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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Beckett" data-source="post: 3333560" data-attributes="member: 781">I've tossed my hat in, so here are my answers (I think I've found all the questions asked in this thread)1. How do you think price factors when evaluating a product?I don't think it's a major factor.  It might affect my buying habits if it lifts something out of my price range, and in a review I might comment on the cost per page.  But if I'm trying to decide what is the best product, the cost isn't going to matter. Just because a book costs $100 doesn't mean it's good or bad.2. Do you have a favourite system, or particular dislike of one? Why? How will this affect your ability to judge products?D20 is the system I play the most, and so I'm most comfortable with it.  It's the main game my group is interested in.  But, it's not the only game I play.  I've always been open to trying new systems, so I hope that openess counters any bias I might have toward D20.3. How do you feel about PDFs? Inherent advantages and/or disadvantages?I like them. While it is nice to have an actual book in your hands, PDFs are typically cheaper and can be searched without having to look at the index or page through the book.  PDFs have also made it easier to get out products that might not have been profitable in hardcopy, such as older items or ideas to specialized to appeal to a wide audience.4. Mutant or troll?After X-Men 3, I'm siding with the trolls.5. mechanics or concepts? if you find too many errors in mechanics or in the writing will you fault the submission?Both. Who would want to play with a bad concept just because the mechanics are great?  And the greatest concept won't get you far if the mechanics are too poor to want to play with. Yes, either can be taken out and ported somewhere else, but then you don't really have the best product; you have a good product, except for the setting/system.The impact of errors depends on how significant the errors are.  Typos are fine, unless I find myself spending more time spellchecking than reading.  Mechanic errors vary with how much they disrupt the game.  An extra point of armor class or 3 extra skill points are errors that won't even slow down most games.  If the errors render the game unplayable, then that will be a factor.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 work 40 hours a week in a low stress job with no overtime. The crunch time for reading looks like it will come after the school year ends, so it shouldn't  be a problem to take time off to finish the reading.My wife is a gamer. I explained to her what being a judge would entail, and her only question was, "Can I help playtest the stuff you're evaluating?"7. what are you gonna do with your stuff when all is done?I'll freely admit one of the reasons I want to be a judge is so that I'll be exposed to lots of material I wouldn't have bought on my own.  I'll keep those items that interest me the most, and give away or send back the rest.8. 4e - Now, Soon, Later, or Never?Later or never. By the end of 2e, my group had given up on the game. The game felt stagnant, and was drowning in it's own weight. 3e cleaned things up.  It still seems new, and some of the recent WotC releases show that there are still new ideas for it. But, there is room for improvement, and some of the major fixes would require a new edition.9. Which is your favorite Beatle?John.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?Minis have always been a part of my gaming experience; whatever game I've played, we've almost always had figures to represent the PCs and NPCs.I would love to see the role of software expand for D&D (and other systems could certainly benefit from it).  Character creation where everything you need is in the program, so no more searching through books for that one feat you need.  Other programs could keep track of monsters and experience, or generate dungeons on the fly.12. What game(s) are you playing in now / have played in in the past year?I am currently running two D&D games- one using the Savage Tide adventure path, and one using a modified version of the Shattered Gates of Slaughtergarde.  I'm also running a Pendragon game (the actual play of it is on RPG.net). In 2006, I played or ran: Shadowrun 4, Exalted, Warhammer Fantasy, D&D and other D20 settings (A Game of Thrones, Warcraft)13. How long have you been gaming? Does that affect the perspective you will be bringing to the judging table?I've been gaming for 20 years now. I have fond memories of the games I played then, but I'm also fond of the games I play now. I've always been willing to try something new.14. How much game design experience do you have? I don't mean published, I mean in general- 10 years of homebrewing? Have you created your own systems? Do you think this affects your level of qualification as a judge?.My system creation is limited to my younger days when I'd look at a rule set and think I could do better.  I mostly tinker now, finding the spots in games that bug me and figuring out fixes, or stealing the fixes from other games.  I think this helps my qualifications as it has helped me evaluate rules to find what works.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? I think the rules need to be fluid.  Guidelines that work one year might be outdated or ineffective the next.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? From what I've seen, efforts are being made to spread word of the ENnies to many of the other major RPG boards.  Even on ENworld, D20 is not the only system embraced.  I think the market share that D20 games hold would be the bigger factor in the awards being biased in that direction.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? I think it's good that they have their own site, as it shows the ENnies have grown beyond just ENWorld. I also think it's good that Dextra recognized that reaching out to the varied RPG boards was the best way to get in touch with people.18) Do you think moving the ENnies off EN World would cause a drop in the overall number of voters?I think the opposite.  On ENWorld, the awards are more easily dismissed as being just  for D20.  On their own site, I think a wide variety of gamers will come to vote.19. Have done paid games industry work?No.20. Do you plan on playtesting any of the material? Yes.  I'll enlist my group as time permits, and at least roll some dice on my own to see how the systems work.21. What prompted you to consider being a judge for the ENnies? I've been looking for some way to extend my hobby beyond just my table.22. Would statements by those "in the industry" affect your opinions on a product? No.  If a designer I respect says to check out a product, I might look at it a little more closely, but just becase he or she says it's good doesn't mean I'll agree.23. Do you prefer Old World of Darkness or New World of Darkness?I admit, I haven't looked into the NWoD.  What I've read about it is encouraging, as it sounds like a big improvement.  However, my group has never meshed well with White Wolf games, so I've concentrated my efforts on games they aren't already biased against.24. Will you be at Gen Con?It was actually going to be my honeymoon spot, but various issues sprung up.  If elected, I'm pretty sure I can work things out to be there.25. What about gaming appeals to you?The chance to use my imagination and to share my ideas with others without making them read a novel or screenplay I'm working on.  The chance to hang out with friends in an activity that we're all active participants in.  Oh, and the chance to slay dragons.26. Your overall most memorable gaming purchase you made?It was a flea market at an air force base in Germany.  One table had several issues of Dragon and many adventures for sale. My parents allowed me to pick one.  I looked around, and chose Against the Cult of the Reptile God.  I took it home and attempted to run it for my younger brother, using Legos as miniatures.  That didn't go so well, but I would later run it twice using 2e, and again with minimal conversions to 3e.  I guess you never forget your first.27. Have you ever been an ENnies judge before?No28. Name me a product that you bought in the last year that you don't recommand people to buy. And why.I'm another who looks before he buys. The closest I've come to being disapointed with a purchase is the four Displacer Pack Lords I drew from War of the Dragon Queen DDM packs.29.  rockin' moment that happened at your table this year?Two events come to mind, both from parts of my Pendragon that have not made it to my actual play thread.The first is the shocked looks on my players' faces when I told them that according to the GPC, they were all dead.  I gave them each one chance to save themselves, and each one succeeded.The second was when my wife's character, a female knight disguised as a man, finally revealed her gender to her lord.  There was some great role-playing there as she admitted to living a lie for almost a decade and why she had done it, and he came to grips with one of his best knights being a female.</blockquote>

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