agreed - other than the new 15 dollar tier (which seems like it could pull some people but certainly not a "must" level), what encourages people to raise their pledges or become new patrons?
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Easy Allies |OT2| Love & Reset
- Thread starter Nikpls
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agreed - other than the new 15 dollar tier (which seems like it could pull some people but certainly not a "must" level), what encourages people to raise their pledges or become new patrons?
Pretty much love all the changes. Sucks to see tabletop go, but the reasoning works and is understandable.
All in all pretty satisfied with the changes. Especially the new shows sound good. The only real bummer is still the Podcast change. I'm not sure I can still justify staying at the $5 tier, because getting the podcast midweek was the main reason for me to be on that level. :/
This is really great overall.
The shows were stagnating. The allies were stagnating. They had stuff they liked, like Don't Skip, but their production time was already taken up with the stuff they were doing that were tied to goals.
This feels like a PASSION announcement by the allies. What do THEY want to do, not "what stuff from GT did people miss most." And that will ALWAYS bring out the best in them.
Top 10 was a pure viewer desire move. They didn't like it. They never did, and they've made it clear in the past. And then, the viewers weren't even there for the show. It never got any traction, it was often needlessly controversial. It didn't work.
I get that people are sad about Tabletop Escapades, but talk about a niche show! 80+ episode seasons, incredibly impenetrable show. There was no way I was going to get into it, and I'm a huge EZA fan! Think about how more casual EZA fans felt. Occasional Board Game Show is absolutely for the best. Yeah, I do wish it was more frequent, but if it means we're getting great quality, I'm happy.
The writing was on the wall for Huber Syndrome, tbh. The show was stagnating majorly. I didn't feel the passion at all. So to see it get replaced with something that is much more in Huber's wheelhouse is GREAT.
They've listened to the feedback on Achieve it Yourself, and went about it perfectly. Patrons still get it early, but now everybody gets to watch it.
Finally, SUPER happy about the new streaming. I do not like streams, but I DO like when multiple allies stream. I don't know why. I guess because I like their chemistry. Solo, I can't do it, but when there's a few of them, it's a blast. I don't see myself watching every one of these multi-ally streams, but to see them dedicated to being in the studio, streaming, several days a week, up from one day a week, is fantastic. Truly great.
Edit: oh, forgot some stuff. Gundam streams - YES! I have zero desire for Gundam, but I love these streams, because it's the kind of casual chat show I desire from this group. Removing goals was a fantastic move that I hadn't thought of. Allows them to not feel beholden to something that may not be working, or that they may not like. Just make the stuff you want to, and that viewers love. And regarding the lack of Patreon news, I do agree with you all that mentioned that, but I think Phase 4 is kind of a broader restructuring, and I'm sure that sometime this year or so they'll do something more specific to getting those Patreon numbers up.
The shows were stagnating. The allies were stagnating. They had stuff they liked, like Don't Skip, but their production time was already taken up with the stuff they were doing that were tied to goals.
This feels like a PASSION announcement by the allies. What do THEY want to do, not "what stuff from GT did people miss most." And that will ALWAYS bring out the best in them.
Top 10 was a pure viewer desire move. They didn't like it. They never did, and they've made it clear in the past. And then, the viewers weren't even there for the show. It never got any traction, it was often needlessly controversial. It didn't work.
I get that people are sad about Tabletop Escapades, but talk about a niche show! 80+ episode seasons, incredibly impenetrable show. There was no way I was going to get into it, and I'm a huge EZA fan! Think about how more casual EZA fans felt. Occasional Board Game Show is absolutely for the best. Yeah, I do wish it was more frequent, but if it means we're getting great quality, I'm happy.
The writing was on the wall for Huber Syndrome, tbh. The show was stagnating majorly. I didn't feel the passion at all. So to see it get replaced with something that is much more in Huber's wheelhouse is GREAT.
They've listened to the feedback on Achieve it Yourself, and went about it perfectly. Patrons still get it early, but now everybody gets to watch it.
Finally, SUPER happy about the new streaming. I do not like streams, but I DO like when multiple allies stream. I don't know why. I guess because I like their chemistry. Solo, I can't do it, but when there's a few of them, it's a blast. I don't see myself watching every one of these multi-ally streams, but to see them dedicated to being in the studio, streaming, several days a week, up from one day a week, is fantastic. Truly great.
