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Message: <blockquote data-quote="FDP Mike" data-source="post: 730908" data-attributes="member: 325">I actually think that this decision is unfortunate. I can see the need to "level the playing field" and have all d20 products competing together; not separating out PDFs would certainly encourage this development.Still, I wonder if the PDF medium is not distinct enough from the print medium that it should deserve separate recognition. On the one hand, the potential audience is different -- perhaps more limited both in terms of awareness and access (e.g., who uses computers and the internet? who has a credit card for on-line purchases?). On the other hand, the concerns of the medium are different -- electronic format as opposed to print format. One can do different things in a PDF than a print product (e.g., use colour [without the printing costs!], thumbnails, and so forth), and one appeals to or reaches maybe a different segment of d20 gamers through PDFs.The issues's not one of better vs. worse. It's perhaps one of distinct differences in how things are done, at least as far as the finished product is concerned (all the design, development, layout, art, and so on are just the same).On a related note, will there be a "best free product" category again? <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=":)" />Fair enough. Yet there must be some means of "curtailing" WotC's market share so that the focus remains upon the quality of a product. Baraendur is right in that if WotC keeps sweeping the awards (deservedly or not), then the ENnies will lose their interest for many people, gamers and publishers alike. I like suggestions of limitations such as the amount of time one has been a registered memeber at ENWorld.  Thus, one way to address this issue is to restrict the voting as much as possible to those at ENWorld -- i.e., really make the ENnies something created and decided upon the people who support and get involved with this site and this community. We pick the judges; we should also pick the winners from the choices that we entrust the judges to make. Moreover, I would suggest that as a whole, the ENWorld crowd holds a better awareness of non-WotC products than the majority of gamers out there, which in a way offers a built-in means of again "levelling the playing field."I think there should also be a distinct, clear understanding of what qualifies a product for a particular category. A lot of discussion occurred last year regarding Oriental Adventure's placement in the Setting category, and a similar (potential) confusion should be avoided again.I would make a "Best d20/OGL Game" category. "Game" in this sense should mean any product that presents itself as and stands wholly separate from (let's face it) D&D. Thus, as an example, Judge Dredd competes alongside Mutants & Masterminds and EverQuest. They are all distinct games, even if the latter two are OGL products that technically use the d20 system.I disagree with this option. The nomination is enough of a coup, really, and once the judges are done picking the nominations, the rest should be left up to the voters. Also, going this route faces the eventuality that the Judge's Choice award for best overall product, say, becomes the focus and highlight of the ENnies -- not the winners as voted by the public. The judges do an incredible job of picking the nominations, and that should be their primary goal and ultimate satisfaction. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" /> Besides, the judge's get to vote individually on the products once the nominations are out, no?Moreover, having 2nd and 3rd place awards is awfully tricky to negotiate. True, they do take away from the significance of the single winner. Yet acknowledging just a single winner provides us no idea as to how the other nominees ultimately fared in the voting. I'm not sure why final vote counts are not revealed once the awards are handed out, but doing so -- if 2nd and 3rd place awards are not given -- might allow folks to see just how everything shook down. Did WotC win by 3,000 votes or was it closer to 300? If the process will be transparent, final vote stats just might cancel the desire for "runners-up" awards . . . and give all of us a clearer indication of the sort of gap lying between WotC and "3rd-party" publishers.I do, though, like Mearls' idea of a "Designers' Choice" award. What do the folks who make the products actually think about the work of their peers? Still, I would keep this sort of award as ENWorld-focussed as possible: i.e., again, voters must somehow be active members of ENWorld, voters must be part of a d20 publishing company and/or have published work within a certain timeframe, perhaps they are culled from only the products nominated by judges, and other such options . . . . Yes, I'd really like to see such an award.In the end, let's avoid making the awards more complex than is necessary. Keep the focus on the ENWorld community while at the same time establishing the authority and legitimacy of the awards to the d20 community at large. The more straightforward the process, the less chance for problems. Well, maybe. <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=":)" />Take care,Mike</blockquote>

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