2007 Judge Selection

[HellHound]

Since most people seem to be dodging the 'favourite system' question I've got one.

Question 12*
What game(s) are you playing in now / have played in in the past year?



*(feel free to ignore question 11)

 

[Crothian]

Question 12
What game(s) are you playing in now / have played in in the past year?

I am currently running Eberron and Changeling. I'm playing in Savage Tides

In the past year I've also played or ran:
Serenity
Exalted 2e
QAGs
Traveler
GURPs
Paranoia
Thieves World
Deleria
Adventure
Buffy
D&D 1e
D&D 3e

 

[Xath]

Since most people seem to be dodging the 'favourite system' question I've got one.

Question 12*
What game(s) are you playing in now / have played in in the past year?



*(feel free to ignore question 11)

My current group is pretty D20-centric so most of the long term campaigns I've played in have been D20. I'm currently in two D&D 3.5 campaigns, a 3.5 PbP, a Wheel of Time campaign, and a D20 Revised Star Wars campaign. But in the past year, I've played Exalted, Hunter, Serenity, D20 Modern/Future, Paranoia, Mutants & Masterminds, Buffy/Angel, True 20, and probably a few more that I'm not thinking of right now.

I was going to start playing in an Exalted campaign late last year, but that fell through, so I'm stuck with a super-sweet Exalted character and no game to play. But I'm sure an opportunity will arise soon enough. One of the great things about living in this area is that there is always gaming to be found if you know where to look.

 

[HellHound]

You two have blown my mind. I'm a pretty hard-core collector and player of games, but I've only played a fraction of the games you guys have in the past year.

 

[Teflon Billy]

Since most people seem to be dodging the 'favourite system' question I've got one.

Question 12*
What game(s) are you playing in now / have played in in the past year?

M&M

D&D 3.5

WEG Star Wars

GURPS Space (For Firefly)

Warhammer FRP

Conan RPG

Angel

Spycraft

Feng Shui

 

[Treebore]

Since most people seem to be dodging the 'favourite system' question I've got one.

Question 12*
What game(s) are you playing in now / have played in in the past year?



*(feel free to ignore question 11)

D20 Star WArs (8 sessions)

Castles and Crusades (30+ sessions)

D&D 3E (9 sessions)

MegaTraveller (4 sessions)

HARP (3 sessions)

EPICrpg (2 sessions)

M&M 2E (3 sessions)

L5R 3E (1 session so far)

Shadowrun 4E (1 session)


All with my wife and 3 kids. It pays to have a gamer family.

Plus I have been reading the rules to Runequest and Call of Cthulhu 6th edition in preparation to try them out over the summer. Plus we want to do more L5R, Shadowrun, EPICrpg, well, all of them. During the summer we play 3 or more nights a week.

 

[Xath]

You two have blown my mind. I'm a pretty hard-core collector and player of games, but I've only played a fraction of the games you guys have in the past year.

I'm serious when I say it has to do with the area in which I live. I can't even walk into my local Borders without bumping into a new area gaming group. And this area is really fortunate to be infused with a large number of high quality local gaming stores. My nerditude insists that I game at least once per week, but for the most part, my regular group can only meet about once per month. So that leaves 3 weeks out of the month for trying new things.

Though it seems as though a bunch of the people I game with regularly are also looking to try new systems, so we're talking of starting up a weekly "whoever can show up" night to try a one-shot. So not only would I be able to game even more, but if I was a judge, it would be a great opportunity to see how the nominated products play.

 

[Piratecat]

I'm in as a potential judge! So let's see if I can address some questions.

1. Price factors. Price has virtually no impact on a product's inherent quality. While it's sometimes useful to consider a product's price vs. value - a $5 pdf won't be trying for the same results as a $60 deluxe book - I believe each product should be judged on its own merits. Truth be told, I don't particularly notice the price.

2. Favorite system. Please see Q12 below.

3. PDFs. The existence of PDFs lowered the cost barriers of entry into RPG publishing. PDFs allow great design to actually get seen. I think they're essential to innovation in the industry.

That being said, I hate to print them out in full; I read most PDFs on my screen or in printed sections.

4. Otyugh.

5. Mechanics vs. Concepts. I lean towards concepts, I suspect. I'm certainly familiar with mechanics evaluation, but it's the game's concepts that grab me. I'm also very sensitive to writing errors, and generally include those in my analysis.

6. Free time. I'm a computer game designer, and we ship the current game in about two weeks. This couldn't come at a better time in terms of my availability. I also a fast reader, which I know from experience helps.

7. And afterwards? My game shelves are close to full. Some things I'll certainly keep, and some will get distributed at game days. If you really believe in a product, you want other people to see it.

10. software vs Miniatures. Software's great, and an important part of game prep for me. I certainly use software tools - char gen, campaign tracking, and map-making - more than painted miniatures in my own game.

