Wow, lots of questions. Here are my answers to the rest of them (1-12 are upthread). I've included some answers to early questions by Rasyr becasue they are already posted on RPG.net, and because the other judges have answered these as well. I've left the rest because I don't want to send this thread off on another tangent.
13. How long have you been gaming? Does that affect the perspective you will be bringing to the judging table?
25 years, and it means that I’ve seen and played a lot of different games. I think that previous experiences (gaming or non-gaming) will always colour our perceptions. I don’t think that having gamed for long gives me a privileged perspective, but it should mean that I have a lot of
knowledge to draw on.
14. How much game design experience do you have? I don't mean published, I mean in general- 10 years of homebrewing? Have you created your own systems? Do you think this affects your level of qualification as a judge?
I’m always tinkering, either with other people’s systems or writing copious notes on my own designs. Apart from my Game Chef entry in 2005 (“The Dinner Party”), and a free PDF (called “Brag, Boast and Screw”) I put on the web quite a while back, I’ve never created something that I would consider to be a complete game (and I think both the games I have finished are flawed; I’m still tinkering).
I also follow other people’s tinkering, and have spent a lot of time on “indie” sites discussing game design with other would-be (and several published) designers. I think it shows that I care about the subject, without being a formal qualification.
15. Do you think that the ENnies should have a codified set of rules for how they should be run, including a specific list of points that the judges should use for each category? Or do you think that the ENnies should be like they are currently, and the judges voting on the rules each year? And to either answer, why?
There should be rules, and the judges should stick to them. However, I also think that “judges decide what to award prizes for” is a perfectly acceptable rule, as long as that rule is clear at the outset. I’m a great believer in setting clear objectives at the start of a task, to reduce problems later.
16. Do you think that the ENnies being so intimately tied to the World's Largest d20 Fan Site might mean that the basic voting pool for the ENnies might be slightly biased towards d20 products?
I’m finding it hard to answer this question as written because it feels a bit loaded, I think because of the “so intimately tied” clause. So I’ll respond by saying that all voting pools are biased, in favour of the opinions of the people who can be bothered to vote. The best way to deal with this (if you want to deal with it) is to try and engage as many people as possible in the voting process – and I think that the organisers have already demonstrated their commitment to doing just that.
17. Do you think that the ENnies should move everything over to their own, independant website (which they already have)? Why or why not?
17 -- retake -- I wasn't talking about forcing anybody to restrict conversations to a single place, but making the ENnies site itself the clearing house for the major conversations, and for the judge deliberations. As it stands right now, judges are forced to become EN World members if elected (heck, it is doubtful that a person could become a judge without becoming an EN World member and pimping themselves here) because all judge deliberations are held here on EN World rather than on the ENnies website (that is, IMO, where the judges should be having their deliberations) in a hidden forum.
My answer to either version of the question is that the fact that the process is happening over the internet makes the whole issue somewhat irrelevant. It doesn’t matter which site is the “centre” of the judging or nomination process, because the nomination process is happening in the open across several sites, and the judging will happen on a closed forum. For the record, I certainly don’t feel inconvenienced by having to register with a gaming site in order to talk about judging games.
18. Do you think moving the ENnies off EN World would cause a drop in the overall number of voters? (Comment: They have already been moved off EN World, we will see what happens - Turjan)
Haven’t a clue. I believe that opening up discussion of the ENnies across lots of other sites will increase voter participation. Let’s find out.
I would like to know if any of the candidates have done paid games industry work, ever.
In the interest of full disclosure, I was a credited playtester for Capes (Muse of Fire Games) and Tony sent me a comp copy of the game. I haven’t done any paid industry work, ever.
Do you plan on playtesting any of the material?
I’m going to buck the trend here and say no, even though I agree with other posters that playtesting is the best way to evaluate a game. The thing is, I know I won’t have enough time to playtest all of the material. So I feel that if I playtest any of it, I’m no longer operating on a level playing field. I’m allowing other factors, such as how entertaining my friends were or whether we were all feeling tired that evening, to influence my judgement of the game. That won’t stop me running through potential actual play scenarios in my head or considering what the product would be like in actual play, but as for real playtesting, no.
