2007 Judge Selection

[Rasyr]

The deliberations have to be held someplace, does it really matter that it is done here?

It can matter... It depends on the image that the ENnies wants to project. Image does not always follow reason...

Again, Rasyr this thread is for asking the ENnies judge Nominees questions that help people decide who they want to vote for, not for showing how much you dislike them.

I do not dislike any of the judges, nor do I dislike the ENnies. I think that there are some POTENTIAL problem areas and I would like to see them addressed publicly since these are supposed to be a fan-based awards, the fans SHOULD have the chance to give their input.

My questions for the judges (and thanks to P-kitty for answer the one about the Mods) are meant to specifically to elicit their opinions and thoughts on things that I think are important regarding the ENnies, as opposed to some of the silly questions asked. I assure you that I take the ENnies very seriously and have a great amount of respect for them. I just happen to think that they can be even better. And since I am not a stake-holder this year, I feel that I can fully and freely express my opinions in order to ask those in charge to make things better overall and fairer to all.

More questions for judges....

Do you think that a codified set of rules cannot include provisions for making changes and/or updating them as conditions and the market change?

Do you think it is wrong to have a basic set of rules be codified and put forth to let participant know exactly what points they will be judged on? Do make sure that each judge is judging the entrants on the same points?

(Note: granted each judge would put their own significance to each point, but at least they would all be covering the same points?)

Do you think that products entered in the main categories should be allowed to be included in other main categories by the judges?

Do you think that Categories should have at least a minimal description/standard to determine whether or not a product should be included in that category (i.e. that a book is required to be at least 50% about the setting to be considered for Best Setting)?

 

[mcrow]

For those nominees that are already registered here, this is not an issue, but might it possibly be an issue for those from other sites or for those potential judge nominees who might not like d20?

(Note: for the record, while I have some issues with what I see as limitations in the system, I do like d20, I just happen to prefer some other systems more.)

And yes, the above questions are for all judges...

I do post here some, but I primarily post @ The RPG Site. I think there is some "meaningful" conversation over on The RPG Site. I fully admit that d20 is not my primary system, though I do tend play it a d20 campaign every year. As far as people having to register here, personally if it is to much work to register here or you have so much hate for this site that you won't register to be a judge, then maybe you should not be a judge. I think the people who are voted in should be people who really want to do it.

 

[mcrow]

Do you think that a codified set of rules cannot include provisions for making changes and/or updating them as conditions and the market change?

I think as long as they(the rules) were reviewed on a yearly basis, it could work.

Do you think it is wrong to have a basic set of rules be codified and put forth to let participant know exactly what points they will be judged on? Do make sure that each judge is judging the entrants on the same points?

It think that some very general points to judge games on would be a good idea.

(Note: granted each judge would put their own significance to each point, but at least they would all be covering the same points?)

Do you think that products entered in the main categories should be allowed to be included in other main categories by the judges?

Yes, if a game has outstanding art , rules, and writting it should be able to be entered in all three. Truely outstanding products should be recognized.

Do you think that Categories should have at least a minimal description/standard to determine whether or not a product should be included in that category (i.e. that a book is required to be at least 50% about the setting to be considered for Best Setting)?

Yes, but no hard rule, just a general guideline.

 

[Dextra]

Plea

Please, everybody, lets limit this thread to questions to the judge nominees ONLY and their answers. If you wish to ask questions about the ENnies in general, make suggestions, rant or rave about them in general, do so elsewhere. The discussion herein is supposed to be only for the conversations between the judge nominees and those asking them questions.

I'm goiing to ask the moderators to move any off-topic posts from this thread to somewhere more appropriate. Thanks, everyone!

 

[Xath]

Here are some questions for all the judges......

15) Do you think that the ENnies should have a codified set of rules for how they should be run, including a specific list of points that the judges should use for each category? Or do you think that the ENnies should be like they are currently, and the judges voting on the rules each year? And to either answer, why?

Both. I think that the ENnies should establish a codified set of rules for judging categories, but I think those rules should be subject to review each year by the new judge panel. That way, we have a list of criteria to give to publishers so that they know how they will be judged. But since the rules would be revised each year, it could prevent abuse of the system. But I believe that there should be a trump card that rules over all of the other rules: common sense.

16) Do you think that the ENnies being so intimately tied to the World's Largest d20 Fan Site might mean that the basic voting pool for the ENnies might be a bit biased towards d20 products in general?

Maybe. But if you notice, every judge nominee so far visits multiple RPG sites. The Board of Directors is intrinsically linked to the site, but they run the business aspect of the awards, and don't really decide the voting policy. And even the board is not D20-centric. I

I mean, everyone everywhere has a bias towards something and RPGs are no exception. The jobs of the judges are to try to put their bias on a shelf while they're judging. I think that over the past three years, I've watched the ENnies make remarkable progress towards moving away from being D20.

17) Do you think that the ENnies should move everything over to their own, independant website (which they already have), to have all aspects of the ENnies in 1 single central location? Why or why not?