Edit: oh, forgot some stuff. Gundam streams - YES! I have zero desire for Gundam, but I love these streams, because it's the kind of casual chat show I desire from this group. Removing goals was a fantastic move that I hadn't thought of. Allows them to not feel beholden to something that may not be working, or that they may not like. Just make the stuff you want to, and that viewers love. And regarding the lack of Patreon news, I do agree with you all that mentioned that, but I think Phase 4 is kind of a broader restructuring, and I'm sure that sometime this year or so they'll do something more specific to getting those Patreon numbers up.
Huber Syndrome will probably be back by then, the show is not dead, just taking a break while Prison of Love is ongoing.
Forgot about weekly clips. It would be literally perfect for all the new multi ally streams. Much more likely for clip worthy stuff to happen and no way to realistically keep up with all of them and the memes they eventually spawn. Very weird omission, especially with Sleuth's cancellation.
Not too late to quickly pivot Phase 4 to become an all WoF channel...
From the patreon post:
"Plus we're interested in providing more opportunities for bits to show our lighter side as well."
This and Fiasconauts still being there means I'm good. I'm sad that we don't have a patreon exclusive show (or a show) like "And For That Reason", but I'm happy there's chances for more bits.
"Plus we're interested in providing more opportunities for bits to show our lighter side as well."
This and Fiasconauts still being there means I'm good. I'm sad that we don't have a patreon exclusive show (or a show) like "And For That Reason", but I'm happy there's chances for more bits.
Spoiler mode is unaffected by the changes i think, they're filming one tonight or already filmed one brad said.
I'm glad they are getting rid of goals.
EZA needs to be more fluid. If something is working, keep it. If its not, trash it.
Don't be beholden to keep it because its stuck as a patreon goal.
EZA needs to be more fluid. If something is working, keep it. If its not, trash it.
Don't be beholden to keep it because its stuck as a patreon goal.
That's my biggest positive take away from this announcement. I think it's good to have goals, but the goals should probably be focused on things like improving the studio, getting behind the scenes editing help, etc. and not new content.
Good announcements overall. Crushed about TTE but thrilled about Gundam so I'm breaking even there. Only concern is that most of this stuff is really vague schedule-wise, so I hope it doesn't become a case of more Box Peek and Busted Trifecta where new episodes of shows are months and months apart.
I thought Kyle's wording was interesting when he said (not verbatim) "People are asking me for a new Kyle show, but my current show is not done yet." People need to stop expecting Final Bosman, but I AM ready for a Kyle solo show of some kind and look forward to seeing what he comes up with in the future.
That, and making much more use of the studio, which is what we have wanted since January.
Agreed. It was probably overall the best thing they announced, because it will have the most positive impact moving forward.
That, and making much more use of the studio, which is what we have wanted since January.
Yeah I'm glad they have stopped locking shows behind Patreon. I know a few people who don't use it but sub to them on twitch that we're contemplating not resubbing on twitch because they couldn't watch their other shows. Made no sense to me why people's twitch dollars were somehow worth less. Good call Allies!
Fitting they were calling this phase 4, because it's as underwhelming as the phase 4 that Marvel unveiled.
Super sad to see TTE gone. Happy to see top 10s gone. Bringing back Gundam is awesome, but it was killed off before so there's no guarantee they won't just do that again. Less solo streams is the best news of it all, hopefully they stick to that.
Super sad to see TTE gone. Happy to see top 10s gone. Bringing back Gundam is awesome, but it was killed off before so there's no guarantee they won't just do that again. Less solo streams is the best news of it all, hopefully they stick to that.
Love the changes, mainly them removing goals. This will give them lots of freedom to do what they prefer.
I'm still suprised Brad doesnt have a 'show' of his own
I'm still suprised Brad doesnt have a 'show' of his own
Are you talking about the Patreon-exclusive shows? Because those will still continue. Their next one is Together We RPG.
He implied that he was developing something, but he wasn't ready to announce it during the stream.
I like it!
More flexible EZA is good!
I think they overemphasized the streaming side on their presentation too much, because if you really think about it we're getting more short-form edited content with:
- Achieve it Yourself: Season 2 being public is really good! It's an awesome show that has potential to grab new viewers. And they changing their views of patreon shows, saying it's an "incubator" instead of a Netflix exclusive show thing is really good too. The good stuff should be public, the ideas they had for those shows (And for that reason, Fancy Fifteen and Achieve it Yourself) are the shortform, creative, edited content that the channel needs to grow.
- Huber Prison of Love: Huber Syndrome lacked the passion for some time, Huber was doing it out of obligation to the goals. Putting in the vault until he really has something to say is a good idea. I think they lacked edited content where they played games on their main channel.
