Nominees have been announced! So now I can talk freely without breaking any
rules, right?
Well, to some degree, yes.
I’m not going to disclose information about an individual judge’s likes or
dislikes. (At GenCon, there is a Ennies
Judge Panel – feel free to come out and ask us all pointed questions there!)
Now that the judging portion of the program is done, where
do the Ennies stand? Well, judges have
selected the nominees for the Ennies.
However, the public (you!) actually decides who the winners are. Everyone gets to vote among the nominees – so
the judges are just as curious about who will win as the rest of the gaming
public! (Voting starts this Friday, July 20).
First off, let me address some of the commentary I’ve seen
on the nominations.
I am quite pleased with the nominations. The final list reflects the collaborative
process that the judges went through – no individual judge had all of these
nominated products on his or her list.
But, all of us are satisfied with the list on the whole. Would I change anything on the list of
nominees? Yes, there are a couple of
changes I personally would make to the list, but that is due to my taste. The reason there is a judging panel is so
that the nominees represent a spectrum of gamers’ opinions, rather than
anyone’s individual taste.
There has been some drama around the Best Free Product
nominations, with some individuals feeling that the list of nominees is
questionable. Specifically, the
complaint I’ve seen is that most of the nominees are not games in and of
themselves, but rather products that require additional purchases to use. (For example – We Be Goblins! is a free
Pathfinder module, but it benefits from having the Pathfinder core rule book,
which is not free.) The judges were evaluating
quality of work – not what sort of product was submitted. I think this variation in product is what
creates gamer frustration. “Why didn’t
my game get nominated, when it’s a full game, and you nominated something that
is just an adventure” questions inevitably lead to the not-so-popular
answer: because collectively the judges
felt the 12 page adventure was of higher quality. Not comforting, but there you have it.
Another interesting point I’ve seen floating around the web
is that “the judges are clearly fans of <insert publisher / system
here>.” Nope. In fact, without going into detail, the five
judges have somewhat different gaming palates.
For myself, I will say that I tend to be more interested in “fluff” –
that is, setting or characterizations or things related to role-playing. A couple of the other judges are more
interested in rules or “crunch,” and then the other two I would characterize as
hybrids – interested in both. As for
systems, we each have systems we like, and systems we don’t particularly care
for. But none of that was as important
as the quality of individual products.
Pelgrane Press, Wizards of the Coast and Paizo products received the
most nominations because we respected the quality of their products. The quality of the work speaks for itself,
regardless of the system.
Overall, my response to all of these sorts of questions has
been and will continue to be -- run for Ennies judge yourself! Obviously you’re passionate about
gaming. If you don’t agree with the nominations,
the only way to change them is to participate in the process! It’s not the reason I myself ran for judge,
but that doesn’t mean it can’t be yours.
Also, I’m sure we will discuss all this and more at the
Ennies Judging Panel at GenCon, Saturday afternoon at 2pm.
judges panel info
Moving on…
Though I heartily congratulate all nominees, I would like to
highlight a couple of particular products that were nominated. (After the Ennies awards, I plan to do this
with a couple of products that were not
nominated, but I can’t go giving away my judge’s pick just yet!) All comments below are simply my opinions,
and not meant to detract from the worthiness of other nominees.
Dragon Age: Set 2
·
Nomination:
Best Interior Art
This is a supplement to the Dragon Age RPG. It is a dark fantasy setting, and if you
enjoy the Dragon Age video games, then you will most likely enjoy the RPG. This supplement did a great job at
re-invigorating the fan base of the Dragon Age RPG after the lackluster
fan-reception for the Dragon Age II video game (which I happened to enjoy).
Panopticon (Eclipse
Phase)
·
Nomination:
Best Writing
This is a supplement for Eclipse Phase. The Eclipse Phase team consistently produces
some of the most well-written books in the RPG industry. The hard-core Sci-Fi setting may not be
everyone’s cup of tea (I’m looking at you, fantasy fans), but if you want to be
inspired by high quality work, look no further.
(Plus, the pdf is only $10!)
Lorefinder (GUMSHOE/Pathfinder
mash-up)
·
Nomination:
Best Rules
Want some more sleuthing in your fantasy campaign? This book has you covered. A well-designed way to add some spice to a
Pathfinder campaign – or a way to set a mystery in a fantasy world – this is a
clever combination that should serve GMs and players well.
Invasive Procedures (Trail of Cthulhu or Fear Itself GUMSHOE)
·
Nomination:
Best Adventure
This adventure scared me.
I have not done much horror role-playing, but this adventure was one of
the handful I wished I had played before reading, so that I could experience
that fear as a player. Maybe one day I’ll
run it for others. Definitely
creep-tastic.
There are approximately 100 Ennie nominations – see the full
list here: list of 2012 ennie nominees.
And don’t forget to vote – voting starts on Friday, July 20
and runs to Sunday, July 29. The Ennies
ceremony will be held on Friday, August 17 at GenCon!
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