Congratulations to the 2015 ENnies Nominees!

Gradine · Jun 30, 2015

Steve Conan Trustrum said:
I would disagree by saying the product must be legal to qualify for nominations is a pretty low bar to set for entry. If not, it's "hello, James Shipman! Welcome to the ENnies!"

"Legal" is a funny and loaded term, and I would strongly argue it's use here is inappropriate. Is ENworld's fan works forum illegal? There's a long history of IP holders tolerating the free distribution of derivative fan works, especially when the creator makes it clear that their work is unauthorized, acknowledges the copyright and trademark ownership, and there's no profit involved. Since "not wanting an official licensed product released" is not the same as "not wanting an obscure freely distributed fan work published" we really don't know if EA has attempted to block its distribution or not.

That said, ENWorld has a right to run its awards any way it likes, and I'd fully respect any decision they make. IP is a complicated subject with a lot of strong opinions on multiple sides, and I respect and understand where a lot of those sides are coming from. It makes total sense to not judge such works against officially licensed products and new IPs. But I could also see the argument for it.

Grainger · Jun 30, 2015

Kor said:
Yet, D&D gets their DM screen there? Seriously? This screen has 2.5 pages of content spread across 4 pages. Half of this content is irrelevant or seldom used content that could have been replaced with more frequently used content (i.e. Skill summaries/details, weapon tables, action summaries/details -- you know... all the stuff we are constantly looking up every play session).

Wow, I have to disagree with pretty much all your points about the screen being bad. First of all, I'd be happy if it had less information, not more. The more stuff crammed on there, the less I'd actually use it. I hate the look of old-school screens that just cram on every table in the system. I just find clutter distracting, and just filter it out (i.e. don't use it).

Of your suggestions for additional content, I only really need to look up action summaries, and that's not really a terribly bad omission - players and DMs know these by heart pretty quickly, except perhaps for less often used things like shove aside. I certainly don't need weapons tables every session (or at all; I have looked up a weapon once in the last 10 sessions). Skills summaries? Nope. Never need to look them up, let alone need a reminder on the screen.

[I'm not saying the screen should win the category, by the way. Probably not, as it's good, but not stellar (I think Syrinscape is excellent - so ahead in of it in the running - and I haven't seen the other nominees). The really good things about the screen are the form factor and the quality of the cardboard IMO].

Gradine · Jun 30, 2015

Syrinscape is pretty fantastic; I wish my players didn't think it was too corny. I'm also intrigued by the Dungeon Morph Dice, they seem pretty cool; like Story Cubes for dungeon design. Curious what kind of mileage people are getting from them.

TheSwartz · Jun 30, 2015

Seeing so many D&D products makes me happy

TheSwartz · Jun 30, 2015

Gradine said:
Syrinscape is pretty fantastic

quoted to reiterate it's truthiness

Steve Conan Trustrum · Jun 30, 2015

Gradine said:
"Legal" is a funny and loaded term

Not really. "Got permission," "the IP holder doesn't care," and "the IP holder doesn't know" are three distinctly different aspects of how an IP holder can view such a product, each of which has different, very clear, legal meanings. You can't conflate them all into one possible hypothetical you want to keep floating up in the air and say they are all equally ambiguous or speculative, legally speaking.

and I would strongly argue it's use here is inappropriate. Is ENworld's fan works forum illegal? There's a long history of IP holders tolerating the free distribution of derivative fan works, especially when the creator makes it clear that their work is unauthorized, acknowledges the copyright and trademark ownership, and there's no profit involved.

Know one of the major reasons why "free" doesn't equal "no copyright infringement?" Because even if one isn't charging for something they've made with someone else's IP, the presence of one's free product on the market can very easily constitute a dilution of that IP's value. For example, it is possible EA's stance on previous pitches for a RPG could actually boil down to them pushing to get more out of such a deal. A free product that uses their IP can reduce their ability to push that sort of deal through. Then there's also the problem of market confusion.

No profit is just one of the thresholds for Fair Use, which is the aspect of copyright law "for free" falls under. Unfortunately, fair use doesn't work the same way for the trademarks the product uses without permission.

Since "not wanting an official licensed product released" is not the same as "not wanting an obscure freely distributed fan work published" we really don't know if EA has attempted to block its distribution or not.

IP (copyright and trademark) is a funny thing, but it most certainly does not work in terms of "it's okay so long as someone doesn't say no." In many cases, the people who own the IP aren't even aware someone is infringing on their IP because it hasn't been brought to their attention.

That said, ENWorld has a right to run its awards any way it likes, and I'd fully respect any decision they make. IP is a complicated subject with a lot of strong opinions on multiple sides, and I respect and understand where a lot of those sides are coming from. It makes total sense to not judge such works against officially licensed products and new IPs. But I could also see the argument for it.

Sure it has the right to run its awards any way it wants.

Other publishers also have the right to disagree and reconsider the value they place on the awards when a product using infringing IP is placed against their own or potentially displaced their products in categories they attempted to get nominated for. Which is the opinion that's making the rounds amongst a number of publishers right now.

arjomanes · Jun 30, 2015

I'm very pleased to see the multiple nominations for A Red and Pleasant Land. It's by far my favorite RPG book this year (and I love the new 5e stuff by Wizards, so that's saying a lot). It's also among my favorite RPG books ever. If possible, buy the print version. It's a beautifully crafted book.

Dahak · Jun 30, 2015

Steve Conan Trustrum said:
Other publishers also have the right to disagree and reconsider the value they place on the awards when a product using infringing IP is placed against their own or potentially displaced their products in categories they attempted to get nominated for. Which is the opinion that's making the rounds amongst a number of publishers right now.

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

Nylanfs · Jun 30, 2015

I have a question more about the art from Deviant Art that is used through out the PDF. Granted it looks like they have a pretty big attribute list, but if the artists didn't know it seems a bit shady.

Allensh · Jun 30, 2015

Dahak said:
While I question the inclusion of the Mass Effect RPG if the author does not have EA's permission (do we know if that's the case?), I sincerely hope you are not a publisher after that rude, offensive comment about fan publishing. If so, you just gave a bigger finger to fans.

I honestly believe fan work sold more copies of the Savage Worlds rulebook in its early days than Evernight or (the admittedly excellent) 50 Fathoms did. I don't know you from Adam, but I question your authority on publishing legitimacy.

Nope, not a publisher. Just someone who likes RPGs and thinks this was a major mistake on the part of the ENNie awards. It has been repeatedly stated by those in the know (like the folks at Green Ronin, who tried numerous times to secure the license) that BioWare does not want there to be a tabletop Mass Effect RPG. That might be a mistake on their part, but it means it is very unlikely that the makers of the Mass Effect FATE RPG had any kind of permission from them.

Allen

Congratulations to the 2015 ENnies Nominees!

Gradine

The Elephant in the Room (she/her)

Grainger

Explorer

Gradine

The Elephant in the Room (she/her)

TheSwartz

Explorer

TheSwartz

Explorer

Steve Conan Trustrum

Explorer

arjomanes

Explorer

Dahak

Explorer

Nylanfs

Adventurer

Allensh

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