What prompted you to consider being a judge for the ENnies?
I read a thread about it in Story Games, and followed the links. I really enjoyed being part of the judging for GameChef 2006. Plus, I’m one of life’s natural volunteers.
Would statements by those "in the industry" affect your opinions on a product?
No more than a statement by anyone else would. For example, if I’m talking to someone about a game and I say, “this game really ought to have rules for fatigue”, and they say “it does, they’re on page 23”, then their statement may cause me to change my opinion! It doesn’t matter who the other person is.
Since this is all about fair and fun competition, I would like to ask a question to my fellow would be judges. Name me a product that you bought in the last year that you don't recommend people to buy. And why.
X-Crawl. I picked it up at a clearance sale at Forbidden Planet, so it was a bargain for the £1 I paid for it. But I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone at the cover price. I found the setting (urban fantasy meets Roman Empire gladiatorial meets sports league alternate-timeline history) somewhat jarring, and it turned me off of the rest of the book.
Do you prefer Old World of Darkness or New World of Darkness?
oWoD for setting, nWoD for mechanics. If I had to choose one, oWoD because I’d houserule it. The oWoD felt more epic to me, even if it was spoiled a bit by some of the munchkin characters in the sourcebooks.
Do you consider yourself a gamist, narrativist, or simulationist?
I don’t consider myself any of these. When I first joined the Forge, I found the whole GNS thing fascinating, but I’m glad Ron shut that part of the forums down. I’m not going to critique the theory (I probably don’t understand it well enough, Ron is much smarter than me), but I think it’s far more productive to talk about
what I like to do when I play than labelling myself as an “-ist” of any description. I love tactical games, I love collaborative storytelling, I love getting “under the skin” of a character and trying to view the world (real or imagined) from someone else’s viewpoint. I don’t try and do all of them at the same time.
Will you be at Gen Con?
If I’m picked, yes. It’s a long trip, and I need an excuse to drag my SO with me halfway across the world instead of going to a con somewhere nearer (because there’s no way she’s going to let me go to America without her!)
What about gaming appeals to you?
I’ve partly answered this with my response to the previous question: the tactics, the great stories, exploring different landscapes. Also, the people: I have met many of my closest friends through gaming, and people who can let their hair down and just have some fun together are great people to know.
Your overall most memorable gaming purchase you made?
The first Fighting Fantasy gamebook, Warlock of Firetop Mountain. I got it from the primary school bookclub, and we’d never seen anything like it before.
Which one were you totally happy to plunk down money for.
Weapons of the Gods. I found out about the game on the internet before it came out – then again, because of the publishing delays, I think nearly
everyone knew about it before it came out
I’ve never been so eager to part with my money for a game, and pre-ordered it as soon as overseas orders were eligible. I wasn’t disappointed, either.
What award given by past ENnies do you disagree with most? Why?
I can’t say that I strongly disagree with any of the awards, but given my earlier comments about X-Crawl, I’m surprised to see how many times it was shortlisted in 2005.
Have you ever been an ENnies judge before?
No.
And a meta-question: Is there any chance somebody might be willing to compile the answers in these (and other threads) to create a voters' guide? Would the candidates be willing to, say, pick 10 of their favorite questions/answers and put together their own profiles? This is a lot of stuff to go through, and I'm afraid I'm not going to remember most of it when the time to vote comes around.
If someone does offer to do this, I’ve got all the Q&A I’ve responded to in Word (with the BBCode formatting typed in!) and I’ll be happy to mail it to them. I’d prefer to see all of the answers in one place together, rather than edited highlights; I think it would be neat to see each question, with all of the judge’s answers next to them.
Regards,
Doug
The only new WW product I've gotten a chance to actually play is Exalted. I only have the old WoD books. (for now). 
