Congratulations to the 2015 ENnies Nominees!

Steve Conan Trustrum · Jun 30, 2015

Dahak said:
Which publishers? I have the right to reconsider my spending habits.

You can also find out the same way I did.

Allensh · Jun 30, 2015

Steve Conan Trustrum said:
From my reading, you're mistaking his complaint (although I could also be wrong.)

My reading of his point is twofold: a) the product in question doesn't have permission to use the copyrights and trademarks it is using (as seems to be the case as another publisher who pursued the license pointed out that the video game publisher has zero interest in such a product existing) and thus should not qualify on that basis alone and b) the ENnies are perceived as an industry award process (I don't actually know what their official stance is on fan made materials, and I imagine most other people don't either, which is why I'm saying it is "perceived" as an industry awards process) and that putting in fan made material bumps a publisher (who usually spends money getting their product into consideration for the awards.)

I didn't read his complaint to mean "fan content? Eeeeeeeew."

My personal opinion on the latter point is that there should be a fan product category, at best, if they are to be included rather than mingling them with industry products. There are, after all, reasons why award shows in other entertainment industries don't mix "fan" and "industry" products for the same awards.

That pretty much nails my opinion

and I have no issue with fan content. I use a lot of it.

Allen

Allensh · Jun 30, 2015

Abulia said:
Hello. My name is Don Mappin and I am the author, developer, and "publisher" of the work in question. I am typing this on an iPad with spotty wifi while celebrating my 20th wedding anniversary in St. Lucia. So I beg your indulgence if parts seem muddled.

As an RPG industry veteran with 20 years experience I have published through Iron Crown Enterprises, Last Unicorn Games, Decipher, and AEG, among others. I've won roughly 5 ENnies, been nominated for an Origins Award and other sundry accolades for the work I've contributed to. I'm quite proud of the work that I've done in all these products, especially the Mass Effect: Fate RPG.

I followed, to the best of my ability, the entry requirements for the ENnies, the Origins Awards, and the Golden Geek (Finalist in 2 categories). The statement that other publishers "who usually spend money getting their product into consideration for the awards" is somewhat meaningless as the ENnies have no entry fee requirement. As an electronic product, I only had to sub,it the PDF. I did, however, send a physical library copy as a courtesy. So I spent as much as any other "legitimate publisher" would. (I spent several hundreds of dollars of my own money to submit for the Origins, as a point of reference.)

The work is a labor of love and it has been downloaded extensively since its release last year. I am very public and open that it is an unlicensed product, made available free of charge and that no renumeration is to be made from its distribution. The Fate core OGL is adhered to (to the best of my ability) as well as content from Brennan Taylor of Galileo Games and their Bulldogs! product, with permission.

I don't believe that I have violated any aspect of the rules for the ENnies and would hope that my work could be considered. Nor do I believe that I am "stealing" (my words) a slot for Best Product if, in the eyes of the judges, my work was, in fact, superior enough to merit inclusion over other publishers.

Conspiracy theories and such aside, I am simply an industry veteran choosing to give back to the hobby I love. I hope you'll consider my work--and its merits--in that vein.

For Morrus, et al., I will be back in the U.S. on Thurs if you'd like to arrange a phone call to chat.

Respectfully,
Don Mappin

Now I'm really conflicted. I have known of Don and his work since the days of the LUG Star Trek game and it's Decipher successor

The problem is not the work itself. The problem is it's being allowed to bump professionally made work in the awards process rather than being considered under a more appropriate category.

Allen

Dahak · Jun 30, 2015

Allensh said:
That pretty much nails my opinion and I have no issue with fan content. I use a lot of it.

Allen

Cool. Glad that's clarified. I apologize for the overreaction.

Nikchick · Jun 30, 2015

Steve Conan Trustrum said:
Green Ronin approached them about a Mass Effect license and, according to people at GR, were flat out told EA had no interest in such a product existing. So, it is reasonable to conclude the author wasn't given permission to make the product, let alone use EA's copyrights and trademarks.

We've had this conversation with BioWare directly over the years, more than once and not always initiated by Green Ronin. In fact, the most recent time we dusted off our proposal for them, licensing asked US why we "didn't want" to do the game and when we told them we'd be more than happy to do it, they merrily went off to the ME team who wasted no time in telling licensing they were *still* not interested.

