ENnies 2002 - Making Decisions

[Emiricol]

Heyo Morrus. In my experience working with awards programs, a couple of things have shown themselves to be workable solutions (depending on the industry of course.)

1) Having an "editor's choice" style award *AND* a "people's choice" style award is an excellent idea.

2) Have the People's Choice awards 1-3 months after the Editors' Choice Awards are announced. This way, people will investigate the winners prior to their own vote, and possibly thereby be exposed to a bunch of new products prior to the vote

3) Yes, allow each company to submit as many products for as many categories as each publisher wishes; but allow each product to be submitted to only a single category!

Just some not-so-original ideas, hope they help!

Since last year's ENnies ceremony, I have spoken to numerous publishers about the way things were set up. Mostly, people were fairly happy with the process, although two main areas of concern came up repeatedly:

1) Publishers felt disadvantaged by the fact that they could only enter one product per category, and felt that they were playing a guessing game trying to match products to categories. The solution to this is to allow publishers to enter as many products as they like for as many categories as they like.

2) Publishers were - by and large - disappointed by the fact that the ENnies were voted for by the public, turning the contest into one of popularity. Those publishers with smaller print runs and less coverage of retail outlests were disadvantaged because, while their products may well have been very good, nobody had seen them - and thus nobody voted for them. The solution to this is to have the judges themselves choose the winners, although a 'People's Choice' style award should be added to allow the public to participate.

I'd appreciate your opinions on these issues, and on any other related issue that may spring to mind. I'm making some decisions over the next couple of weeks, so if you have any concerns, or even if you just agree with the above proposals, now is the time!

 

[Ron]

Re: Re: ENnies 2002 - Making Decisions

3) Yes, allow each company to submit as many products for as many categories as each publisher wishes; but allow each product to be submitted to only a single category!

This might be very unfair. Imagine: Yeah, I now your cover art rocks, but I'm going for the prize of best weird NPC in a low level adventure.

Also, if someone actually produces a brand new classic this will not be recognised by the ENies.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Using the new board you could have a review system put together using polls. Not game against game but rating a games content, value, art, and so on.

The highest scores move on to ENnies and compete against each other.

 

[Ron]

Using the new board you could have a review system put together using polls. Not game against game but rating a games content, value, art, and so on.

The highest scores move on to ENnies and compete against each other.

But then it will be a popularity contest. I am not sure that Morrus would go for it.

 

[zouron]

Personally I fidn that it is a very good if not better idea to have both an editor's/judges award and the people's award, both have merits, especially if the judge one also include reasons for why the winner stands out for being the best.

I feel both have value both for people like me that buy the products only, and people that produces them (and I assume buys too! hehe). The judges award would really give us an idea what is quality work, while the people's are more often a what things people like to see (and popularity contest, but everything is that on some level!).

So while I ahve nothing new to add, I defaintely feel that you should go with the solution of two awards.


Let publishers enter a reasonable number of products, not as many as thy like, but up to say 5 or so for each catagory (I dread the judge that has to read 39 from the same company!). And really people that made exlcusively pdfs and sell them, could print out a few and send them off, you know writers and others often have to send hard copies too ;-) it is just the rules of the game. (I personally would hate sitting on a screen reading stuff intensively, makes me very tired and unfocused).

ohh and don't announce judges award before peoples, that would be unfair towards those that didn't get picked, peoples choice is what they like best for whatever reason at time of picking, not what they have been told by the local board of judges to like.

 

[Hand of Evil]

But then it will be a popularity contest. I am not sure that Morrus would go for it.

Not really, each game would be rated for its merits or flaws the outcome would move it to a different round of the ENnies. You would get a basic review of the product. Hopefully only people that brought the product would rate it. If the score is good enough it moves to next round (ENnie committee personel) and is then put against other games.

Game X
Art - 3 out of 4
Content - 2 out of 4
Prestiage classes - 4 out of 4

Overall score 9 out of 12

 

[Ron]

Not really, each game would be rated for its merits or flaws the outcome would move it to a different round of the ENnies. You would get a basic review of the product. Hopefully only people that brought the product would rate it. If the score is good enough it moves to next round (ENnie committee personel) and is then put against other games.

Game X
Art - 3 out of 4
Content - 2 out of 4
Prestiage classes - 4 out of 4

Overall score 9 out of 12

If you check the d20 reviews page you'll gonna see that many products weren't reviewed by many people and a few were not reviewed at all. Using your system an obscure product could win the panel with very few votes. Remmember that to your system works it is necessary a minimum number of votes. However, many products, some certainly of excellent quality, will be out of the contest for not being very popular and, therefore, not receiving enough votes. In these sense, I believe your system, although improved, is still a popularity contest.

 

[Hard8Staff]

Well,

This publisher missed the 2001 Ennies entirely, mostly because we didn't know what they were. I was VERY surprised when someone (don't know who) came up to our booth at genCon and admonished me for not sending in our products for consideration. I was pretty shocked that the ennies were already over with like 4-5 months left in 2001!!!

So, I propose having the awards in January or something (after all releases for that year are out).

Dave

PS Kalamar would have swpet the field last year...had we ONLY known...

PPS despite the fact we rarely post, many of us do occassion the boards and poke around.

PPPS Your "D&D " releases on the RHS of the main page are way off...there are NO Kalamar releases listed. Feel free to scrape our kenzerco.com site for the images, etc. you need to place our products among WOTCs.

 

[Piratecat]

Originally posted by Hard8Staff

> I was VERY surprised when someone (don't know who) came up to our booth at genCon
> and admonished me for not sending in our products for consideration.

Heh - that was either Mark or myself. You ever tried going up to strangers and introducing yourself as "Hi, I'm Piratecat" while keeping a straight face? *shudder* It's a good thing I'm not shy.

> So, I propose having the awards in January or something (after all releases for that year are out).

We want to have them completed pre-GenCon, so that plaques can be displayed.

> PPS despite the fact we rarely post, many of us do occassion the boards and poke around.

It's great having you here, never fear.

> Your "D&D " releases on the RHS of ththe main page are way off...

Please email Morrus about this directly, if you don't mind. Thanks!

 

[Piratecat]

I'm crushed that I won't have the opportunity to judge this year, although I certainly agree that it wouldn't be proper, since Of Sound Mind comes out in a week or so.

I will, however, volunteer to act as point distribution person for ENnie submissions. There is a post office directly across the street from my house. I can work out the details with Morrus, assuming that there's no objections.

- Piratecat