Congratulations to the 2017 ENnie Award Nominees!

Zak S · Jul 6, 2017

Cam Banks said:
You could fill entire threads with hundreds of posts of people arguing about the definition of "indie."

Yes and any of them who argued one nonrich guy in Finland publishing books by himself isn't "indie" would be wrong and the people arguing he was pretty much the definition of indie would be right.

Instead, it's possibly better to suggest that James has had remarkable mainstream success with LOTFP and his published backlist is on shelves alongside products put out by many other companies.

"Instead"? That doesn't make sense.

Whether James has been successful or not doesn't address whether he's an Indie publisher.

And this is important to point out because...

...for years and years Indie publishers larger than James at Lamentations of the Flame Princes by far have been underpaying freelancers and cheating customers with generic art, bad information design, careless writing, and unadventurous and unoriginal content and justifying it on the grounds that "Oh we can't do any better, we're a small press".

The fact that LotFP more than competes with WOTC in terms of quality and payrate while being literally as small as a press can get in terms of personnel on staff changes the game.

And freelancers and fans should know the game has been changed and demand better than they've been getting from the bigger indies.

JediSoth · Jul 6, 2017

Manbearcat said:
[MENTION=1]Morrus[/MENTION] , John Harper's Blades in the Dark not eligible this year?

A quick glance at the website shows that it didn't start shipping until about mid-May. Products had to have been published by April 30th, 2017 to be eligible. Blades in the Dark is eligible for next year, should they choose to submit it.

Cam Banks · Jul 6, 2017

Zak S said:
Yes and any of them who argued one nonrich guy in Finland publishing books by himself isn't "indie" would be wrong and the people arguing he was pretty much the definition of indie would be right.

Nobody in this business is rich. In fact, this is why James' success is notable and why the claim that he is no longer indie is so common to many gamers - he's able to hire freelancers and artists and cartographers and layout and carry out marketing in the form of hardcover books to be given away as part of Free RPG Day, on top of all of the other expenses. You might not be surprised to hear it but many would, and that's that a great many RPG publishers are just one or two guys and gals and a ton of freelancers and artists.

So you're preaching to the choir, here. However, as I said, the conversation about what's indie and what isn't has and does literally take up thousands of posts on forums based on all kinds of opinions from people both ignorant to the publishing world and those who aren't. So instead of having that conversation, and instead of quibbling about whether LOTFP is indie or not, better to celebrate that people are getting such a ridiculously broad selection of games of all types and that these are being recognized in the media and at tables and online play forums around the world, AND that people like James are finally paying people better wages for their work.

Cheers,
Cam

Piratecat · Jul 6, 2017

JediSoth said:
A quick glance at the website shows that it didn't start shipping until about mid-May. Products had to have been published by April 30th, 2017 to be eligible. Blades in the Dark is eligible for next year, should they choose to submit it.

I sure hope he does; it's superb.

LordEntrails · Jul 6, 2017

Skeld said:
How many consecutive years are judges allowed to serve?

Forever, if they keep getting nominated.

IMO, I would like to see some sort of rotation. It's invaluable to have judges who have done the job before, but it is also just as important to keep having new judges. That said, I don't know what the turnover rate for judges is or how long some of them have been around. So my concerns may be unfounded.

Morrus · Jul 6, 2017

LordEntrails said:
Forever, if they keep getting nominated.

IMO, I would like to see some sort of rotation. It's invaluable to have judges who have done the job before, but it is also just as important to keep having new judges. That said, I don't know what the turnover rate for judges is or how long some of them have been around. So my concerns may be unfounded.

There is currently a term limit in place as of 2017.

LordEntrails · Jul 6, 2017

Morrus said:
There is currently a term limit in place as of 2017.

Ah, I missed that. Thanks for correcting me. (Really, I re-read the rules this year, not sure how I missed it. Guess it's selective comprehension!)

Derek Von Zarovich · Jul 6, 2017

Thanks a lot !

Sithikurro said:
Yay for Loot the Room and Elven Tower!

Thanks a lot man, we're both pretty exceited about this.

Silver Moon · Jul 7, 2017

Piratecat said:
TimeWatch is up for Best Game and Product of the Year, with Book of Changing Years up for Best Writing, and I'm flabbergasted. Very, very grateful.

Well deserved!

EonTrinity · Jul 9, 2017

A great list this year, like every year!

There were a few surprises for me this year.

I was really glad to see Timewatch on the list. That is such a gem.

I was also really surprised to see that Coriolis didn't make the Interior Art list, as it is one of the most beautiful RPG books I have ever seen.

As always, well done. Love seeing the Ennies every year!

ET