Vascant said:
I develop d20 software, while as far as the ENnies are concerned thats a bad thing at present so I will just avoid it all.
THAT, makes no sense. Again, is it so hard to believe that the judges just felt the other products were better? I'm sorry if that's impossible to believe, but that's obviously the case. It doesn't mean software is a BAD thing, it just means the judges felt that of the software entered, there were other, BETTER things.
If that destroys your ego, well, its not their fault.
You are incorrect though, the problem is not the numbers that are released because it comes down to having judges who can see the quality of a products work. Everything makes sense as to what happened in the ENnies, with the mini's and the tiles or counters a judge could quickly without even a thought see all of it's worth and in some cases workmanship, that mount and rider mini is pretty nice. Heck, I would have nominated it. Any product like RPGXplorer, PCGen, NPC Designer, CC3 and the countless others would have or will qualify next year forces a judge to look deeper, he has to think maybe even learn a little. This is why I claim entering them in the first place was my error, because this very reasoning is why I do not provide free review copies. (Only exception to this would be someone like Mr Cooper, it is quite clear he is not afraid of the details)
And how do you know how much time the judges spent looking at each product? You're only assuming that, because you didn't get a nomination, they obviously didn't look at your product for long enough. Can you just not accept that they spent a lot of time with your product(and the other software) and STILL felt that the other products were better?
Case in point, the current debate over where Shackled City should be slotted. This is a very good instance of judges not really learning about the material they are judging. Shackled City is a series of Adventures to take a party from 1st-20th level which is now refered to as an Adventure Path, The adventures take place in and around the city named Cauldon which is by default established in the Greyhawk Campaign Setting. They even give helpful advice for placing it within other official settings. So by the product's own wording and usage, it establishes Shackled City is not a setting.
That has nothing to do with judges not knowing the material. In fact, it has more to do with them knowing it VERY WELL. The current debate is that Shackled City fits into MORE THAN ONE catagory...and it does. The simple fact is that you CAN use Shackled City as a setting very well. Hell, I've seen it done myself, so its not some alien concept.
By this logic, a single adventure cannot be nominated for its artwork...because, obviously, that's not what its about. Its an adventure and nothing else. The art is just there to help the adventure.
ENnies, quickest way for 5 people to get a ton of free products and not be held accountable.
And THAT is just insulting. It just goes to show that you're really simply angry you didn't get a nomination, so you're taking it out on the judges without any real reason for it. You have NO IDEA how much time they spent on your product, so you have no right to assume that just passed it over 'because software is bad'. The judges put in a TON of work for the ENnies to look at EVERYTHING in great detail. They don't just get free stuff and then randomly choose things.
Now...if you'd have gotten a nomination for your product, would you have said ANY of this at all?