- Don's Design Lab: speaking of lacking edited content where they play games... The return of a proven winner. Just give me more of this, baby.
- The Occasional Board Game: Honestly, perfect thing to substitute TTE. But the 3 month window is... large. Hopefully they can figure it out. There's some easier tabletop games that shouldn't require too much setup (playing and recording wise) that they could fill some of the months. Think something like SWORDS, the Ian card game. Doesn't need to be super elaborate all the time.
- Together We RPG: that's patreon exclusive. I love the idea, let's see how it pans out.
Also, the promise for more bits. It's good.
More flexible EZA is good!
I think they overemphasized the streaming side on their presentation too much, because if you really think about it we're getting more short-form edited content with:
- Achieve it Yourself: Season 2 being public is really good! It's an awesome show that has potential to grab new viewers. And they changing their views of patreon shows, saying it's an "incubator" instead of a Netflix exclusive show thing is really good too. The good stuff should be public, the ideas they had for those shows (And for that reason, Fancy Fifteen and Achieve it Yourself) are the shortform, creative, edited content that the channel needs to grow.
- Huber Prison of Love: Huber Syndrome lacked the passion for some time, Huber was doing it out of obligation to the goals. Putting in the vault until he really has something to say is a good idea. I think they lacked edited content where they played games on their main channel.
- Don's Design Lab: speaking of lacking edited content where they play games... The return of a proven winner. Just give me more of this, baby.
- The Occasional Board Game: Honestly, perfect thing to substitute TTE. But the 3 month window is... large. Hopefully they can figure it out. There's some easier tabletop games that shouldn't require too much setup (playing and recording wise) that they could fill some of the months. Think something like SWORDS, the Ian card game. Doesn't need to be super elaborate all the time.
- Together We RPG: that's patreon exclusive. I love the idea, let's see how it pans out.
Also, the promise for more bits. It's good.
One thing I am wondering about is Retrospectives. I know they said if a show wasn't mentioned that nothing is changing with it at the moment. But I bring it up because:
A) It kind of fell into the same category as Game Sleuth in conversation because of the gaps between episodes and the amount of work that went into it
B) It was also a "This was something we did in GT and was a good insentitve at the time to get people on board with Easy Allies" deal, and we're now seeing the Allies shift to no longer doing things just because they did so at GT.
Would it be weird if I tried asking about this in the comments for CoJ? Or should I not bother?
A) It kind of fell into the same category as Game Sleuth in conversation because of the gaps between episodes and the amount of work that went into it
B) It was also a "This was something we did in GT and was a good insentitve at the time to get people on board with Easy Allies" deal, and we're now seeing the Allies shift to no longer doing things just because they did so at GT.
Would it be weird if I tried asking about this in the comments for CoJ? Or should I not bother?
Pretty sure they directly canned Retrospectives a while ago.
No, they took it off the goals list, because they could no longer commit to one per year.
They released the DMC retrospective after they took it off the goals list, but it was pretty much a send-off.
Meaning... sure, they could release another one. But it's not a goal. And I wouldn't expect it.
Pretty much all good news!
I'm okay with losing TTE and having it replaced by Board games, but I wish it was more frequent than once every 3 months.
Maybe once they buy the right equipment and get more comfortable with shooting/editing a board game show, it might become monthly.
Sad to see Top10 goes, even though I kinda understand. I still think they should have kept it and just changed it a bit.
They could have easily made it a show with a rotating host (Kyle's top 10 pokemon, Huber's top 10 shotguns, etc).
Or just make it a Huber show, he's always asking people their Top 10 of everything! It could be his top 10, or he could just ask an ally to come up with their top 10.
That would have been really great!
Aside from that, I'm happy with more multi-ally streaming. Aside from Kyle, I haven't watch most of the other ally streaming except when they played a game I really wanted to see. I'm already thrilled to see that Trial of Mana playthrough! And I'm especially excited to watch those Kyle & Brandon streams!
I'm curious if we will get a lot of full playthrough (like Trials of Mana?) with those new streaming since it seems like Full Playthrough Friday is kinda gone now.
And Gundam streams are back? They were the perfect "background noise" while working! And so many EZA memes came from those! I will never forget "I play by myself!" I just wish the EZA clips were back too since many of those incredible moments are missed by people who can't watch 5 hours streams.
New shows are great!
- Box Peek is taking a very long time, but it's pretty good and I want to see Kyle finish his dream project!
