Ennies Judge Election Closed - Winners Inside

[tabrumj]

1) no
2) no, this isn't a county fair where just anyone can choose to enter. In order to get to the point of voting the nominees have already proven themselves to be the best of the category.
3) Let WOTC in. Pretty much for all thhe reasons Mark said.

I would request the addition of a new category. I think there should be a seperate Magazine category. TThese truly are different products and should be jusdged only against other periodicals.

 

[Agnostic Paladin]

Mark's right on all counts.

pdfs that are good enough will get recognized; they don't need their own category.

2nd and 3rd place prizes only make sense in a situation with (far) more than 5 competitors. If their wasn't a set list of five products in each category, then 2nd and 3rd place prizes would be reasonable, but that would require completely changing the way the ennies work.

Anyone who wants Wizards removed is probably not producing stuff deserving Ennies anyhow; the high-end 3rd party material is at least as good as what WotC is putting out.

 

[Teflon Billy]

I spoke for a bit with the Thunderhead/Mystic Eye games folks last year at Gen Con, and they were adamant that WotC be in the competition the next (this) year, despite having pretty much swept any category they chose to enter.

The MEG/THG crew (sorry, I forget exactly who...might have been Hal Greenberg) said that they wanted to be in competition with everyone making D20 product, so that when they did win, it wouldn't be a "Best of the rest" type victory.

 

[Teflon Billy]

I've already voted...

Dang!..scratch the first 2 then

 

[Psion]

The tough issues come to the fore.

1) I ihave mixed feelings on the PDF category. There is a lot of good stuff out there that is getting overlooked, and a PDF category can highlight some of those excellent product.

However, as a reviewer and potentional judge, I have to feel dubious about a PDF category for the same reason I do not guarantee reviews of PDF products sent: anyone can send one with minimal expendiature, and I think the swamping of the judges problem would be a very realistic concern.

I think for reasons of contest logistics, I would rule against it.

2 and 3) These are really intertwined. I am not sure what I think about "second place" things, but I have come around to thinking that excluding WotC would be a bad idea.

That said, the people who have concerns about it have a good point. There are Scarred Lands fans, Kalamar fans, Malhavoc fans, and so on, but WotC is the one company that everyone has some familiarity with. If last year is any indication, WotC tends to take most categories except adventure. So how much of a chance for glory is there for other publishers, some of whom have excellent products but simply have less exposure?

The second/third place thing seems like a fair compromise, but I think I would hold off for this year. I think WotC's product schedule is a lot lighter and covers a lot less ground this year, and just maybe we will see a few third party publisher get the prize. (In fact, there is one category I am just about sure this will happen.) If that fails to happen, I definitely think we may want to consider it for next year.

 

[Umbran]

So how much of a chance for glory is there for other publishers, some of whom have excellent products but simply have less exposure?

Everyone keeps mentioning that smaller companies have less of a chance in the Ennies, due to lack of exposure. If that is true, it means that we, the voters of EN World, are not doing our jobs right.

Simply put, we shouldn't be voting in categories where we don't know more than one or two of the products in question. An Ennies voter should think "I know this one to be the best in the category", not "I think this is the only one that I've heard of, so I'll click here".

The proper correction, I'd think, is not to eliminate the highly eposed products. Instead, we should be educting the members of EN World as to what their voting responsibilities are.

 

[Krug]

The tough issues come to the fore.

1) I ihave mixed feelings on the PDF category. There is a lot of good stuff out there that is getting overlooked, and a PDF category can highlight some of those excellent product.

However, as a reviewer and potentional judge, I have to feel dubious about a PDF category for the same reason I do not guarantee reviews of PDF products sent: anyone can send one with minimal expendiature, and I think the swamping of the judges problem would be a very realistic concern.

I think for reasons of contest logistics, I would rule against it.

I would be against such a move. The PDF market has allowed a lot of companies to put out excellent product, far better than those from some printed sources.

I would suggest coming to a compromise; asking PDF companies to send only 1 or 2 products for those categories they find suited.

 

[MEG Hal]

I spoke for a bit with the Thunderhead/Mystic Eye games folks last year at Gen Con, and they were adamant that WotC be in the competition the next (this) year, despite having pretty much swept any category they chose to enter.

The MEG/THG crew (sorry, I forget exactly who...might have been Hal Greenberg) said that they wanted to be in competition with everyone making D20 product, so that when they did win, it wouldn't be a "Best of the rest" type victory.

I think it was me I stand behind that feeling, we do not want to win because WotC is not in it we want to win with WotC in it. d20 companies will start pulling away from WotC as time goes on, I am patient and a lot of the companies are getting bigger and better, it is only a matter of time.

Keep everyone in and let the best person win. Hopefully with more product and more exposure we [MEG] will be looked at as a winner in 03 not just among the proudly nominated

We are real excited and expect a big package from us, so many good stuff from us so little time.

 

[Henry]

I know this isn't a "candidates speak out" thread, but I did want to contribute, as a Forums member...

1) I do not think that a PDF category separate from print is as good an idea. In a way, it slights the makers of PDF-only products, in my opinion. Quality overall is something that comes from content and presentation, and many PDF makers can compete with and surpass print-only products.

2) With respect to 2nd & 3rd place awards, I have my doubts. While I like the idea, it becomes too easy for "everybody to be a winner" - which while a nice idea in some contests, really doesn't cut it when forum members are trying to decide who has done the best job in a given category.

3) WotC most definitely compete in same categories with the other pubishers, first of all, in order to set the baseline VERY high for all publishers concerned, and second of all, because The publishers deserve the chance to directly compete with WotC quality. It would be an indicator that Wizards management should REALLY look at, if there were to be a year in which NONE of their products won an ENnie. High sales does not always imply high quality.

One question immediately came up, with respect to Green Ronin, Sword & Sorcery, and others - Is there to be an "OGL" category this year? With the release of products such as Everquest, Mutants and Masterminds, and other publishers and similar OGL only endeavors, are these getting a separate category? The main reason I ask this is because in some aspects they "do not play by the same rules?"

 

[DDK]

I vote for me because:-

I'm impartial. I hate everybody equally.

I not overcritical. I judge a book by its cover.

I reflect the preferences of the community. I judge entries by who pays me the most, after all, the better the product sells, the more the company can afford to bribe me.

The other judges respect me. I use intimidation tactics to make sure that I get no lip or backtalk.

I'm a family man and so provide the proceedings with a sense of stability, dignity and honour. Mess with me, you mess with my 'family' so you'd better do what I sese.

And I'm in no way an affiliate or worker for EN World. Morrus hates me and would never allow it