ENnies Nominations for 2004

[Crothian]

I just want to thank the Ennies committee for the honorable mention of Oathbound: Wrack & Ruin. Even if this is the same as saying that this was the 7th best product in the campaign setting category for the year, that is still an enormous honor in a year full of campaign setting books. It is an honor just to be nominated, or in this case, noticed.

I'll go on the record and say that I really liked it. I just wasn't able to convince the others to give it the same kind of support. That category had a lot of books in it and it was a tough one.

 

[BrooklynKnight]

I just want to thank the Ennies committee for the honorable mention of Oathbound: Wrack & Ruin. Even if this is the same as saying that this was the 7th best product in the campaign setting category for the year, that is still an enormous honor in a year full of campaign setting books. It is an honor just to be nominated, or in this case, noticed.

Darren, since you work for WOTC is there any chance you can shed some light on why they didnt submit any books this year?

 

[Crothian]

There is the chance Wizards doesn't want to say. I'd let us worry about it, some times these things are best done in private.

 

[Pramas]

There is the chance Wizards doesn't want to say. I'd let us worry about it, some times these things are best done in private.

I would guess it was a deliberate choice. They probably view the ENnies as a lose/lose proposition. If they compete and sweep like they did a couple of years ago, people will grumble that it isn't fair for Joe d20 to compete against D&D. If they compete and get beat out by Joe d20, it could be viewed as an embarassment. Thus not competing at all may look like the best choice.

 

[BrooklynKnight]

It could also be a pure buisness decision. They need to send 6 books. The Ennies do not have multinational notereity yet. Even if they do win, the ennies may not impact sales to the point where its worth giving away 6 free books.

then there is also the chance i dontknow what i'm talkin about.

Hi Chris.

 

[saturnin55]

Maybe enworld.org will need to change their front page logo "Enworld D20/D&D News" to something like "Enworld RPG News"... (and the Enworld D20/D&D Reviews logo on the reviews page)

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

Maybe enworld.org will need to change their front page logo "Enworld D20/D&D News" to something like "Enworld RPG News"... (and the Enworld D20/D&D Reviews logo on the reviews page)

Yes, that would be one step to becoming more of an authority on non d20/OGL games. Another big step would be to create some other forums that encourage non d20/OGL traffic here!

Despite what GenCon wants, I think forcing the issue of non-d20 awards is putting the cart before the horse. We ARE the experts on d20 and related games here, and that is why an ENnie award is respected (not just coveted) industry wide. The community is NOT accepted as experts on anything else, so why should an award from ENWorld mean anything right now?

Who cares what GenCon wants anyway? Why should ENWorld be so concerned with an "official" endorsement? Money? Exposure? Not all exposure is good exposure.

The bright minds of ENWorld and fair voting methodology ( from nominations to voting mechanics ) are what set the ENnies apart from other less fair, more "political" awards. It would be a shame to see that reputation tarnished by expanding too fast ( without expertise ) into other RPG award areas, and doing a poor job at it. I know I personally wont be voting on any non d20/OGL categorie this year, and I bet I buy more RPG books than 90% of ENWorld members do. It should be interesting ( but not publically disclosed, I'm sure ) to compare the number of votes in nond20 categorie. For truly sound research you need at least several hundred data points. Will ENWorld be able to support that requirement for nond20?

I have a lot of emotional investment ( aside from being 7th in judge voting 2003, and 6th 2004 ) and respect for the ENnies, including the judges and the publishers who submit their products and support. I guess I don't see why we need to hurry into a position to please GenCon with a move we are not ideally suited to support. If ENWorld becomes a place where other RPG's get enough support to become considered experts, then that is a GREAT thing - but until then, there is a danger of the awards becoming tarnished and as subjected to criticism as the much maligned Origins awards.

Written with love,

BFG

PS: Congrats to the judges on an excellent job this year. I would be hard pressed to point to any particularly obvious (IMO) ommissions. Several books that were nominated flew under my radar & I'm looking forward to checking into them.

 

[johnsemlak]

Despite what most people at other boards seem to think, I am not left with the idea that EN World folk don't (and refuse) to play any other systems. D20 is by far the most prevalent, but others certainly make their presences felt (and with the more dynamic OGL products out there (M&M, Spycraft etc) I think the line gets blurrier all the time about what is/isn't "D20").

One way in which the line is not blurrier though is what news gets reported on this site. EN World news (and reviews) is pretty devoted to stuff within the D&D/d20/OGL umbrella.