- Don's Design Lab is one of my all time favorite and they are going to be longer! Couldn't ask for more!
- Ben seems very passionate about Don't Skip and they are always an interesting watch.
- Achieve it yourself was really good! I'm certainly curious to see the other allies test their skills. I'm hoping for a longer edit though. It was often way too short.
- A new RPG Maker gamejam show? Yes, please!
- Not sure exactly what Huber's prison of love is, but the title alone sold me! And every time Huber plays a game with another ally, it's a blast! I'm really hoping for a longer format than the 10 minutes they mentionned. Like... if Huber and Ian are sitting together to play The Last of Us... I need more than 10 minutes of that!
Overall, very happy with Phase 4.
And it's looking good for the future, with Brad cooking up something and Kyle mentioning that he needs to finish Box Peek before working on a new show.
I'm personally hoping for more scripted content and bits from all allies. And more bets, please! Bets, stakes, betrayals and trials!
I'm okay with losing TTE and having it replaced by Board games, but I wish it was more frequent than once every 3 months.
Maybe once they buy the right equipment and get more comfortable with shooting/editing a board game show, it might become monthly.
Sad to see Top10 goes, even though I kinda understand. I still think they should have kept it and just changed it a bit.
They could have easily made it a show with a rotating host (Kyle's top 10 pokemon, Huber's top 10 shotguns, etc).
Or just make it a Huber show, he's always asking people their Top 10 of everything! It could be his top 10, or he could just ask an ally to come up with their top 10.
That would have been really great!
Aside from that, I'm happy with more multi-ally streaming. Aside from Kyle, I haven't watch most of the other ally streaming except when they played a game I really wanted to see. I'm already thrilled to see that Trial of Mana playthrough! And I'm especially excited to watch those Kyle & Brandon streams!
I'm curious if we will get a lot of full playthrough (like Trials of Mana?) with those new streaming since it seems like Full Playthrough Friday is kinda gone now.
And Gundam streams are back? They were the perfect "background noise" while working! And so many EZA memes came from those! I will never forget "I play by myself!" I just wish the EZA clips were back too since many of those incredible moments are missed by people who can't watch 5 hours streams.
New shows are great!
- Box Peek is taking a very long time, but it's pretty good and I want to see Kyle finish his dream project!
- Don's Design Lab is one of my all time favorite and they are going to be longer! Couldn't ask for more!
- Ben seems very passionate about Don't Skip and they are always an interesting watch.
- Achieve it yourself was really good! I'm certainly curious to see the other allies test their skills. I'm hoping for a longer edit though. It was often way too short.
- A new RPG Maker gamejam show? Yes, please!
- Not sure exactly what Huber's prison of love is, but the title alone sold me! And every time Huber plays a game with another ally, it's a blast! I'm really hoping for a longer format than the 10 minutes they mentionned. Like... if Huber and Ian are sitting together to play The Last of Us... I need more than 10 minutes of that!
Overall, very happy with Phase 4.
And it's looking good for the future, with Brad cooking up something and Kyle mentioning that he needs to finish Box Peek before working on a new show.
I'm personally hoping for more scripted content and bits from all allies. And more bets, please! Bets, stakes, betrayals and trials!
Ah ok. Thanks for clarifying! I wasn't sure if it was officially canned or not.
oh man, every time i think i've got a handle on all the announcements i realize i've forgotten one. don's freaking design lab!!!!!!! how could i forget!
really interested to see how the schedule actually ends up shaking out, especially wrt all the streams. wednesdays are gonna feel so empty haha. (also, yeah, a little heartbroken about TTE, but after the s2 finale i knew it was coming and i totally get it. so bittersweet! maybe it'll make a triumphant return in a couple years and we'll all lose our minds.)
really interested to see how the schedule actually ends up shaking out, especially wrt all the streams. wednesdays are gonna feel so empty haha. (also, yeah, a little heartbroken about TTE, but after the s2 finale i knew it was coming and i totally get it. so bittersweet! maybe it'll make a triumphant return in a couple years and we'll all lose our minds.)
Thoughts on Phase 4:
- Totally support more streaming together. In my opinion this is the whole point of having a big group. The interactions between the crew is what we're here for. Good change.
- Stream team. Fine with this. If you pay more money you get more say. Makes sense to me.
-New shows not being tied to goals. Great change and makes sense. Getting rid of goals entirely? A bit weird to me but I can see the issue on things like the studio or a new person, you don't want those things to be tied to a dollar cutoff (at least publicly). Especially if it drops below that cutoff later.
