barefoottourguide
Explorer
As a gamer, it’s important to let the designers know what you enjoy. Send kudos, positive energy, a +2 bonus to Game Design, whatever. We do that by voting for the Ennies. That set of battle maps really took your game session to the next level? Vote for it. Tried out a new system for a one-shot, and everyone had a pee-their-pants great time? Vote for it.
While you’re telling Wizards, Paizo, Cubicle7 and the other companies whatcha love, it’s important to cast a vote for the judges for next year’s Ennies. Someone needs to listen to hundreds of hours of podcasts and read thousands of pages of books to whittle down the competition so you can vote on the very best 2014-2015 has to offer. Amazing enough, I want you to assign me all that homework.
After nearly twenty years rolling dice around a table, exploring a plethora of games, spending four years producing a gaming podcast (Threat Detected) I’m ready to step up to the table and ensure your fave games get a nod. Amazing developments in artwork like Edge of the Empire need recognition. Incredible settings like Doctor Who, The One Ring, Deadlands Noir and Achtung! Cthulhu should continue to be rewarded as their horizons expand. Amazing new rules like Edge of the Empire and 13th Age need to stand up there with the tried and true bulwarks of the industry.
And let’s not forget about mom and pop games, breathed life into by Kickstarter support. I want to send kudos out to developers of quirky fun games like Cheap Ass Games, Gamer Nation Studios and Steve Jackson Games.
I want to shout out to totally unique concept games that turn the gaming genre on its head, like Paranoia, Deadlands and Call of Cthulhu.
When judging, what I’ll look for is whether the game mechanics and toolboxes accomplish the intended game experience. Is the simulation awesome? 5e Dungeons and Dragons and 13th Age masterfully capture the feel of the high fantasy trope. Savage Worlds owns pulp, and Call of Cthulhu is horror. The mechanics epitomize the genres.
I will also look for tools for role playing. I want things built into the game that reward delving into your character, giving him plot hooks and ways to use them, like 13th Age and Dresden Files. I want games that focus on providing an experience of exploring dramatic roleplaying and not just cool ways to kill things.
The other thing I really care about is immersion. I’m an A-V geek with a broadcasting degree. I rally behind developments being made at roll20.net, Obsidian Portal and Syrinscape. I wish I had the dough to support the Bones, Maps of Mastery and Dwarven Forge Kickstarters, which produced content that made huge advances in putting players into the gaming world.
Notice I didn’t talk about CCGs and war gaming. Will I shun them because they aren’t part of my gaming repertoire? Quite the opposite. I have many gaming friends who are bonkers for the categories I lack the experience. I’ll buy them a cup of joe and pick their brain about what these games mean to them, specifically what they get out of them and how the nominated products affect their appreciation for the games.
The 2014 ENnie Awards voting booth will open at 7 AM Central on Sunday, July 20, and will close at 7 PM Central on Wednesday, July 30. Good luck to all the nominees. You’ll be able to get to the voting from http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/.
Please, make a will save… and vote for Garrett Crowe.
Garrett
While you’re telling Wizards, Paizo, Cubicle7 and the other companies whatcha love, it’s important to cast a vote for the judges for next year’s Ennies. Someone needs to listen to hundreds of hours of podcasts and read thousands of pages of books to whittle down the competition so you can vote on the very best 2014-2015 has to offer. Amazing enough, I want you to assign me all that homework.
After nearly twenty years rolling dice around a table, exploring a plethora of games, spending four years producing a gaming podcast (Threat Detected) I’m ready to step up to the table and ensure your fave games get a nod. Amazing developments in artwork like Edge of the Empire need recognition. Incredible settings like Doctor Who, The One Ring, Deadlands Noir and Achtung! Cthulhu should continue to be rewarded as their horizons expand. Amazing new rules like Edge of the Empire and 13th Age need to stand up there with the tried and true bulwarks of the industry.
And let’s not forget about mom and pop games, breathed life into by Kickstarter support. I want to send kudos out to developers of quirky fun games like Cheap Ass Games, Gamer Nation Studios and Steve Jackson Games.
I want to shout out to totally unique concept games that turn the gaming genre on its head, like Paranoia, Deadlands and Call of Cthulhu.
When judging, what I’ll look for is whether the game mechanics and toolboxes accomplish the intended game experience. Is the simulation awesome? 5e Dungeons and Dragons and 13th Age masterfully capture the feel of the high fantasy trope. Savage Worlds owns pulp, and Call of Cthulhu is horror. The mechanics epitomize the genres.
I will also look for tools for role playing. I want things built into the game that reward delving into your character, giving him plot hooks and ways to use them, like 13th Age and Dresden Files. I want games that focus on providing an experience of exploring dramatic roleplaying and not just cool ways to kill things.
The other thing I really care about is immersion. I’m an A-V geek with a broadcasting degree. I rally behind developments being made at roll20.net, Obsidian Portal and Syrinscape. I wish I had the dough to support the Bones, Maps of Mastery and Dwarven Forge Kickstarters, which produced content that made huge advances in putting players into the gaming world.
Notice I didn’t talk about CCGs and war gaming. Will I shun them because they aren’t part of my gaming repertoire? Quite the opposite. I have many gaming friends who are bonkers for the categories I lack the experience. I’ll buy them a cup of joe and pick their brain about what these games mean to them, specifically what they get out of them and how the nominated products affect their appreciation for the games.
The 2014 ENnie Awards voting booth will open at 7 AM Central on Sunday, July 20, and will close at 7 PM Central on Wednesday, July 30. Good luck to all the nominees. You’ll be able to get to the voting from http://www.ennie-awards.com/blog/.
Please, make a will save… and vote for Garrett Crowe.
Garrett
