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[Kneefoil]

Some of the gifts are cool, especially the self made stuff, but I have sometimes felt that the gift opening segment has gone on for too long. It's not that bad since I'm never watching them live anyway due to them starting at 4am my time, so I can just skip the segment, if I feel like it.

In a way gifts are better than donations since there was at least some thought put into them, but as a fan I'd obviously rather see all the gift, sub and donation money go towards their Patreon instead so we'd already be over the $40k goal, and closer to the $45k and $50k goals. I'm sure the Allies appreciate any kind of support given to them, though.

 

[Dmax3901]

IMO the group streams are pretty fucking shit now.

not even touching the shitty games they list to stream. my biggest gripe is the present opening. you guys have an issue with EZA recognising people supporting them financially on twitch but not with them opening up presents? presents are a complete waste of money that could be better used to support EZA. what has more utility to an ally trying to pay their bills: a batman poster or a $50 donation? for some reason the EZA community is against donations or more over, acknowledging donations. but its perfectly fine for some random cunt to keep buying pointless shit just so he can get his sycophantic message read on air. for me its no different. its just people spending money on unnecessary gifts so they can get some sort of acknowledgment on stream.

seriously, i watched a stream the other week and there was present opening that went over an hour. it was fucking gross. a bunch of useless shit for the guys. the sentiment is nice but shit, at a certain point its way over the top. why cant they just read letters? why does there need to be a 'gift' attached to it? how many obscure posters and books do they need? at the least, donate the money you wouldve spent so they can actually use it as opposed to worthless consumerism shit.

am i alone in this?

Disregarding for a moment the potential validity in your argument, you need to learn how to say it better. Your post just comes across as unnecessarily aggressive and inflammatory.

 

[luchadork]

Disregarding for a moment the potential validity in your argument, you need to learn how to say it better. Your post just comes across as unnecessarily aggressive and inflammatory.

this is a fair point.

 

[Wiggy]

I like presents (often a stream highlight)
Sub song never bothers me at all

 

[Philippo]

I almost literally only watch the presents part in group streams lol

 

[LiquidSolid]

Holy shit, this thread sometimes.

My thoughts:
- The only time I don't like the sub song is when it interrupts something or is done too often in a short period (like 3+ times in just a couple of minutes). It's fine the vast majority of the time.
- Gifts are often the highlights of the group streams for me. If they're playing a boring game and I'm not into it, I'll usually do something else while they play but I always stop what I'm doing when the gift segment starts.
- The game selection for group streams has been pretty bad over the last few weeks, yeah.
- The Nioh review is great. Nice work, Ben (and Jones). I'm looking forward to one day finding the time to play it (as well as Dark Souls 1-3...).

 

[sora87]

Wow somebody is being a Grinch.

He is right about game choice for the group streams.

Very much so. It's like they're actively trying for rubbish games.

 

[Napalm_Frank]

Any link where Kyle and Dam is arguing FE?

 

[Auctopus]

Yeah, Lucha, I know where you're coming from but you need to cool it a little. You can be kind in your words whilst still making a point.

I agree that the gifts seem to have taken centre stage in the group stream now and they seem to distract the guys from the actual stream game. This might be because the last few group stream games haven't been that great.

But I still think it's important to acknowledge the presents on stream. It's like Christmas or Birthdays, if you put the thought and time in to buying someone a gift, you want to see their reaction when they open it and the Allies want to appreciate them as well. I'd say it's less about gratification and more just about plain politeness.

 

[Mista Koo]

I'll admit I've sent a gift before I was even a patron. Es tut mir leid, but I enjoy the gratification ¯\_(&#12484_/¯
A few posts here made me feel guilty because of it and I became a patron before they received my gift.

My thoughts:
- The only time I don't like the sub song is when it interrupts something or is done too often in a short period (like 3+ times in just a couple of minutes). It's fine the vast majority of the time.
- Gifts are often the highlights of the group streams for me. If they're playing a boring game and I'm not into it, I'll usually do something else while they play but I always stop what I'm doing when the gift segment starts.
- The game selection for group streams has been pretty bad over the last few weeks, yeah.

Yep. The last point in particular since it's the only thing I do on Patreon.

PS: The "automata" mispronunciation thing for Nier Automata is going to drive me nuts. This is an obscure word to most people I suppose, but in CS we, uh, use it sometimes.

I did my undergrads in a country where we don't speak English natively, so no one corrected my pronunciation

 

[SprachBrooks]

Lucha going in hard.

