eric mcloins said:
Ok, this just doesn't make any sense.
Ptolus is only HM for d20/OGL, while accordlands is nominated surely means that the judges think that accordlands is better.
However, Ptolus is nominated for best product while accordlands is not, surely means the opposite?
Anyone cares to explain?
I can only speak for myself and what I feel was the general mood of the discussions, but basically it comes down to the fact that the two categories weigh certain things differently.
In this case you have two entries that the judges are fairly closely matched on. Either one could go either way. Accordlands felt a little better as an actual game, but it simply couldn't compete with Ptolus in a lot of the production categories.
Both made Best Setting, both made Best Cartography. Accordlands had a slight advantage in games, but then Ptolus blew almost everything else away with sheer value. The beautiful book, coupled with the CD and other extras was enough to more than make up for a slight deficit in the actual playability of the game.
There's not always a huge gap between the HMs and the products that actually made it. For the most part we ended up with six or seven products that should be on the list, and then had to take one off. Those went to HM.
In some cases it was simply too hard to even narrow it down then. I'll point to Best game, which actually has two HMs. And of course Product of the Year, whose HMs haven't even been posted yet.
Anywho, does that help at all?