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Easy Allies |OT3| "That sounds like the GameTrailers guy!"

Visceir

Member
The 2017 Easy Allies Paris Games Week Betting Special is up

A thousand kisses from Don
nQCUrwF.gif
 
My bets:

Will Shenmue be shown? - Yes
Which will get more screen time; Horizon Zero Dawn or Detroit: Become Human? - Detroit: Become Human
Will Spider-man be shown in the first half, second half, or not at all? - The First Half
Will a new God of War weapon be revealed? - No

Will there be a new game from Ready at Dawn? - No
Will there be a new game from Remedy? - No
Will there be a new game from Rocksteady? - Yes
Will a Detroit: Become Human demo be released? - No
 

Kneefoil

Member
Betting Special and Fiasconauts on the same day. What a treat!

I haven't listened to the podcast yet either.

Wait, Origin reviewed on Xbox one X? it's already out? did i miss something

btw, obligatory

G4KtIcu.png
I saw on polygon that they were forced to review it on xb1x if they wanted to review early. Must have received a console early

Y'know, how Huber was on an assignment last week? I heard he was at an Assassin's Creed Origins review event.

My bets:

Will Shenmue be shown? - Yes
Which will get more screen time; Horizon Zero Dawn or Detroit: Become Human? - Detroit: Become Human
Will Spider-man be shown in the first half, second half, or not at all? - The First Half
Will a new God of War weapon be revealed? - No

Will there be a new game from Ready at Dawn? - No
Will there be a new game from Remedy? - No
Will there be a new game from Rocksteady? - Yes
Will a Detroit: Become Human demo be released? - No
Just finished watching the Betting Special. My bets were literally identical to yours, although I also marked down whether I agreed or disagreed with the first person's bet.
(Agree, Disagree, Disagree, Agree)
 

Mikey Jr.

Member
Gonna give one final goodbye to EZA-GAF.

3 solid OT's. That ain't half bad. It's clear EZA-GAF is dead, so time to move on. Posting for posterity.

o7

See ya everyone you know where!
 

Ultimadrago

Member
Yep, I'm still here. Let's just say I don't have to be stuck in any one spot.

I just jumped in on the Easy Allies Halloween stream. I forgot what this game they're playing is, the one where the couch gets to insert their choices. I always wanted to take a peek at it, so glad to see a little with the Allies.
 

Ultimadrago

Member
Nice Mario Odyssey review from Damiani. Personally speaking, I wouldn't have given it a perfect score (as I really disliked the required partial motion-control implementation for entire arsenal access, Broodal presence was too much for how uninteresting they are as personas/bosses and the sheer Moon count watered down my accomplishment in finding them).

However, his position in the review is understandable and you can tell he's been waiting for an advanced take on Mario exploration since Super Mario 64. And there's a certain strength in having full stages "combined" into one large area over leaving and returning for each. In even less words, I respect the review.
 
ロキー;253018377 said:
I could feel Huber's pain wtih Battlefront II in the latest frametrap. EA just sucked the soul out of the series.


It's amazing how they've treated this franchise over the years.
They made the creators of the OG Battlefront games make a shitty LOTR Battlefront game as quick as possible before EA lost the rights to the LOTR and thus it was rushed and unpolished, EA then rewarded them by shutting them down and then they reignite the franchise as a slot machine. Amazing.
 

Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
Between entertaining collaborations with Kinda Funny and Colin Moriarty and changing from stars to a 10 point grading scale, quite a bit has happened over the past few months. How is the EZA community on GAF these days?
 

ST2K

Member
Between entertaining collaborations with Kinda Funny and Colin Moriarty and changing from stars to a 10 point grading scale, quite a bit has happened over the past few months. How is the EZA community on GAF these days?

Quite difficult to maintain a community here when EZA made their position clear on things. I would suggest you might want to look at places like the EZA Forums if you want to reintegrate into their community, assuming you're not comfortable with Reset.
 

Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
Quite difficult to maintain a community here when EZA made their position clear on things. I would suggest you might want to look at places like the EZA Forums if you want to reintegrate into their community, assuming you're not comfortable with Reset.