The essence of your post is correct in my opinion. I think people need to prioritise better –– especially as Easy Allies is still looking to grow. We can all reconsider the presents thing if it can be money better spent on their Patreon to ensure they get that studio space they so desperately need in order to really increase the quality of their content.

I can't help but feel without that, they'll begin to stagnate in the content they provide, something that is already becoming evident to me. I think Kinda Funny really managed to freshen things up as soon as they got their studio space, and regardless of how you think their content is, its production value is great.

As for the group streams and the opening of presents, I usually just only watch that part anyway. Again, it's an issue of flow, they need to just produce a 'mailbag' video like Giant Bomb do and that way they can really show their appreciation. Most of the time, because they've picked such shitty games for the group streams as an attempt to be quirky and unique, they've realised they're just bad games and the respite of opening presents is more welcoming.

I have one suggestion, that Patreon questions thing needs to happen when you're all together and not over crappy video chat. It's so much better when you're all sitting together having a conversation, and I think considering the amount people have to pledge to get that, they deserve you all coming together rather than a makeshift group chat.

 

[jett]

I for one like seeing all the cool/weird stuff people send to the allies.

 

[Deadman]

The Nioh review was great.

Score spoiler

Spoiler

I thought a 5 was coming

 

[Pie and Beans]

Group Stream game picks have gone majorly downhill and have been pretty crap for a while other than the tourneys and VR nights. Game selection needs to be blown wide the fuck open to have a much bigger list of retro and non-multiplayer games, and have switch outs. Patrons pick doesnt need to be the entire stream. That Power Rangers game was goddam awful the other week too.

The last group stream was one of the better ones because of a little bit of Towerfall and Gundam Breaker 3, a game that was actually good. Wild Guns was shit, and the EZA patrons seem to routinely vote for the shittest game to win often out of old brand nostalgia or whatever. Given the chance to play awesome old stuff like Crazy Taxi, fun is had. I wonder if Kyle is stuck in the old corporate GT Time days of having to do new releases because those guests were on or thats "current" and everyone else is being lazy suggesting games.

Brandons recent Cup Of Jones seemed to be dancing around the gift giving getting a bit out of control. The problem being that each week is entering one-upmanship territory, and perhaps people are spending just a bit too much. The sweets stuff especially is just kinda lame? Someone just hurled a $100 Target card at Bosman the other week. It's just odd but then I don't get a lot of what makes the Twitch world tick.

I'd rather just have more quality shows personally. Specific goals in mind where an ally gets an Adobe Cloud account or whatever to learn and cut more video content (or make time? Does Ian cut anything thats not Easy Update?). It is honestly not that hard once youre set up with audio and music and get to grips with opening and closing clipping brackets.

Don just shows up randomly with these perfectly cut shows, and I feel it should be lighting a fire under some of the other allies. We definitely didn't get enough Tales From Japan, because Ben was new at that and learning, but I would have settled for more photo slideshows with audio rather than just 2 and forgotten. Anime podcast and Frame Trap are great content though, as is Tabletop and all the massive reviews he does. There has however only been 2 Game Sleuth episodes in 7 months. Reading a Zelda manual for an hour seems like an incredibly bad use of time and is not "a show". "Story Time With The Allies" is a pretty dreadful stretch goal (evidence by 40k not being an impetus to the fanbase) because thats what every week of content is anyway, especially things like Talking Syndrome and Cup of Jones.

I said earlier that EZA need to be doing Best Of compilations, because thats the way to net new viewers with essentially demo reels and trailers of what fun can be had by buying in on this outfit. New users need to see whats the fuss about these 3-6 hour streams and podcasts in clipped out form. A random twitter user puts together a Hottake reel, and its like... yes. This shit isn't hard and is just a better use of time for expansion.

We're almost a year in, its been fun times. I know they're doing a lot already (Community Comments while good at getting peoples pledge money in seems like a huge timesink I don't ever watch or care about) But if they ever want to hit that 50k, they need to get their time balancing a bit better and put more into content thats going to draw new viewership.

 

[Auctopus]

As for the group streams and the opening of presents, I usually just only watch that part anyway. Again, it's an issue of flow, they need to just produce a 'mailbag' video like Giant Bomb do and that way they can really show their appreciation.

...

I have one suggestion, that Patreon questions thing needs to happen when you're all together and not over crappy video chat. It's so much better when you're all sitting together having a conversation, and I think considering the amount people have to pledge to get that, they deserve you all coming together rather than a makeshift group chat.

I think these are two things that could potentially start happening when they have a studio. Right now, it's probably too difficult to get the whole group together for these separate shows, then film and edit them in to Q&A, Mailbag, Group Stream etc. so they're done either together or in a Hangout when they're free.

