borderline insulting. To be clear, I don't think this was done with bad intent, but it's just bad look. Patrons funded this "dream" studio that has one of the best group streaming set ups imaginable. This would theoretically take very little $ extra to produce and it's something they've done in the past "for free," but now it's a goal. To me, it's kind of akin to Nintendo Switch just kind of adding a paywall to the Switch Online without improving anything. Like, the more high quality shows/streams they produce, more people will sub to them on Twitch/Youtube.
I don't know, just a bit frustrated at the moment. Easy Allies is bar none the best in the biz when they collaborate with each other. Unfortunately, they are all basically on islands doing individual work. It feels like an absolute rarity when they make use out of the studio, which is kind of unimaginable. I f'n love Bosman, but we are 2+ years in to Box Peek and he's still on episode 7. Huber is still standing in front of green screens mostly solo 4+ years later. Damiani is still struggling through Game Sleuths. And much of the rest are doing lightly viewed solo streams that only the "hardcore" EZA fans routinely tune in to.
I expected more weirdness and spontaneity when it came to EZA now being unshackled by their prior corporate overlords. But these days, it seems all filming is done usually in marathon filming sessions that is all done in a very regimented way. If news breaks, you better hope it happens before Tuesday afternoon as they probably won't cover it in a timely manner otherwise and likely won't have a multi-person stream where they'll discuss it. No one expected this to be a typical "9-5 in the studio" type of job, but it's a bit frustrating as little has changed except the backgrounds when it comes from the move to Jones' to their studio.
All that said, obviously shit has been hectic this year behind the scenes. Hopefully they get some normalcy soon. The "great" thing is I feel they have the "hard" part down. As a group, they have unmatched chemistry and all are great in front of the camera and are extremely enjoyable to watch. I just hope they rejigger a few things behind the scenes and we'll see a much better EZA going forward.
Unless I'm completely wrong, I don't think people sub to their Patreon so they "make" Huber Syndromes (or other shows). They sub to "support" them and mostly for the early access and to the tiered community rewards and the exclusive shows. I feel having these shows behind goal amounts is short sighted. As a day 1 Patron, I feel absolutely zero incentive to increase my pledge to reach their show goals if there is no organized effort to do so and the average $ amount per Patron is steadily decreasing. It's just kind of a shitty "ask" for us as the shows can be taken away if others lower their amount.
If they TRULY want to make a show, they should raise the $ for it before it goes in to production and create that show. That way, I'd feel great about throwing extra $ towards them for something if I knew that $ wasn't just going to "nothing" as others decrease their pledge.
Like, I personally find the "full playthrough funday" goal borderline insulting. To be clear, I don't think this was done with bad intent, but it's just bad look. Patrons funded this "dream" studio that has one of the best group streaming set ups imaginable. This would theoretically take very little $ extra to produce and it's something they've done in the past "for free," but now it's a goal. To me, it's kind of akin to Nintendo Switch just kind of adding a paywall to the Switch Online without improving anything. Like, the more high quality shows/streams they produce, more people will sub to them on Twitch/Youtube.
I don't know, just a bit frustrated at the moment. Easy Allies is bar none the best in the biz when they collaborate with each other. Unfortunately, they are all basically on islands doing individual work. It feels like an absolute rarity when they make use out of the studio, which is kind of unimaginable. I f'n love Bosman, but we are 2+ years in to Box Peek and he's still on episode 7. Huber is still standing in front of green screens mostly solo 4+ years later. Damiani is still struggling through Game Sleuths. And much of the rest are doing lightly viewed solo streams that only the "hardcore" EZA fans routinely tune in to.
I expected more weirdness and spontaneity when it came to EZA now being unshackled by their prior corporate overlords. But these days, it seems all filming is done usually in marathon filming sessions that is all done in a very regimented way. If news breaks, you better hope it happens before Tuesday afternoon as they probably won't cover it in a timely manner otherwise and likely won't have a multi-person stream where they'll discuss it. No one expected this to be a typical "9-5 in the studio" type of job, but it's a bit frustrating as little has changed except the backgrounds when it comes from the move to Jones' to their studio.
All that said, obviously shit has been hectic this year behind the scenes. Hopefully they get some normalcy soon. The "great" thing is I feel they have the "hard" part down. As a group, they have unmatched chemistry and all are great in front of the camera and are extremely enjoyable to watch. I just hope they rejigger a few things behind the scenes and we'll see a much better EZA going forward.
Between any Zelda thread here and the newest Friend Code, I am so so so tired of the word 'dungeon'.
There was a question in this week's CoJ post that covers a bit of this. He wants to meet with Damiani and the rest of the guys when things aren't hectic.
One thing I never understood was why they didnt change their timing and schedule around rather than sticking to the exact same schedule which was created out of the constraints in Jones garage. Maybe its something they will sort out now that the stresses of the studio move and E3 coverage are behind them.
Their podcast is still recorded at an awkward time where they're missing big announcements. Non-early access people are still waiting till Monday for Frame Trap when a long form podcast like that is perfect for weekend chores. Cup of Jones seems to be the only thing thats changed to a different day. I imagine there's lots going on behind the scenes and Im sure they've had discussions on how to streamline and make more efficient use of the studio space.
This isn't a criticism so much as it is an observation from someone who knows very little about their workflow and processes.
