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Message: <blockquote data-quote="DPGDarrin" data-source="post: 306251" data-attributes="member: 4949">I still haven't heard a good reason not to have 2 or even 3 levels of the competition. Suppose that WotC, Sovereign Press, AEG, and Sword and Sorcery compete in the larger publisher category. The reason they would be in this category would be because they all publish D&D or officially licensed D&D products. Said products are D&D, Kalamar D&D, Dragonlance, and Oriental adventures/ Rokugan. The smaller publishers that actually want to go head to head with the official "name brand stuff" like Green Ronin, Malhavoc Press, or whoever, can enter into this higher category if they choose. So if I decided to enter in a DPG product into the highest category, I would essentially be saying that I believe my product can topple one of WotC's in a popularity contest.The second tier would be smaller, less corporate,  publishers like Bastion Press, Green Ronin (if they choose not to participate in the higher category), Mystic Eye Games, Necromancer Games, Fiery Dragon, etc. (No offense if I missed anyone important).The third tier would be PDFs.One rule would be that a company could only enter at one level. In other words, the balance couldn't be tipped in Cheesewonk Games' favor because they put products in all three categories.If you think that this is an unrealistic way to structure the awards, then why do the academy awards always have categories for independant films? The list of who belongs in which category could be voted on by the judges panel, voted by the public, or be determined by specific standard like company head count or product distribution. Maybe not all levels would have the same awards. I mean, would there really be a lot of pdf campaign settings out there? Maybe categories can be taylored to suit the specifics of the market from year to year. The Company's bracket could move up or down from year to year too, depending on the guidelines set up by the judges. I could see some cases where some companies could be in two categories if they are doing official D&D licensed stuff as well as D20 material. Sword and Sorcery Studios are doing Ravenloft, which is officially licensed from WotC, and they have the Scarred Lands, which is published under the OGL. The status of special cases like EQ would be determined by the judges. If there aren't enough products from different companies, WotC or whatever publisher best fits the category can have more than one entry. Again, this is similar to the academy awards where co-stars can compete against each other for the same award. The reason that I feel that this would be the most fair for everyone is because this way companies with a great deal of talent, money, and a lot of products like WotC can compete and if they sweep the awards in their category, we can all feel good about the win. Smaller publishers that want to compete in that category can feel good about getting nominated in that category. Others, from smaller publishers, will be happy to be considered the best of their league.</blockquote>

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