We already know that they do the group stream then the podcast straight after, then sometimes even a show like Kyle Sun, Brandon Moon. I agree that a Mailbag show could be really cool, they could even incorporate fanart in to it then as well.

But yeah, probably ain't gonna happen until they have a proper production space.

 

[CoolOff]

The $100 Target card was so freaking weird.

 

[luchadork]

The $100 Target card was so freaking weird.

at least its practical.

 

[Mista Koo]

Without the presents they would need the group streams to level up to work without them. Current format wouldn't cut it.
As for the game choices, I think Kyle should prepare a game or two as backups when the patron choice isn't worth more than 30 mins. Also limit the presents time.

I said earlier that EZA need to be doing Best Of compilations, because thats the way to net new viewers with essentially demo reels and trailers of what fun can be had by buying in on this outfit. New users need to see whats the fuss about these 3-6 hour streams and podcasts in clipped out form. A random twitter user puts together a Hottake reel, and its like... yes. This shit isn't hard and is just a better use of time for expansion.

I don't think they have enough "fun" content for that to be worth watching, unless it's once or twice a year.

 

[Karu]

The $100 Target card was so freaking weird.

Agreed lol But whatever.

 

[CyanideFuse]

I would say that a time limit should be put on present opening although it seems like the week before lasts vast quantity of presents was possibly a rare occurrence? I can only ever watch the group streams after the fact as I live in the UK and value my sleep but wouldn't want to see this going on for too long if I was watching live.

I do think EZA need to start offering a better selection of games to vote on. I usually roll my eyes at the choices as very often none of them look like they are of any real quality. And when there is one of better quality it doesn't seem to have a chance.

The Crazy Taxi group stream was probably my favourite in a long time because it was a good game choice that worked well for the tournament. I watched this one intently whereas most of the streams I have as background noise whilst working because the game is just so poor.

 

[luchadork]

the dumb game choices reek of kyle. easy solution would be to get someone else to pick the game.

 

[TC McQueen]

The $100 Target card was so freaking weird.

at least its practical.

Target prices are pretty bad (at least in FL, no idea about in CA), as is availability. Amazon or WalMart would be more useful in the long run.

 

[Auctopus]

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the Target Gift Card was given to Kyle as he's said a few times on camera before that he likes wandering around in Target etc.

 

[TheDarkKnight774]

So we've decided to flare up into total group stream complaint mode? Uh.. Ok

First off, lucha tone it the hell down. Good lord

- I have no issue with gift sections. It's fun, unique and entertaining. Yes one week it was excessive because of a big backlog. They could have spaced it out some across weeks but better to clear it out in one go. Especially with that poor game option. I've given gifts on numerous times and it's a fun thing to do. Several I turned into fun tournament duels that provided interesting new competition that otherwise wouldn't happen. Others were just for the holidays. And no gifts != a higher patreon donation. I've been at the $50 tier since day one. Me not doing a one time gift here or there isn't going to get me to raise it higher. And if my raising my pledge isn't going to last for more than a month then it's not a real increase in patreon goals. Those are ones that need to be sustainable. Not a one off bump for a month.

- I also don't have any issue with the subscriber shoutouts or if they went to donations. It's not a big deal. Except for last stream where Kyle stopped everything down. Just call them out, and keep things moving. I really think they are losing out in revenue by not doing the donation thing. Hell this past week Max's stream went nuts with a guy giving 10k donations and then others dumping in with 2-3k donations. But they chose not to and that's fine. It's their call.

- The game selections haven't been great the last couple weeks. A combination of Kyle leaning toward new games, but not the big games that get solo streams creates a number of slim picking weeks. Usually the group vibe overcomes it. Last tues stream was just poor in general. Kyle was in a really bad mood. Damiani was on tilt. A number of outages. It was just an off night. And you could see it in the podcast later.

- I would like Kyle to mix in more older games that are co-op/local multi focused. Look at the sum of the streams. The best ones are usually ones with games that weren't new that week. Pokemon snap, crazy taxi, Mario kart 64, the various fighting games, etc. Kyle always says others can suggest games but the rest just don't. So if they don't why not let patreons submit games to be voted on as well?

 

[Axass]

I don't understand why people can't seem to convey criticism in a meanigful way and instead go on aggressive tirades all of a sudden.