I do converse on the official forums as well as Discord/Twitch chat.

However, I have to disagree with the "EZA" position you have mentioned. When that podcast came out, it was at a time where the former community was destroying its own accounts by spamming horrendous images/topics. Said awful community of oldgaf has sinced moved over to ResetEra, where things have continued unimpeded. I see no issue with conversing about EZA here in a forum that is currently more open for discussion and far less antagonistic to its members.
 

ST2K

Member
I'm not in disagreement with you on that. Frankly, I'm not really feeling good about either GAF or Reset at this point. But I'm just not sure how many EZA fans are here post-split, and it may take quite a bit of time for enough people to show up to support healthy discussion. And it's good to remember EZA themselves had a hand in fostering this environment, for better or worse.
 

decisions

Member
Hey guys I'm a big EZA fan! Frankly I think EZA's "stance" on what happened was just them trying to remain mostly apolitical/neutral on what was going on at that time.

To get things started, I thought Brandon doing Colin's podcast was a really good thing. The podcast ended up being really interesting and had some healthy disagreement in it, and it showed that EZA aren't slaves to the liberal gaming media. Not that I think every gaming media outlet is some crazy authoritarian liberal site, but it shows EZA still has honesty within themselves and their content, and that's what keeps me coming back. The moment I thought KF lost that is when I sought elsewhere for gaming pundits, and EZA was the clear best option.
 

Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
I'm not in disagreement with you on that. Frankly, I'm not really feeling good about either GAF or Reset at this point. But I'm just not sure how many EZA fans are here post-split, and it may take quite a bit of time for enough people to show up to support healthy discussion. And it's good to remember EZA themselves had a hand in fostering this environment, for better or worse.

This confuses me. Are you referring to EZA as in the core members of EZA or EZA as in the community that helped foster the environment we see on Era/OldGaf? I would argue that neither are correct in this case. There are substantial groups within the community that disagrees with the authoritarian left moderation and the "drama" that came from the Colin Moriarty podcast.

As for EZA proper, I have to agree with decisions decisions as their stance has been very neutral/apolitical. This is why I do prefer EZA over many other groups. They (usually) don't delve into the idiotic babble that seems to be the bread and butter for "video game" sites like Waypoint or Polygon. They talk specifically about video games and whether they are good or bad.
 

Mikey Jr.

Member
I come to gaf maybe twice a week. There will be a point in time when I don't come at all. Not sure when that will be, but it will come. I can't even be bothered to change my avatar.

Everything just kinda moves slowly around here. Not really for me.
 

iconmaster

Banned
Good on the guys for tearing apart the ESRB's fig leaf of an answer to exploitative purchase mechanics. Especially Brandon, he nailed them to a wall.

Poor Damiani can never remember to use the mic.
 

Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
Good on the guys for tearing apart the ESRB's fig leaf of an answer to exploitative purchase mechanics. Especially Brandon, he nailed them to a wall.

Poor Damiani can never remember to use the mic.

Absolutely loved it! I am curious how they will react to the launch date for Detroit. I am expecting tepid responses from most of them with maybe Bossman or Ian excited.
 

iconmaster

Banned
Next time I'm coming with a Hall of Greats rule that narrows down acceptable candidates. I can kind of see D&D, but like Blood I really don't want months getting burned on things like Scrabble.

And look, I love board games. But there are other places to get those rankings.
 

Dubloon7

Banned
Next time I'm coming with a Hall of Greats rule that narrows down acceptable candidates. I can kind of see D&D, but like Blood I really don't want months getting burned on things like Scrabble.

And look, I love board games. But there are other places to get those rankings.

Exactly. I found this one to be mildly entertaining, but since I totally dislike horror games like RE I disliked the choices and their decisions. My only game I would give 3 coins to would be Dark Souls, and if SotC was the original PS2 version then that would get my 2 coins. All-in-all I was disappointed with this HoG
 

Dubloon7

Banned
Next time I'm coming with a Hall of Greats rule that narrows down acceptable candidates. I can kind of see D&D, but like Blood I really don't want months getting burned on things like Scrabble.

