Congratulations to 2018's ENnie Award Winners!

Last night, at the Union Station in Indianapolis, the 2018 Gen Con EN World Awards winners were announced in a glittering ceremony, hosted by Andy Hopp, with guest presenters Stacy Dellorfano (ConTessa), BJ Hensley (Lone Wolf Development), Mark Morrison (Campaign Coins), and Amanda Valentine (Masks, Bubblegumshoe)! Congratulations go to this year's group of ENnie-winning writers, artists, designers, and more!

[video=youtube;_UiAhyIBK9c]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UiAhyIBK9c[/video]​

 

[soulcatcher78]

Chaosium and Arc Dream Publishing cleaned up last night. I may have to give in and pick up Delta Green now, lol.

Strong OSR presence on stage last night but WOTC was a no show for picking up publisher of the year award...that seemed a bit awkward when they didn't even send an intern.

 

[hawkeyefan]

Congrats to all the winners! Definitely some very nice variety in the nominations this year. Delta Green, Zweihander, Harlem Unbound, and Fozen and Mutilated all had very strong showings with multiple awards. Those are four very different products.

The end was a bit anti-climactic with Wizards not showing up, but I’m reasonably sure they didn’t submit any products for consideration this year....so they won best publisher solely because of fan voting. Can’t blame them for that. I think their decision to not submit any products is a smart one, and very good for the hobby overall. Wizards doesn’t need any awards to help move products, but smaller publishers do. So I give them credit for that.

Again, congrats to all the winners!

 

[Morrus]

Wizards doesn’t need any awards to help move products, but smaller publishers do. So I give them credit for that.

Awards (these ones at least) aren't about moving product. They're about recognising talented creators - artists, writers, and so on. Product sales for the company, awards for the individuals who work on the products. It's not much, but it's a positive gesture and a good thing to do, and a small thing we as a community *can* do (especially in an industry entirely unlike Hollywood where the award winners are all millionaires - these folks generally are not!)

 

[Nada]

I see the coffeehouse clickfarm sessions really paid off in gold...

 

[hawkeyefan]

Awards (these ones at least) aren't about moving product. They're about recognising talented creators - artists, writers, and so on. Product sales for the company, awards for the individuals who work on the products. It's not much, but it's a positive gesture and a good thing to do, and a small thing we as a community *can* do (especially in an industry entirely unlike Hollywood where the award winners are all millionaires - these folks generally are not!)

Oh absolutely. I wasn’t trying to imply that the awarda are not being awarded on merit. And perhaps “moving product” wasn’t the correct choice of words in a broader context...”recognizing worthwhile games and creators” would fit better.

But I also think that many of the nominees are working toward making game design their full time jobs, and the recognition of an Ennie can help them with that goal. And I give WotC some credit for not getting in the way of that.

So I’m happy to see such variety among the winners, and I hope the award helps them to keep creating new comtent.

 

[GMMichael]

Congratulations indeed! My crystal ball even managed to pick out a couple of the awards I'll have to look into this "Wizards of the Coast" publisher. It must be good if the fans picked it!

 

[imagineGod]

Starfinder low winnings

With so many nominations, Starfinder only won a silver award in cartography? Stunned!!!

View attachment 100070

 

[imagineGod]

Win some, lose some, I guess. Congratulations to all the winners, and a good showing at the event too.

 

[MNblockhead]

BJ works at Lone WOLF development; "Wolf" not "World"

Anywho...congrats to all the winners and thanks to EN World for highlighting so many games. I don't have time to keep up on more than a small handful of systems I'm interested in, so I often do learn of other games to check out from the ENies.

 

[Morrus]

BJ works at Lone WOLF development; "Wolf" not "World"

Actually, it said "Wold", which is even worse. Damn you, autocorrect! That's not even a word!

 

[Zadmar]

I'd like to say a big thank you to the organisers! I watched the live stream, and was very excited when I won a Silver ENnie for Saga of the Goblin Horde I know there are veteran game designers who pick up loads of awards, but this was the first product I've self-published on DTRPG, and the award really helps draw attention to my work (I've seen a significant increase in downloads since the nomination).

 

[Traveller]

Actually, it said "Wold", which is even worse. Damn you, autocorrect! That's not even a word!

"Wold is an Old English term for a forest or an area of woodland on high ground" - so funnily enough actually keeping with in the genre ;-)

 

[VengerSatanis]

Congratulations to my main man Glynn Seal of MonkeyBlood Design! Awesome job, hoss... thanks for making my products better. Let's kick ass another 3 years!

 

[Mistwell]

This is a really interesting list of winners this year. I have some stuff I may need to check out further.

 

[Zak S]

OSR annihilated this year!

And Harlem Unbound, which was awesome!

As for sales:

Yes sir there is absolutely a sales bump.

Jacob Hurst reported orders doubling now that Hot Springs Island won best adventure, and over at LotFP it's insane.

And, of course, if you voted for us--thank you!

 

[ajevans]

Congratulations to all the winners.

There is however one product that stands out from the rest and makes me scratch my chin.

Zweihander, best game? Better than Blades in the Dark, Delta Green, and Red Markets? Ditto for best product.

I own all of those products, all of which are good products, but feel the buzz on the latter 3 has been far greater than Zweihander, where most of the buzz seems to come from the author himself.

Maybe the buzz is all in forums I don't see??

 

[Zak S]

Congratulations to all the winners.

There is however one product that stands out from the rest and makes me scratch my chin.

Zweihander, best game? Better than Blades in the Dark, Delta Green, and Red Markets? Ditto for best product.

I've seen lots of people who like post-Forge games talk up Blades and Red Markets--though often while saying they regret they can't find anyone to play with, while I've seen way more discussion of people actually using Zweihander.

Many indie games are disproportionately discussed online because they emerged from online discussion scenes whereas Zweihander's fanbase is anyone who liked old Warhammer and just wanted it cleaned up a little and modernized--a way bigger group.

 

[ajevans]

I've seen lots of people who like post-Forge games talk up Blades and Red Markets--though often while saying they regret they can't find anyone to play with, while I've seen way more discussion of people actually using Zweihander.

Many indie games are disproportionately discussed online because they emerged from online discussion scenes whereas Zweihander's fanbase is anyone who liked old Warhammer and just wanted it cleaned up a little and modernized--a way bigger group.

Entirely feasible - we largely operate in echo chambers.

 

[Pauper]

Chaosium and Arc Dream Publishing cleaned up last night.

Chaosium is a perennial ENnie winner -- even in 2015, when WotC was cleaning up awards for releasing 5E, Chaosium still garnered a Gold and Silver.

And Arc Dream will be back next year, if my first couple of perusals of the Delta Green Handler's Guide is any indication.

Awards (these ones at least) aren't about moving product.

They may not be *about* moving product, but as Zak S. points out, they do help move product, which isn't a bad thing for products that deserve the attention. It does point out, though, that a curated list of nominees is likely more effective than a fan-generated list, as the fans will go for what's ubiquitous (see the guy asking for why Starfinder didn't win more awards), thus shining a spotlight on products that are already well-known rather than highlighting the 'hidden gems' that help make the RPG hobby as vibrant as it is.

Not saying that the ENnies have to go hipster, but they work better as hipster awards than as mainstream awards, I think.

--
Pauper