Thoughts on group streams:

I do feel that the last weeks have been weak, I vastly prefer tournament streams, betting payoff streams or other specials to standard ones, unless the game is really nice to watch and/or the Allies are really into it (Snap). Most of the time the guys pay only cursory attention to what's going on on stream (then again, they shouldn't fake curiosity, they should stream games they genuinily care about), or there are baffling decisions, like playing Mario & Sonic single player (I'm aware they didn't know about the controllers situation, but that's a problem in itself: they shouldn't go on air unprepared). You should have a greater selection of games to choose from, especially great old stuff. Also Nintendo, it seems to work wonders for you guys.


Thoughts on gift opening:

I don't mind it at all, but I wish the time spent on it during streams was more balanced. You could think about allocating a set timeslot to it each week, let's say 20 minutes every group stream in a particular spot, not unlike Podcast Halftime. Right now there are times when you have nothing to open and times you open gifts for 40 minutes. The final result would be far more enjoyable, especially because people could just jump over that part of the stream easily while watching in the archive, if they don't like it.


Thoughts on sub song:

To put it simply: it's not annoying until it's annoying. I mean that you should choose on a case by case basis: when there are a dozen subs over 2 hours of streaming the song doesn't come off as annoying, it's when you're constantly singing it that it becomes disruptive. At the same time, I think that what you tried last time definitely doesn't work, it's artificial and silly. One thing I definitely ask you to do, is to try and not scream it out of your lungs whenever you sing the song.


Thoughts on EZAnime:

Good pilot, it's understandable that it needs work though, as Brad never hosted before and it's a pretty new kind of show for the Allies. Positives are the discussion itself, which was spot on and interesting, the recommendations segment, the connection to games (which you should definitily keep trying to have each month, as it links to what you are in first place: a gaming outlet), the palpable excitement and the cozy set-up. What I'd improve: I don't like the title, but that's a personal objection (I'd loved "It's Ok to Like Anime", also "esanime" means "dead or near death" in Italian, lol), I'd up the running time to at least one hour and as people has been saying on Youtube a lot, the main improvement would be a more structured effort like:

• start with a general intro to the work, talking two minutes about the author, possible past works, the year it came out and the media through which it can be enjoyed;
  
• a brief synopsis of the plot, genre and themes the work approaches;
  
• I'd say how and why I was introduced to it;
  
• I'd pick around 5 points I'd want to discuss more in depth about it, that could be plot or thematic related;
  
• in the end if it's an ongoing series I'd talk about where I hope/think the work is going in the future, if it's a complete series I'd talk about the ending and whether it was a satisfying one;
  
• connection to gaming (possibly licensed games as well) and recommendations segment.

 

[Budi]

I don't like the Sub song as stated earlier, but I do love to watch the gift openings. Kinda weird I guess. I watch the group streams (when I do) for mostly the interactions between the group. I do love tournaments though, but otherwise I don't that much care for the actual games played. While I love the present section myself, I would say that it's unfortunate that it takes time from the games they are supposed to play. I don't think there's any other win win solution to this except that when the presents take 30-60 minutes, they would extend the stream a bit. Ofcourse I understand that tuesdays are already packed for EZA crew.

 

[sora87]

the dumb game choices reek of kyle. easy solution would be to get someone else to pick the game.

IIRC Kyle was saying to the other allies if they want to suggest games then please do, seems they leave it to him and he wants the others to pick games.

 

[Pie and Beans]

- I also don't have any issue with the subscriber shoutouts or if they went to donations. It's not a big deal. Except for last stream where Kyle stopped everything down. Just call them out, and keep things moving. I really think they are losing out in revenue by not doing the donation thing. Hell this past week Max's stream went nuts with a guy giving 10k donations and then others dumping in with 2-3k donations. But they chose not to and that's fine. It's their call.

Please never. Donation-bots and the like with sound effects and so on are beyond Ow My Balls of Idiocracy fame. Thats why the sub song is beginning to grate because everyone wants their name called out and how feasible does that remain if you're targeting thousands of people? The messages pop up after all. Interrupting good conversation, gameplay or skits to do the song at times is just unfathomably annoying. Especially for Twitch subs but not Patreons (unless its that incredibly pointless block on the podcast every month. Waste of Jones voice!). Twitch money is a curious void. Maybe just narrow it down to saying "Thanks ______ & ____, & ______" out loud. Boring but more conversational and less "EVERYBODY STOP AND DO THIS".

It's difficult because as you say, thats how the big money channels do it, but its at the same gross as fuck. Probably why Brandon wants a Business Monster to go over their heads and tell them what the absolutely need to be doing.