My issue is that goals are a good, clear way to motivate people to give money. Without a goal for anything I'm worried about a drop in funds. I'm not sure just being entertaining is a good enough motivator. Even charity events have donation goals and those have the ultimate motivator of helping dying people. Will keep an eye on this.
- Podcast date change. Doesn't affect me. Either way there's a 7 day gap and I think news will always be missed no matter what.
-More Huber shows are always good. Give me more of this man.
-Top 10s. To be honest the view count seems alright to me. I'm not too torn up about this going but to me top 10s or other list articles/videos always seem relatively low effort and easy to bang out. If they don't think it's worth it though then fair enough.
-Game Sleuth. Legit bummer this is going, loved this stuff.
-Trailer Jones. Smart to make it more immediate. People only care about the reaction to trailers when the trailers actually drop. If they can do Trailer Jones the same day or the day after a trailer drops, it should get much more eyeballs on it.
-Tabletop leaving and Board Game show. Nice! This is exactly what I wanted. Totally excited to go watch and learn a bunch of board games. Honestly, I didn't join in Tabletop from the beginning so it made it hard to jump in when there are so many episodes already. It had its run, time to end it.
-Don's Design Lab, Box Peek, Don't Skip, Achieve It Yourself!, Together We RPG, thumbs up to all these.
If they are thinking more concepts I could do with another Movie/TV podcast. Spoiler modes aren't often enough. Maybe a movie watch-along cast where they provide commentary.
- Totally support more streaming together. In my opinion this is the whole point of having a big group. The interactions between the crew is what we're here for. Good change.
- Stream team. Fine with this. If you pay more money you get more say. Makes sense to me.
-New shows not being tied to goals. Great change and makes sense. Getting rid of goals entirely? A bit weird to me but I can see the issue on things like the studio or a new person, you don't want those things to be tied to a dollar cutoff (at least publicly). Especially if it drops below that cutoff later.
My issue is that goals are a good, clear way to motivate people to give money. Without a goal for anything I'm worried about a drop in funds. I'm not sure just being entertaining is a good enough motivator. Even charity events have donation goals and those have the ultimate motivator of helping dying people. Will keep an eye on this.
- Podcast date change. Doesn't affect me. Either way there's a 7 day gap and I think news will always be missed no matter what.
-More Huber shows are always good. Give me more of this man.
-Top 10s. To be honest the view count seems alright to me. I'm not too torn up about this going but to me top 10s or other list articles/videos always seem relatively low effort and easy to bang out. If they don't think it's worth it though then fair enough.
-Game Sleuth. Legit bummer this is going, loved this stuff.
-Trailer Jones. Smart to make it more immediate. People only care about the reaction to trailers when the trailers actually drop. If they can do Trailer Jones the same day or the day after a trailer drops, it should get much more eyeballs on it.
-Tabletop leaving and Board Game show. Nice! This is exactly what I wanted. Totally excited to go watch and learn a bunch of board games. Honestly, I didn't join in Tabletop from the beginning so it made it hard to jump in when there are so many episodes already. It had its run, time to end it.
-Don's Design Lab, Box Peek, Don't Skip, Achieve It Yourself!, Together We RPG, thumbs up to all these.
If they are thinking more concepts I could do with another Movie/TV podcast. Spoiler modes aren't often enough. Maybe a movie watch-along cast where they provide commentary.
Another thing worth pointing out: they didn't highlight their current shows on their presentation. Mysterious Monsters (which is GRADE S effort), Frame Trap, Reaction Shots, EZ Update, etc
If someone would be willing to make an image highlighting every current/future show, they'd see we have the strongest line-up of youtube shows ever ON TOP of their better strategy at streaming.
I really think Phase 4, while not a bombastic change up, represents the most optimized and in sync with the audience the Easy Allies ever were.
Maybe they lacked the call-to-arms to increase their $$$ numbers but I never felt better about the 5 bucks I spend every month. Hopefully they can capture new fans and increase their numbers sustainably.
If someone would be willing to make an image highlighting every current/future show, they'd see we have the strongest line-up of youtube shows ever ON TOP of their better strategy at streaming.
I really think Phase 4, while not a bombastic change up, represents the most optimized and in sync with the audience the Easy Allies ever were.
Maybe they lacked the call-to-arms to increase their $$$ numbers but I never felt better about the 5 bucks I spend every month. Hopefully they can capture new fans and increase their numbers sustainably.
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