And look, I love board games. But there are other places to get those rankings.
I understand EA is a videogames channel, but they did play digital board game videogames on community streams (e.g. Monopoly). I would like to see them challenge themselves with other digital board games (i.e. Armello) or just dedicate maybe once a year to actual board games (NOT D&D)

Are any of the EA guys on Neogaf anymore or did they all ump ship to resetera, as in previous weekly talks they mention resetera threads and communities (T_T)
 
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Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
Tried to watch BoxPeek. Cute idea, but I didn't find it particularly funny or all that engrossing. I may just stick to the reviews/podcasts.

Also, it seems there is some changes within the community proper, with Kyle finally conversing with the Reddit community (and a possible failed attempt at a takeover by mods outside of reddit). Hopefully this is a sign of things to come with the EZAllies spreading themselves over all community areas instead of closed groups.
 
D

Deleted member 471617

Unconfirmed Member
Anyone still watching Easy Allies or am I the only one? LOL.

While I thought his review for The Division 2 was good, I wish Huber went into more detail in regards to the main and story missions in terms of locations, level design, etc. as they're all damn good and better than I was expecting.
 

Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
Anyone still watching Easy Allies or am I the only one? LOL.

While I thought his review for The Division 2 was good, I wish Huber went into more detail in regards to the main and story missions in terms of locations, level design, etc. as they're all damn good and better than I was expecting.

I watch it on occasion, but I have watched it far less than I used to.
 

-MD-

Member
Anyone still watching Easy Allies or am I the only one? LOL.

While I thought his review for The Division 2 was good, I wish Huber went into more detail in regards to the main and story missions in terms of locations, level design, etc. as they're all damn good and better than I was expecting.

I've been watching less lately but I still watch a few of their shows.
 

BigBooper

Member
Is Damiani now the resident virtue signaler? He's constantly bringing up things that some people might find problematic and that companies should be more sensitive about. He's the Allies Brad Shoemaker, quiet voice, loud virtue signaling to try to gain approval.

Or maybe it's just a long con troll with him. It's hard to say for sure.
 
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Faust

Perpetually Tired
Staff Member
Is Damiani now the resident virtue signaler? He's constantly bringing up things that some people might find problematic and that companies should be more sensitive about. He's the Allies Brad Shoemaker, quiet voice, loud virtue signaling to try to gain approval.

Or maybe it's just a long con troll with him. It's hard to say for sure.

I have enjoyed the Easy Allies content since they first started at GameTrailers. I can't particularly say I was ever a fan of Damiani for numerous reasons. Reading the subreddit, there was an excellent post that chronicles all of his failings in an easy to read fashion.



Personally, I think that there would be nothing lost if he were let go from the Allies. The other troublesome member, Ian Hinck, at least has some talent in video editing and can be excellent behind the scenes. Damiani doesn't even really have that going for him.

Given the very vocal minority of fans that frequent ResetEra and this tweet, I don't think he will be going anywhere, nor will he receive reprimands. The Easy Allies seem to support that toxic community and its denizens for whatever reason.
 
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BigBooper

Member
I have enjoyed the Easy Allies content since they first started at GameTrailers. I can't particularly say I was ever a fan of Damiani for numerous reasons.
I'm with you there. I didn't really see what he offered when they first brought him in, and I still haven't seen it since. I wish they'd get rid of that albatross. Ian is annoying sometimes with his "I'm so androgynous, just look at my nails" shtick, but he is a great addition to their group streams and variety shows like Tabletop.

That said, I still watch their stuff fairly often. I'm just progressively skipping more.

I'll still be watching their E3 content.
 
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Fbh

Member
Didn't know there's still people posting here.
I'll agree with the past few comments that Damiani is easily the worst member. He generally has little to add to conversations and just doesn't really feel like he has the sort of personality to be an entertaining host or panelist. While I always get the feeling that the other Allies are probably similar in real life as they are in front of the camera, I always get the feeling that Damiani is putting on an act. So I just skip most content where he is at the center (friend code or the recent GOT videos).