Right now though, that 50k needs to be the absolute target so they can get a studio and evolve. That means attracting as many new people to the Patreon as possible since they'ved kinda plateu'd at 39k, and that means advertising with trailers or as I say, Best Of The Month videos with all the hype, pop-offs, bets, and dumb "muh trajectories" moments. You're not gonna draw people in with "hey watch this 3 hour thing, its real good I promise". At E3 they know to clip that stuff out, but for the rest of the year its like their brains turn off. The Holy Trinity video is why they exist in their current form and that was clipped out and created by a fan. Rest of the gang need to get on Jones & Bloodworth's level at getting their content out there. If that means less MMO streams or whatever, seems like a worthy sacrifice.

 

[luchadork]

I don't understand why people can't seem to convey criticism in a meanigful way and instead go on aggressive tirades all of a sudden.

its provocative. it gets the people going.

and at least now we know theres a couple of people who think the present giving is over the top. and that the money would be better spent on a studio. eza should accept and acknowledge donations on stream. some people on twitch are making 6 figures from donations. thats the studio right there. theyve got some weird false modesty thing going where they feel awkward about asking for money.

noone wants to say it but a large part of the reason people are sending presents is to get their messages read out on stream. if they got rid of the openings on stream, theres nothing to stop people still sending their presents in but i bet a lot of them would stop. imagine if instead, we had a studio. and people were sending in funny drawings or songs theyd made or dioramas or something. itd be waaay more interesting than another fucking poster opening or a packet of swedish candies with a slightly funny name.

replace the 'things' with donations and creativity.

 

[TheDarkKnight774]

P&B,
I hear ya. Like I said I'm generally indifferent to it. So I'm good either way.

So I've thought about it some more and I'm liking this game selection improvement

Add a community game pick to the Group stream voting
- Like the L&R submissions, patreons $5 and up can suggest games for the Tuesday night group streams.
- Each week Kyle will pick one of those, mark it as the community pick with the submitters name as a 4th game to vote on
- If it wins then they get a shoutout in the stream for the suggestion
- We get more engagement in game selections

 

[luchadork]

i think more choice isnt necessarily a good thing. they should just pick games they know will be fun to watch and have some sort of competitive edge to them.

you could honestly just pick 8 games. and repeat that selection every 2 months.

mario kart one week. mario party the next. street fighter. halo. jackbox. rockband. smash bros. goldeneye.

i guarantee you have better streams with that than coming up with 4 new games every week and having people vote on them.

 

[Pie and Beans]

If I had faith in the EZA community's ability to pick, I'd agree, but week in week out we'd miss the best games in the vote for some total tosh. I think a stream of them playing something insane like Zombie Revenge would be great, but I doubt many people would vote on that if it had Mario Party or something asinine and overdone.

Splitting the stream into community pick and something the Allies really want to play as a group seems better for variety. Seeing Kyle genuinely get into Gundam Breaker 3, a game I had no idea existed, was the highlight of previous stream.

But then that was a gift so haha, thats another can of worms. Off-topic but Arin Hanson of GameGrumps fame's library of "Games He'll Never Play" is a personal sour note. I'm was never entirely sure why the GT library 'had to go' before EZA, other than space?

 

[Hasney]

I'd really hate it if the new games went away entirely, but yeah, if scraping the bottom of the barrel is the case that week, just throw something else up there instead. And like someone suggested, don't be afraid to switch out the game.

Defo need single player games on there as well, not always multiplayer. I do like the multiplayer, but man, the Pokemon Snap stream is one of the best they've ever done.

 

[Karu]

and at least now we know theres a couple of people who think the present giving is over the top. and that the money would be better spent on a studio. eza should accept and acknowledge donations on stream. some people on twitch are making 6 figures from donations. thats the studio right there. theyve got some weird false modesty thing going where they feel awkward about asking for money.

Brandon said repeatedly only Patreon money goes towards the studio goal, nothing else.
And even if they magically get the chance of making that much money per month (and obviously not as a one time thing), the streamers who make that much - what's their viewer and fanbase average? Apart from the fact that there is still a 4k money hole left to be filled.

 

[Auctopus]

Whilst I believe it's a good idea, those of you who are recommending Giant Bomb-esque "Best of..." videos are underestimating the amount of production power GB have behind the main cast. EZA is literally the guys and Don.

and at least now we know theres a couple of people who think the present giving is over the top. and that the money would be better spent on a studio. eza should accept and acknowledge donations on stream. some people on twitch are making 6 figures from donations. thats the studio right there.

Huh? And?

Once again, this thread sort of makes the mistake of a) thinking this thread represents the entire EZA community and b) thinking that because they're a patron, they should have contol over what the Allies spend their time creating.