Here's the thing. Everyone who works with the ENnies is a volunteer. Which means, we're only capable of doing the things that we have volunteers for. Michael Morris does a great job at doing the coding we need when he can, but setting up a completely independant system takes time and effort. The ENnies made a great start this year by getting their website hosted off of the ENWorld server. They're even trying to get the code for judge voting operational. But again, this takes time. I'm sure that if you'd like to front the money to hire a programmer to code us a state-of-the-art website that can handle all of the things that the ENnies needs to do, that would be greatly appreciated. But while we're operating on a volunteer basis, you need to have some patience.

18) Do you think moving the ENnies off EN World would cause a drop in the overall number of voters?

Not if we continue to pimp it on every RPG messageboard we can find.

 

[Piratecat]

Additional answers:

13. How long have you been gaming? I've been gaming since 1979-80, and I'm a fan of dozens of different systems. I expect that helps with comparative analysis when comparing game presentation and rules. It also allows me to make boring, long-winded rants about how we used to walk up the hill both ways in the snow to pull pips out of a cup because they hadn't invented dice yet. Hey, everybody wins.

14. Game design experience. I'm a video game designer by trade nowadays, and I've done both professional and personal game design (RPGA adventure writing, personal adventure writing for cons, and homebrewing). I've also done some unpublished board game and card game design. The design experience definitely affects how I look at a product. It also means that I understand more subtleties of game playability and balance than I do of graphic presentation.

15. ENnies Rules. Having unchanging and strictly defined rules that persist across years would seem to rob the awards of flexibility. The RPG industry continues to change and morph; I believe that the ENnies stays pertinent by responding to those changes in products and categories. A good example of this is last year's Special Judges' Award for Innovation, won by Dread.

16) Potential bias. I've been a judge twice since the awards began, and have MCed the awards ceremony several times. I've never seen any sign of bias, and non-d20 games have typically been given equal scrutiny to d20 games. I'd say this is evidenced in the awards; take a look at last year's winners and note the number of non-d20 games.

17) Should all aspects of the ENnies in 1 single central location?I'm neutral. It doesn't partiocularly matter to me where the judges' discussion takes place. I have no problem with the discussions happening here, though.

18) Do you think moving the ENnies off EN World would cause a drop in the overall number of voters? I can't see how it would.

19. Have done paid games industry work? Yes. I wrote Of Sound Mind in 2001, I've written some text in a Scarred Lands supplement, and I've edited both Skull & Bones and Grim Tales. I don't believe this has affected my impartiality in the past.

 

[Crothian]

Do you think that a codified set of rules cannot include provisions for making changes and/or updating them as conditions and the market change?

It could if phrased properly.

Do you think it is wrong to have a basic set of rules be codified and put forth to let participant know exactly what points they will be judged on? Do make sure that each judge is judging the entrants on the same points?

With the current system I feel that the judges and most people understand what is meant by Best Rules for instance. I don't feel we need a specific list of criteria as there are alkways things RPGs will do that go beyond the list. And then we'd have to add criteria for every book and the list could get out of hand.

Do you think that products entered in the main categories should be allowed to be included in other main categories by the judges?

Yes I do. I think we could argue what is a main category and there are RPGs these days that try to put everything in one book. I don't think we should punish books that try to do that.

Do you think that Categories should have at least a minimal description/standard to determine whether or not a product should be included in that category (i.e. that a book is required to be at least 50% about the setting to be considered for Best Setting)?

They need to have a description, but not a percentage standard. Judges last year got over 200 books. They do not have the time to go through all of them and determine the percentage of setting verse adventure verse monsters verse whatever. Plus publishers don't make it easy by only have the setting material in one place. They like to have setting information in monster descriptions and stuff like that.

 

[Xath]

I would like to know if any of the candidates have done paid games industry work, ever.

The closest I've ever come is working WotC Retail for 3 years. At one point, our store was pegged to try to develop a new RPG league (not the RPGA) to encourage people to play RPGs inside the store under controlled circumstances. I was put in charge of the project, but it took too much space, money, and employee time, so it never went anywhere.

 

[Xath]

More questions for judges....

Do you think that a codified set of rules cannot include provisions for making changes and/or updating them as conditions and the market change?

I think it can. In fact, I said something to that effect in an answer to question 15.

Do you think it is wrong to have a basic set of rules be codified and put forth to let participant know exactly what points they will be judged on? Do make sure that each judge is judging the entrants on the same points?

(Note: granted each judge would put their own significance to each point, but at least they would all be covering the same points?)

Of course the judges evaluate products with the same points. That's why before they start judging, they create a list of criteria to evaluate by.

Do you think that products entered in the main categories should be allowed to be included in other main categories by the judges?

Well first off, what do you define as a main category? I'm going to assume that you're once again bringing up Shackled City. Yes, I feel that on a vote, a product should be allowed in more than one category. But it cannot be arbitrarily put there. The reason there are 5 judges is so that there can be no ties on issues like this. If the judges, as a unit, feel that a product should be allowed in more than one category, they should be able to enter it. But maybe for this year, they should require that decision to be unanimous instead of a 3-2 majority.

Do you think that Categories should have at least a minimal description/standard to determine whether or not a product should be included in that category (i.e. that a book is required to be at least 50% about the setting to be considered for Best Setting)?

I think setting a hard-line like that would cause more problems than it would solve. I prefer to use common sense.

 

[GwydapLlew]

Questions

Do you plan on playtesting any of the material?

What prompted you to consider being a judge for the ENnies?

Would statements by those "in the industry" affect your opinions on a product?