You said a lot of truths here. Especially about full playthrough funday. Why is that a patreon goal?
I've questioned it since Day 1 of the goal. It seems like there's a real lack of interest in group streaming beyond the weekly one and of course Easy Livin'.
One question I have which is hard to express without people thinking it's a massive criticism is why reviews sometimes take precedence over everything else. So for instance, Ben will not be at tonight's group stream because he is working on Fire Emblem. Now, it's not the best example because it's a monster of a game and they want to hit the embargo. I understand that. But Ben, Brad and Huber in particular will frequently miss group streams (and seemingly sometimes podcast recordings) due to working on reviews. I just don't understand why this is the case when surely the time set aside on a Tuesday for non-review content should be an expectation in terms of production and their attendance.
That stuff is content as much as reviews are. But it feels like they just see anything else as extra-curricular to working on reviews, which is hard for me to understand and a bit disappointing when I tune into a 2 hour stream and they're not there. I'm not trying to piss anyone off - I know we've had this discussion a million times in various forms and nothing will change or perhaps even should change. But I'm just not in the camp that believes any of their content should take precedence over the rest (besides solo streams).
Sorry if that makes no sense, but it seems a good time to try and put my thoughts together on the matter. L&R
Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but as I understood it, this was always going to be the case with the studio. It always seemed more like a thing to help their set be more professional and free up the garage so Jones didn't constantly have people at his house. They mentioned it might be easier for people to pop in to additional shows since they might be there anyway working on something, but it was never going to give them more time to work on additional projects.
The full playthrough goal is to make sure people are actually getting paid for the extra time they have to spend on it. Again, please correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought they tried to make it clear that was the case.
The full playthrough goal is to make sure people are actually getting paid for the extra time they have to spend on it. Again, please correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought they tried to make it clear that was the case.
That feedback makes sense, and I can understand the frustration. The only rebuttal I can think of for why they would prioritize reviews is that they are evergreen content and get a lot of views, especially when they are for big releases. Reviews and reactions are probably their biggest draws for viewership...the big issue with that is the difficulty of converting those viewers to patrons.
I wish Mysterious Monsters wasn't monthly but released weekly in a season. But maybe that would make the editing pipeline more cumbersome.
There was some movement to up pledges to get to Trailer Jones one time, Hoeg Law even sponsored the goal gap with the first one. Not much after that. I'd be cool with a goal reorganization.
The one FPF they did was a bit throw together and not exciting. I prefer the playthroughs they did with no obligation (like Huber and Kyle's, or Knack 2) so it's weird it's behind a goal now. Create a weird situation if they want to do a full playthrough but haven't reached the goal.
It's a bit frustrating for me to, even if I do understand why they do things that way. Their take on "equal share ownership" is that each ally has a extremely well defined role that mostly boils down to: host/manage your own show fully, be available to guest on the others from time to time. Plus other responsabilities, as reviewing games, editing and some of the community managing.
Even their most "team effort" show, Top Tens, feels a bit disjointed. You can FEEL the division of work. Each ally selects their pick, write about it and they arrange it in order.
I mean, I get it, they don't have a hierarchy so they do things that way to prevent discussions/debates. But this creates situations like with Community Showcase, where Brandon was thanking Damiani for doing it or Trailer Jones with no clear decision on sight. It's should be an Easy Allies show, no big deal someone else is doing it, but as of now they're both "Brandon's" shows.
This demonstrates the weird position EZA is in. They're two entities mashed into one. A journalistic one and a entertainment one. And there's also both audiences.
Reviews are also one of the biggest draws in views, specially if they can hit embargo. It's just an absolutely huge difference that makes it worth the effort.
I'll say that: even for people that prefer longform content and the entertainment part I still think reviews are valuable. They keep the allies in check with current releases and their critic/writer part working. It's beneficial for the whole.
I should point out I'm not saying reviews aren't worth the effort - I absolutely think they are! I just don't understand why they take precedence over other 'prime' content, which to me includes the weekly Group Stream. Especially given that they're offering another monthly Group Stream as a high Patreon goal tier. I just suppose in my mind shooting days where an ally is required should be down-tools on working on the stuff they do from home to make sure the rest of their weekly, scheduled stuff is given full attention and produced to the same standard every week. (I am mostly just moaning about group streams, I guess...)
I think reviews and meeting embargo (at least, when it's possible...) should always be a huge priority, EZA reviews are a central part of the brand. And if they are down a member or two for the group stream due to a review (or travel to an event, for example), that seems fine? While everyone being it the room at once is great, the smaller group streams are usually nice too.
That said, I agree that I would like to see more group streams, and that in that respect at least the studio feels bizarrely underutilized.
That said, I agree that I would like to see more group streams, and that in that respect at least the studio feels bizarrely underutilized.
I think it's because reviews are the most time-sensitive of everything they do. They're at the mercy of the publishers to get the games and they have a hard date for the embargo. And hitting it makes a huge difference. So it gets a higher priority.
Also you have to consider the drive to the studio. Unfortunately I think most of the ally reviewers (Ben, Brad and Huber) have the longest drives. If all they had to do was forfeit 2 hours to be at the group stream I don't think it would be a problem but we have to consider the extra time to get there and to get home which in LA transit can be a ton of time.
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