Whilst community-growth and patron numbers are postively correlated, community-growth is allowed to happen isolated from financial growth. Sending/Receiving gifts can happen parallel to the Allies reaching their business goals and in-tow strengthens the community and the bond between Allies and fans. Whether it's narcisstic or not to send gifts in the hope that your name will be read out on screen, gift-giving is an aspect of the community that isn't going to stop - from Arkham's insane Christmas gifts to Kailee's fanart. Additonally, you don't know how much the people who are sending gifts are also donating to Patreon.

Lastly, I'm 24 - from what I know of the community, I feel like I'm the midpoint of the age spectrum that represents the Allies' fanbase. They have fans as young as 14 and fans approaching 40. Those vastly different fanbases want different things out of their game outlets, whereas the older groups could be more focused on reviews, critiques and conversations, it's not odd anymore to think that the young age groups are more focused on reactions, community and acknowledgement.

I'm sure it's the team's desire to adhere to those different wants and needs so eliminating aspects of EZA that some fans prioritise over other fan's complaints/wishes when they can peacefully co-exist can end up isolating and eventually losing major parts of the fanbase (and inevitably patrons). We're not losing out by having gift sections of streams and in turn, other fans gain a lot from them.

 

[Pie and Beans]

Whilst I believe it's a good idea, those of you who are recommending Giant Bomb-esque "Best of..." videos are underestimating the amount of production power GB have behind the main cast. EZA is literally the guys and Don.

Production power of Best Of's is some video cutting software, time, and I guess if being done externally, fast upload to get to an Ally.

Game Grumps Best Of's were started by fans and then brought on board because they were clearly paying off bigtime. Put a price on it, outsource, get it done.

 

[TheDarkKnight774]

If I had faith in the EZA community's ability to pick, I'd agree, but week in week out we'd miss the best games in the vote for some total tosh. I think a stream of them playing something insane like Zombie Revenge would be great, but I doubt many people would vote on that if it had Mario Party or something asinine and overdone.

Splitting the stream into community pick and something the Allies really want to play as a group seems better for variety. Seeing Kyle genuinely get into Gundam Breaker 3, a game I had no idea existed, was the highlight of previous stream.

But then that was a gift so haha, thats another can of worms. Off-topic but Arin Hanson of GameGrumps fame's library of "Games He'll Never Play" is a personal sour note. I'm was never entirely sure why the GT library 'had to go' before EZA, other than space?

I'm not saying it's a separate section. Just a 4th game that is an option to vote. And of course the suggestions are still curated by Kyle so it's not going to be some steam green light ordeal.

It's not like community suggestion will win every week

 

[Visceir]

I almost literally only watch the presents part in group streams lol

Same, mostly because I also agree with the "bad game selection" sentiment. I never catch the stream live either.

 

[Primethius]

its provocative. it gets the people going.

and at least now we know theres a couple of people who think the present giving is over the top. and that the money would be better spent on a studio. eza should accept and acknowledge donations on stream. some people on twitch are making 6 figures from donations. thats the studio right there. theyve got some weird false modesty thing going where they feel awkward about asking for money.

noone wants to say it but a large part of the reason people are sending presents is to get their messages read out on stream. if they got rid of the openings on stream, theres nothing to stop people still sending their presents in but i bet a lot of them would stop. imagine if instead, we had a studio. and people were sending in funny drawings or songs theyd made or dioramas or something. itd be waaay more interesting than another fucking poster opening or a packet of swedish candies with a slightly funny name.

replace the 'things' with donations and creativity.

No, it doesn't. It just shows that maybe your point isn't as strong to begin with if you have to resort to hyperbole or being aggressive.

You are absolutely layering your own feelings on the matter and acting as if that's the case for people who send in gifts. Some people have short messages, some don't, some are directed towards a specific ally and some have long messages. People send the gifts for a variety of reasons. That you can't see those reasons doesn't make your reason the default position.

Just personally for example, I've been considering sending a gift. I support EZA on Patreon. I'm a sub on Twitch. But guess what? I still want to send a gift. It doesn't have to be something new I buy. Or it might be. But it'll be unrelated to the support I'll give EZA regardless of the gift.

Same with the Twitch subscriber song. I started watching EZA last December. Hadn't seen GT and didn't know much about them. Subbed on Twitch for the first time while Ben was streaming. He acknowledged it. It felt nice. Every resub since has been while the stream is offline. Didn't get the acknolledgement. Doesn't bother me. I suspect a lot of people are in that boat. It's just nice to get the acknowledgment sometimes but it's not the most reason people do it. So if they can weave the subscriber stuff into the streams without being overbearing (which I feel like they've done so far), I'm all for it.

