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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Word" data-source="post: 306059" data-attributes="member: 4867">This thread has been a whole lot to digest in one sitting. Please forgive me if I'm retreading something here. Just my thoughts hear, no official statements or anything.Critics Choice vs. Fan's ChoiceSpeaking as a nominee and a d20 fan, I think this is the best idea. I also think it's already in place. Knowing that the judges have seen everything and selected your product makes the nomination a real honor. That's the critic's choice. Anything which grants one vote weight over another diminishes the value of the nominations and the awards. A simpler process, like the one we have now, is clearer and more honest. To me, that means "better." I get a real thrill out of knowing that Monte Cook and Ryan Dancey get one vote that's just as valuable as mine. This means that a vote is representative not just of someone's appreciation of a product, but of their desire to obtain that product. Yes, this means that distribution plays a big part in the voting. That is unfortunate, but I think it's an acceptable shame. Categories and EligibilityOnce the meaning of the ENnies can be determined, we can figure out WotC's eligibility. The d20 logo versus the d20 license debate is the most relevant, I think. What did it mean this year is sort of beside the point. The scope of the EN World Awards should be more closely defined and clearly explained to all participants, including voters. I acknowledge that WotC is truly not operating under the d20 license. My opinion is that WotC should stay in the running, unless they voluntarily decide not to participate. Why? See below. I think more categories are a bad idea, for the most part. Best Editing, if the criteria can be agreed upon, seems sound. I also think a category for Best Periodical would be valuable, because otherwise I think Dungeon/Polyhedron is going to win every year with what is fundamentally the same product when compared with other nominees. Yeah, the nomination is still a true joy, but the presentation of the award becomes sort of moot. A periodical category would put Dragon and Dungeon in the interesting position of competing against each other, perhaps. The intersection of these two points is my quandry. Dungeon/Polyhedron really is a great product. It's a terrific product to lose to ("Yeah, I lost, but to the best value in gaming!"). But imagine how wonderful it would feel to be chosen over Dungeon/Polyhedron!The ENnies Are Not A Market StudyWorrying about the ability of the ENnies to model the genuine feelings of the D20 purchasing audience isn't worth it. I sure hope these awards aren't perceived as a  marketing survey in a tuxedo. It's already been said, the voters represent just a slice of the market. It's the community here that the awards are about, and sharing respect. The more complex the machine gets, the more maintenance it will need. If the voters ever fail to fully understand how the process works, the value of the votes will fall further into question. (This, I think, is where we can find the parable for our most recent American election.) If individuals have opinions about the eligibility of WotC products, they should vote for their favorite non-WotC book on the ballot. That's what a vote is worth. That's how a vote works. It's contrary to purpose to present nominees and then restrict the voting. Likewise, I'm just sharing my vote here. There are people more informed than I who will do right by the ENnies in Indianapolis as they did in Milwaukee. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />word,Will HindmarchAtlas Games</blockquote>

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