ENnies winners?

[Stormborn]

Dragon Compendium got the gold! A book I contributed to won an Ennie! This is kinda like having a supporting role in a movie that won the Oscar for Best Picture. Well, sorta. Anyway, I'm happy.

Congratulations to all the winners and nominees! Especially to Sean and Deb over at Dog Soul for Baba Yaga. For a company that has only been around for 1 year to produce quality products like that is an accomplishment in itself (and that not just 'cause they publish some of my stuff either.)

 

[The Serge]

Congratulations to all the winners and, as importantly, to the judges and the voters. Hopefully, everyone will be back next year with more great products!

 

[Psion]

M&M truly deserves what it got, I just feel a little sad for Spycraft 2.0. I think its an amazing game and should have gotten something oh well, I'll still play it

While I agree totally, and feel it would have been great to recognize such a great game, we of the ENnies staff feel we have done our part in recognizing the product by tendering the nomination.

I think the thing people really need to keep in mind when considering the final results is that they were voted on by the public, and that entails all the foibles that public voting has. People with large, motivated fan bases tend to do well beause they could get people to the voting booth.

-Psion, from GenCon.

 

[JoeBlank]

Congrats to all the nominees and the winners.

And congrats to EN World, Dextra, and everyone who voted. Another great group of nominees and winners, perhaps the best ever. The ENnies just keep getting better!

 

[DaveMage]

Congrats to all those who won the "dinner with the publisher auctions"!

 

[Menexenus]

Ah, that old chestnut, creeping in already - peoples' favourite can't possibly have won because - no! - there are actually other good products out there; it must be some other reason! Happens every year.

It happens every year for good reason. Deep down, we all realize that - after the nomination process - the ENNIES are something of a popularity contest. We know this because we all voted! Those of us who are not professional reviewers (and who, therefore, are not given free copies of all the entries) are only familiar with what we have played or heard others talking about. Since our bank accounts are limited, there's only so much we can afford to try out. So when we are "standing" in the (virtual) voting booth and trying to decide whether to vote for the game we have played or the game that we have barely heard of (regardless of its actual merit), we have no choice but to vote for what we know.

So, since we all know how the voting goes by experience, we are all justified in grumbling that our pet game was robbed.

I guess what it boils down to is what Morrus said in conclusion - the most objective honor bestowed by the ENNIES is the nomination itself, which is done by knowledgeable people who have access to (and have presumably at least read) all of the entries.

Those who actually win an award are entitled to be pleased, but those who lose are also entitled to grumble.

 

[Lord Rasputin]

Shadowrun took best rules?

That's an honest surprise.

(I love Shadowrun, but stopped playing around 2nd edition. Considered 4th but...)
Most of the reviews seemed to damn the 4th edition with faint praise rules wise.

Insights?

A limited number of new rules sets this year, I guess. We've seen big updates to GURPS, Storyteller, Hero and Ars Magica in the last few years, and that's just off the top of my head. Many of the new rules sets are d20 tinkerings, and I suspect the idea that "You've seen one d20 product, you've seen them all" is in some folks' minds.

Still, Shadowrun is like a sane, somewhat balanced Rifts in terms of rules. You don't play Shadowrun because of the rules, you play it in spite of the rules. Same story with Rifts, though there are Palladium fan bois who insist that the Palladium is the greatest and most versatile system around.

 

[Michelle Lyons]

Shadowrun took best rules?

That's an honest surprise.

(I love Shadowrun, but stopped playing around 2nd edition. Considered 4th but...)
Most of the reviews seemed to damn the 4th edition with faint praise rules wise.

Insights?

My take on it (and yes, I'm biased) is that many of the reviews were written by loyal devoted Shadowrun fans who loved third edition. There's a LOT of change between third and fourth, and if you like third edition rules and are proficient with them, the reaction to 4th edition seems to largely range from tolerance to dislike. On the other hand, 4th edition gets a lot of high praise from people who haven't played in a while, have never played, or simply didn't like the 3rd edition rules and tolerated them regardless.

I don't know. I get a lot of feedback from people saying they love it, or asking questions, or generally talking about their cool game. Maybe they're just too busy playing to bother writing RPGnet reviews, by and large. That's okay with me. Once again, YMMV. The best answer to your question is probably to head down to your local FLGS and peruse the book for yourself, whether you decide to purchase it or not.

 

[Psion]

Funny lines from the ennies:

During the acceptance for the Shadowrun for best rules:
"It used to be that you played Shadowrun DESPITE the rules"

Rich Burlew, presenting the art awards (approximately):
"Many of these products have artists that use new-fangled technigues like perspective... shading... noses."

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Congrats to all the winners!

And a BIG thanks to Dextra and the judges for all the work you guys put in.