---

Hope they don't change the gift stuff up. It's fun and heartwarming stuff to watch and it's just great to see the allies interact.

 

[Tankard]

About the group streams, i don't mind the subscriber song or the gift opening, but the selection of games has been absolutely awful, even know i love their personalities and i'm mostly there for them, i find myself bailing out often because of these games.

It's ok to play new games too, even not only co-op ones from time to time. Love the retro, but right now it's just too much, in my opinion.

 

[N° 2048]

its provocative. it gets the people going.

and at least now we know theres a couple of people who think the present giving is over the top. and that the money would be better spent on a studio. eza should accept and acknowledge donations on stream. some people on twitch are making 6 figures from donations. thats the studio right there. theyve got some weird false modesty thing going where they feel awkward about asking for money.

noone wants to say it but a large part of the reason people are sending presents is to get their messages read out on stream. if they got rid of the openings on stream, theres nothing to stop people still sending their presents in but i bet a lot of them would stop. imagine if instead, we had a studio. and people were sending in funny drawings or songs theyd made or dioramas or something. itd be waaay more interesting than another fucking poster opening or a packet of swedish candies with a slightly funny name.

replace the 'things' with donations and creativity.

You seriously have no idea what you're talking about. No one but you has said that.
This has been so frustrating to read, but I know EZA won't change because of one grumpy-ass person

No, it doesn't. It just shows that maybe your point isn't as strong to begin with if you have to resort to hyperbole or being aggressive.

You are absolutely layering your own feelings on the matter and acting as if that's the case for people who send in gifts. Some people have short messages, some don't, some are directed towards a specific ally and some have long messages. People send the gifts for a variety of reasons. That you can't see those reasons doesn't your reason the default position.

Just personally for example, I've been considering sending a gift. I support EZA on Patreon. I'm a sub on Twitch. But guess what? I still want to send a gift. It doesn't have to be something new I buy. Or it might be. But it'll be unrelated to the support I'll give EZA regardless of the gift.

Same with the Twitch subscriber song. I started watching EZA last December. Hadn't seen GT and didn't know much about them. Subbed on Twitch for the first time while Ben was streaming. He acknowledged it. It felt nice. Every resub since has been while the stream is offline. Didn't get the acknolledgement. Doesn't bother me. I suspect a lot of people are in that boat. It's just nice to get the acknowledgment sometimes but it's not the most reason people do it. So if they can weave the subscriber stuff into the streams without being overbearing (which I feel like they've done so far), I'm all for it.

---

Hope they don't change the gift stuff up. It's fun and heartwarming stuff to watch and it's just great to see the allies interact.

Well said 100% agree.

 

[Mista Koo]

I love how they are acknowledging the failed attempts at spicing up the podcast.

The Mario Maker vs Little Big Planet comparison is often harsh to the latter. I agree with Jones that LBP has more venues for creative expression, while SMM is just a fantastic level designer with solid game mechanics. Unfortunately I missed the train on LBP as I didn't have a PS3 then. I wonder if the servers are still up?

And Kyle is gonna be so disappointed when the Switch comes out. I learned my lesson as a 3DS ambassador.

So I've thought about it some more and I'm liking this game selection improvement

Add a community game pick to the Group stream voting
- Like the L&R submissions, patreons $5 and up can suggest games for the Tuesday night group streams.
- Each week Kyle will pick one of those, mark it as the community pick with the submitters name as a 4th game to vote on
- If it wins then they get a shoutout in the stream for the suggestion
- We get more engagement in game selections

That would probably push me to the $5 tier.

you could honestly just pick 8 games. and repeat that selection every 2 months.

mario kart one week. mario party the next. street fighter. halo. jackbox. rockband. smash bros. goldeneye.

i guarantee you have better streams with that than coming up with 4 new games every week and having people vote on them.

Oh god no. Some of the greatest streams are stuff I wouldn't have thought of.

 

[luchadork]

and at least now we know theres a couple of people who think the present giving is over the top.

No one but you has said that.

I do believe that's another thing they need to either push back to the end of the stream or make a separate video for. As it is now, it's just giving a bad impression to folks who are either new to Easy Allies or don't agree with the concept of gift giving such as yourself.

I think they'd be better acknowledged in a separate video similar to like how Giant Bomb does their mailbag videos especially if they're going to continue receiving so many of them.

I also do have to agree that lately it's been a bit too much of a time sink. I still want to see them do it, but it would likely be best to reserve them until the end or do a separate showcase video for the more extreme cases.

I have sometimes felt that the gift opening segment has gone on for too long.

I agree that the gifts seem to have taken centre stage in the group stream now and they seem to distract the guys from the actual stream game.

