Hackmaster won an ORIGINS award in 2001

[Dire Bare]

Here is a link to an official blurb for those wondering about this statement.

Driving Blind - New Horizons: A Supplement for Spirit of the Century

Wow, that sounds awesome! Pulp stories are awesome sauce, but they also often serve up a side of racism and sexism to go along with the main course. A supplement to help tell the stories of those discriminated against during the pulp era sounds right up my alley!

Hard to see why anybody would have a problem with this idea for a supplement.

 

[Squizzle]

If I can make myself available to anyone who has been offended by Mr. Baugh, I offer my services in the manner in which I am able. I completely understand your rage and sadness in regard to his remarks, and support your efforts to divest yourself of anything that would bring even a fractional presence of this man into your life as it moves forward.

Ergo, I offer to take and suitable dispose of any copies of Wraith: The Great War--a project to which Mr. Baugh, the man who has so inflamed your rage, contributed--that anyone here might have. I urge you not to hesitate, but to contact me immediately. Again, I am glad to, free of charge, as a service, accept any and all copies of Wraith: The Great War. It's the least I can do.

 

[cignus_pfaccari]

Looking at this 9 years later I wonder if people would still vote the same way? I know Hackmaster still seems pretty popular. Wheel of Time I thought was not a very well done at all, Adventure was fun but has been surpassed by other Pulp games, Terra Incognita seems to have all but disappeared, and Little Fears seems to enjpoy a small cult status.

I think I'd've voted for Exalted if that was an option.

Otherwise, not really caring about any of the rest, I'd've probably sat out.

Brad

 

[J Arcane]

What an incredibly convenient illness. "I'm allergic to critical speech on internet forums".

And swallowed hook, line, and mod threat.

Fantastic. Well, sayonara for another 5 years.


Mod Edit: Fantastic. Well, sayonara from the thread!

Anyone else? You know, you don't need me to boot you out. You can do that yourself by learning to walk away from the keyboard before you act like a jerk.

 

[Ariosto]

I see this chronological chauvinism a lot in this field. Whatever is trendy in certain circles this season must be "better" than anything ever before in the world.

That ideology apparently was not the Academy's measure of gaming goodness. Maybe the voters just found more fun, or entertainment, or something of that nature, in what they were after all judging in some sense as a game.

It could even be that, on a purely theoretical level, they found more cunning craftsmanship in the design.

If Hackmaster was disappointing, then maybe that's something for the designers of the runners-up to take as an indication that their efforts also did not mark a notably great year in the annals of game design.

On the professional level, it really is about pleasing other people. As a pretty general rule, the amateur designers of the most thoroughly panned works have above-average confidence in their excellence. If just about everyone else in the world thinks something is total rubbish, there's usually one remarkable individual responsible for so many people even having heard of the trash -- an individual perhaps even convinced that this is a revolutionary leap forward in art!

The professional's job is to make something that sells well. No amount of personal affection for the product pays the bills.

 

[WayneLigon]

No, he did not. Unless his point was "wah, the hoi-palloi don't know what's good for them, how dare they still like an AD&D pastiche", which is what it appears that it was. And that's a stupid, ignorant and petulant point which is easily dismissed.

It sounds like he simply didn't get the joke, that Hackmaster is born out of the idea and is the recognition of the idea that AD&D was a cobbled-together mess compared to any third generation RPG. It might have been that he simply didn't like what was essentially a satire getting top spot, which I can kinda understand - after all, jokes wear thin after a period of time and you can get the million and a half Hackmaster supplements in the dollar bin these days. Of course, the same could be said about the inexplicable love for the Wheel of Time adaptation, too. Something that wins an award you might at least expect to stand the test of time for longer than Hackmaster did. But it was still a pretty funny joke.

 

[Obryn]

I am finding it incredibly hard to resist the urge to quote like a dozen posts up-thread and add "...nine years ago" to them, given that this is pretty intensely far removed from a current event.

-O

 

[eyebeams]

I see this chronological chauvinism a lot in this field. Whatever is trendy in certain circles this season must be "better" than anything ever before in the world.

The OA had already honoured AD&D. It's in the Hall of Fame.

Personally, I think accusing an annual award of "chronological chauvanism" is self-evidently hilarious.

 

[Pramas]

When I was a young designer and more willing to engage in quixotic enterprises, I advocated for several changes to the Origins Awards. Primary amongst them was adding a separate category for Best New Edition to address the issue of actual new games having to compete new versions of old games. This would have allowed brand new games to compete against each other and the new editions to battle it out amongst themselves. The OAs ended up going in the opposite direction and actually reducing the number of categories so now there are only two for RPGs.

The ENnies are not immune to this phenomena either. This year four of the five games nominated in the Best Game category were new editions of old games.

As for Bruce he's a good guy and a good designer and if he ever does any new game material, I will buy it.

 

[Ariosto]

Personally, I think accusing an annual award of "chronological chauvanism" is self-evidently hilarious.

That's nice, but totally irrelevant.

I was accusing the fellow who wrote that diatribe of chronological chauvinism.