Would I love to put together a Mass Effect game using the AGE system we already use for our legitimately licensed-from-EA Dragon Age game? Yes. Yes I would. Am I allowed to do that? No, I'm not. Not even for free, not even to "give back" to the community. In fact, doing so would likely endanger the legitimate license my company does hold from EA. I also can't print up my own t-shirts for Titansgrave, even though I have some fun ideas for some... because we don't have the apparel rights for that property. Just like I can't make multiple sets of Game of Thrones-branded doodads for the various houses, even though we have the tabletop RPG license and even though no one else is making the little items I've thought of, because we don't have that license. It's not because we're big dummyheads who haven't thought of these things; there are rules and we're following them.

Something I said elsewhere: I honestly don't object to fans putting together fan-driven projects when the creative teams won't. Fan fiction can be really good. Fan artworks likewise. People putting together shrinky-dink phone charms with chibi versions of their favorite characters that they sell for a pittance to other fans is not something I'm going to get too bent about, really. Hell, I want a Dorian Pavus chibi phone charm for myself! But those items don't get considered for industry awards, just as fan fictions don't get nominated for the Booker Prize. Until today, I thought the ENnies were professional (if fan-selected and fan-judged) awards but that is not the case with the current slate.

Morrus and his advisors will do what they think is best for their awards and I have no doubt they're carefully considering and discussing it all. I'll be waiting to see what conclusion they come to.

Steve Conan Trustrum · Jun 30, 2015

Abulia said:
Conspiracy theories and such aside, I am simply an industry veteran choosing to give back to the hobby I love. I hope you'll consider my work--and its merits--in that vein.

Don, I honestly don't see what here qualifies as a "conspiracy theory."

Your work is not licensed and makes use of someone else's IP without permission. The amount of work you've done on RPG products in the past isn't really relevant to that fact.

What you being nominated does is put products that are intended to enter the market on a commercial basis in competition with yours where they are being judged on the whole package but you've let someone else's IP carry a lot of the weight for you without having to jump through the same hoops actual licensed products must go through. And aside from how the other publishers might not like that (among other issues), consider that doing so worsens your legal footing as just "giving back to the hobby" because being in an awards process against for-profit products strengthens any stance about your product creating market confusion and diluting the commercial value of the IP.

EDIT: And was it once available on Drivethrurpg or is that just a rumor?

Henry · Jun 30, 2015

Speaking as a totally external third party (someone who is not connected to the ENnies and who doesn't play FATE) I do feel it a bit of a morally grey area to leave a product using unlicensed IP nominated for an award. I dislike the idea of a greater than average chance that an ENNie-AWARDED product (should it come to that) be given a Cease & Desist by EA; first, if the product wins an ENnie this would certainly focus EA's attention on it; second, it might give the ENnie Award itself a future negative reputation.

In other words, I make no value judgment on the quality of Mr. Mappin's work; indeed, the fact that it was nominated speaks to its quality. Rather, I am more leery of the consequences to both Mr. Mappin and the ENnies in general.

Perram · Jun 30, 2015

This also greatly devalues any official Mass Effect RPG that could be produced. Why buy it when there is an AWARD WINNING free option out? Why risk producing it, or licensing it? This directly harms those who would be involved and endangers fan works because of it.

Morrus · Jun 30, 2015

We should have an announcement today re. the Mass Effect RPG nomination. We've also reached out to Bioware/EA for their input. Thanks for your patience everybody!

Abulia · Jun 30, 2015

I have never made the PDF available via DriveThru so I can't speak to that rumor.

As for Product of the Year (and other categories), it feels germane to point out that the judges select those finalists, not me. I don't know specifically using what criteria, only that, upon review, the judges apparently thought well enough of the work to do so. I appreciate their doing so.

With the influx of self-publishing and rich media the lines as to what constitute a publisher are blurred more than ever before. This becomes trickier when you look at some of the other categories, such as Blog and Podcasting. Where is that line? I don't envy the ENnies personnel for having to codify it and it was not my intent to cause discord.

However, in light of the forthcoming announcement of disqualification, I will also be removing the files of my own accord. My thanks to the personnel of ENWorld and the ENnies for their assistance.

Regarding Mass Effect, I, like many others, would gladly welcome an official product. One hopes I might even get to contribute in some part.

Game On!

Congratulations to the 2015 ENnies Nominees!

Steve Conan Trustrum

Explorer

Allensh

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Allensh

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Dahak

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Nikchick

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Steve Conan Trustrum

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Henry

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Perram

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Morrus

Well, that was fun

Abulia

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