The essence of your post is correct in my opinion. I think people need to prioritise better –– especially as Easy Allies is still looking to grow. We can all reconsider the presents thing if it can be money better spent on their Patreon to ensure they get that studio space they so desperately need in order to really increase the quality of their content.

I wish the time spent on it during streams was more balanced.

.

 

[TheDarkKnight774]

Now you are doing the obnoxious quote wall? It's like a waking internet cliche. Have discussions don't just yell and thrash around and then think you've accomplished something

Most of those quotes aren't saying no to gifts but like everything else balance is key. The fact you read that as agreeing with you is interesting

 

[Auctopus]

.

Thanks for the selective quoting.

I agree that the gifts seem to have taken centre stage in the group stream now and they seem to distract the guys from the actual stream game. This might be because the last few group stream games haven't been that great.

But I still think it's important to acknowledge the presents on stream.

I said I agreed that they'd taken centre stage but that might be because the last few games have been lacklustre.

I didn't say they were over the top either. Also, what I replied to you after that...

Whilst community-growth and patron numbers are postively correlated, community-growth is allowed to happen isolated from financial growth. Sending/Receiving gifts can happen parallel to the Allies reaching their business goals and in-tow strengthens the community and the bond between Allies and fans. Whether it's narcisstic or not to send gifts in the hope that your name will be read out on screen, gift-giving is an aspect of the community that isn't going to stop - from Arkham's insane Christmas gifts to Kailee's fanart. Additonally, you don't know how much the people who are sending gifts are also donating to Patreon.

Lastly, I'm 24 - from what I know of the community, I feel like I'm the midpoint of the age spectrum that represents the Allies' fanbase. They have fans as young as 14 and fans approaching 40. Those vastly different fanbases want different things out of their game outlets, whereas the older groups could be more focused on reviews, critiques and conversations, it's not odd anymore to think that the young age groups are more focused on reactions, community and acknowledgement.

I'm sure it's the team's desire to adhere to those different wants and needs so eliminating aspects of EZA that some fans prioritise over other fan's complaints/wishes when they can peacefully co-exist can end up isolating and eventually losing major parts of the fanbase (and inevitably patrons). We're not losing out by having gift sections of streams and in turn, other fans gain a lot from them.

Says pretty clearly that I don't have a real problem with gift streams.

I'm not saying you don't have a point dude, I'm not saying there's a right/wrong answer but you need to back off a little and get some perspective/fresh air.

 

[N° 2048]

.

Ok buddy, you think what you want. Keep seeing what only you want to see.

 

[luchadork]

Now you are doing the obnoxious quote wall? It's like a waking internet cliche. Have discussions don't just yell and thrash around and then think you've accomplished something

Most of those quotes aren't saying no to gifts but like everything else balance is key. The fact you read that as agreeing with you is interesting

whats with the ad hominem and strawman?

where did i say no gifts? in fact i'm arguing for balance myself. i think its over the top and a lot of people agree with me (see obnoxious quote wall).

the sentiment is nice but shit, at a certain point its way over the top

i appreciate the sentiment and it was cool at first but cmon

 

[N° 2048]

whats with the ad hominem and strawman?

where did i say no gifts? in fact i'm arguing for balance myself. i think its over the top and a lot of people agree with me (see obnoxious quote wall).

IMO the group streams are pretty fucking shit now.

not even touching the shitty games they list to stream. my biggest gripe is the present opening. you guys have an issue with EZA recognising people supporting them financially on twitch but not with them opening up presents? presents are a complete waste of money that could be better used to support EZA. what has more utility to an ally trying to pay their bills: a batman poster or a $50 donation? for some reason the EZA community is against donations or more over, acknowledging donations. but its perfectly fine for some random cunt to keep buying pointless shit just so he can get his sycophantic message read on air. for me its no different. its just people spending money on unnecessary gifts so they can get some sort of acknowledgment on stream.

seriously, i watched a stream the other week and there was present opening that went over an hour. it was fucking gross. a bunch of useless shit for the guys. the sentiment is nice but shit, at a certain point its way over the top. why cant they just read letters? why does there need to be a 'gift' attached to it? how many obscure posters and books do they need? at the least, donate the money you wouldve spent so they can actually use it as opposed to worthless consumerism shit.

am i alone in this?

.

You really want to keep going, eh? You can't even remember what you yourself said.

 

[Karu]

whats with the ad hominem and strawman?

Calling fans out as "random cunts" and talking about ad hominem. Haha. Okay.

 

[Tankard]

Damn, this was a great night of Tets for Kyle.