Ian might be an even bigger SJW but he seems to do a lot of great behind the scenes work, is often less prominently featured in their podcasts and some of the Easy Update stuff is funny.
 

Faust

Perpetually Tired
Staff Member
I'm with you there. I didn't really see what he offered when they first brought him in, and I still haven't seen it since. I wish they'd get rid of that albatross. Ian is annoying sometimes with his "I'm so androgynous, just look at my nails" shtick, but he is a great addition to their group streams and variety shows like Tabletop.

That said, I still watch their stuff fairly often. I'm just progressively skipping more.

I'll still be watching their E3 content.

As will I! I should be on the GAF Discord during the event, assuming I don't have work (tried to schedule those 3 days off).

Fbh Fbh

Same. He and Ian I try to avoid whenever they are on a podcast. I also avoid reviews done by Damiani.
 
I used to be a huge fan late in the Gametrailers days, and early in the Easy A days. I only had hints at their politics, but they had a great run at keeping their politics to themselves. I hardly pay attention to them anymore. I will attempt to check out the E3 coverage.
 

Fbh

Member
I used to be a huge fan late in the Gametrailers days, and early in the Easy A days. I only had hints at their politics, but they had a great run at keeping their politics to themselves. I hardly pay attention to them anymore. I will attempt to check out the E3 coverage.

Honestly they still mostly keep politics out of it, specially if you avoid stuff with Ian or Damiani.
 
D

Deleted member 471617

Unconfirmed Member
Ian and Damiani are the two Allies that are my least favorite and don't follow on Twitter but not because of non-gaming views but more so because their gaming preferences rarely line up with mine. If I can also avoid their politics or whatever, I consider than an added bonus.

With that said, been watching their E3 preview videos and thus far, not bad at all. Definitely more interested in Control and Dying Light 2 than I was before so hopefully, their for the most part positivity for those games can actually come true in regards to the games themselves.
 

O-N-E

Member
Ian and Damiani are the two Allies that are my least favorite...

I question whether Damiani has the capacity of a whole human brain. It seems to me a miracle that he can string together a few words here and there that make some coherent sense.
 

GreyHorace

Member
I used to watch Gametrailers regularly back in the day. Brandon Jones for me is easily one of the most recognizable voices in Games media. Their reviews and features like the Retrospectives were well done and informative. And Michael Huber and Kyle Bosman losing it at the reveal of Shenmue 3 in E3 2015 remains a favorite moment of mine:



I was sad when Brandon and the crew got laid off by Gametrailers, but happy when they remade themselves as Easy Allies. I subscribed soon after and still tune in to their reviews and features, though I don't follow their streams.

What impresses me about Brandon and his crew is that they seem free of whatever SJW sickness that has infected gamesmedia. Try as I might I can't find anything negative in regards to their politics (though people in this thread have mentioned Damiani and Hinck as exceptions, but I don't follow them). I guess they take seriously their promise to keep politics out of their games coverage, which I appreciate.
 
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Dr. Claus

Vincit qui se vincit
I used to watch Gametrailers regularly back in the day. Brandon Jones for me is easily one of the most recognizable voices in Games media. Their reviews and features like the Retrospectives were well done and informative. And Michael Huber and Kyle Bosman losing it at the reveal of Shenmue 3 in E3 2015 remains a favorite moment of mine:



I was sad when Brandon and the crew got laid off by Gametrailers, but happy when they remade themselves as Easy Allies. I subscribed soon after and still tune in to their reviews and features, though I don't follow their streams.

What impresses me about Brandon and his crew is that they seem free of whatever SJW sickness that has infected gamesmedia. Try as I might I can't find anything negative in regards to their politics (though people in this thread have mentioned Damiani and Hinck as exceptions, but I don't follow them). I guess they take seriously their promise to keep politics out of their games coverage, which I appreciate.


They openly post on and support ResetEra to the detriment of their official forums and patreons. They also kowtowed when certain members whined about Peach Beach Splash and refused to play the game when it won the fan vote.

They may not be completely under the influence of SJW idiocy, but it certainly sits in the shadows and shows its face every now and again. It is most prevalent in any of the various sub-communities, official or unofficial.
 
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