11. Blackmail? I have incriminating photos of Morrus. Cheap at any price! (The photos, not Morrus. Honest.)

12. Games played in the last year. Feng Shui. Paranoia. D&D. Call of Cthulhu. D&D. d20 Star Wars. Warhammer FRP. Spaceship Zero. Serenity. Mutants & Masterminds. Gamma world. Pulp Heroes. Adventure!. Deadlands. Sidewinder Recoiled. True 20.

Good lord, I'm a game slut. But this is what you get when you both hold your own non-D&D mini-con, and go to someone else's as well.

 

[mcrow]

1. How do you think price factors when evaluating a product?

Not at all. I judge a game based on absolute quality. When doing a review, I comment on the quality of the product and leave it to the reader to decide if it is a good value for their gaming purposes. It just seems to work better that way, given that people have differing opinions of what makes a game a good value.

2. Do you have a favourite system, or particular dislike of one? Why? How will this affect your ability to judge products?

I don't have any system that I would call my favourite, but I do have a few systems that I'm very familiar with and tend to use them more because of that. I don't have a dislike for any particular system. I enjoy trying out new systems as much as I can and for the most part I think that a lot of systems work fine. Some just shine more in certain game types.

3. How do you feel about PDFs? Inherent advantages and/or disadvantages?

I like PDFs a lot. I think over past year about half of all of my RPG purchases hae been PDF. I don't like buying core books in PDF ,unless I already have the print version, because it is hard on the eye to read 300 page book on my laptop. I like the PDF version so I can search it and print out the chargen or charts for players. Shorter supplements make up most of what I buy for PDFs. Ones that i can print out cheaply if I want. PDF is also good for those that live nowhere near a gaming store and shipping cost are high making print books unaffordable.

4. Mutant or troll?

Mutant

5. mechanics or concepts? if you find too many errors in mechanics or in the writing will you fault the submission?

typeos and bad editing will lose points with me. I'm willing to overlook a few mistakes, but if the book looks like it was run through a spell checker and then printed, I will be all over it.

Mechanical issues tend to get me a little more irritated. A game should be very well playtested be for it is published and the rules should be clearly written. If the game lacks clear rules and/or mechanical problems I will make it known.

6. are you in a long term relationship or a job which requires you to be on call or have little free time? how much time are you willing to spend to see this project to completion? are the outside factors going to effect your commitment? (a non gaming SO, a sick child, an aging parent, a new job, a move, planning a marriage, etc...)

I'm married, but we have no kids. We are both very healthy so I don't see any issues there. My job is Monday through Friday no weekends or holidays and I can work pretty much any hours I want.

7. what are you gonna do with your stuff when all is done?

Keep what I like. Maybe donate some to ENworld auctions or something.

8. 4e - Now, Soon, Later, or Never?

I think sometime in the next year we will be told what the plans for 4e are.

9) Which is your favorite Beatle?

Ringo

10) Software. What role do you see for software in DnD? Do you use software in DnD (more than Word/PDF etc)? Are minis more important than software?

Well, I like character generators, maping software, and all those types of things. I think as time goes on D&D will become more software oriented. Right now, I would say that minis are more important to most gamers than software. For me, software is more important since I typically don't use minis when I play D&D, though I do enjoy playing a totally 3D dungeon once in a while.

11. Are any of you offering cash incentives, beer, and/or incriminating photographs of Morrus in return for my vote?

I'me greedy like a dwarf, will get no kek or gold from me.

12. What game(s) are you playing in now / have played in in the past year?

I just finished up a Burning Empires mini campaign this week. Other games I played over the past year have been:

Nebuleon
Roma Imperious
AD&D 2ed
D&D 3.5
Hero System
Savage Worlds
A Game of Thrones
GURPs
Vampire (OWoD)
Hard Nova II
FUDGE
and a few one shots as well.

 

[vermicious knid]

Howdy folks.

1. Very significant to me as a buyer. Of no consequence when reviewing/evaluating.

2. Favorite system has fluctuated over the years. I've had a lot of fun with HERO, WFRP, D20. GURPS, etc... My only bias is that I'm pro-elegant design and creativity.

3. I find PDFS to be an awkward reading experience...but a great way for a small publisher to get his ideas seen. I tend to print out everything I intend to use.

4. Beware my rend attack, baby.

5. Poor mechanics = laziness, in my opinion. A sufficiently creative concept could overcome that, but it is a black mark in my book.

6. I work a job where I can spend part of the day reading. I'm a voracious reader and don't anticipate any problems blazing through a mountain of submissions.

7. I will hug it and squeeze it and call it George

8. Soonish, I would imagine.

9. John, of course.

10. Minis are more important than software to me. I'm a pencil and paper guy.

11. Morrus made me promise not to share the videotape...but I might be persuaded to buy a beer or two at Gencon.