There will always be those who can find some reason against participating, and that's fine. And though I'm tempted to just let people vent their frustrations, I feel I need to address some of the (fallacious) points brought up.
The Shackled City Issue:
Last year it was determined that a product could compete in categories based on its content, not on how it was primarily marketed. In other words, a big book wouldn't be pigeon-holed on what it was supposed to be no matter how much or how excellent other material it included. So yes, Shackled City was considered in the Campaign and Adventure categories because in the eyes of the judges, it contained both campaign setting and adventure material. The fans voted, and it won.
Whether we will allow such a thing again this year has yet to be determined. I suspect that we may limit each entry to one type of category in which it may compete, but that's not a done deal. That's up to the Board and the newly-elected crop of judges.
Judge Nominations
As for the judges, we've announced the nominations being opened up on RPGNet, The Forge, and Gaming Report thus far as well as EN World. As a matter of fact, The Forge had discussion going on the topic before EN World did! I posted it as news on RPGNet and it's the top News item at the moment. And as soon as their boards were live, I started a thread on RPGNet- not my problem if the thread got buried in all the other chatter there.
And Tim's right, I didn't go into huge detail on my release to Gaming Report. It's a press release, not a novel. And I only linked to the front page of the ENnies site. But jeepers, people, click on "This Year" or "Voting" and it had the details.
We've got the news in the pipe in a few other feeds that haven't surfaced yet. Is it my fault that other outlets haven't been as quick to jump on the news as The Forge and EN World have been?
Separation from EN World
There have been plenty of steps taken in that direction.
-Yes, EN World donates forums and voting booth coding, and the voting will take place using the EN World server, but the portal will be an ENnies one, not an "EN World" branded one, just like last year.
-The ENnies site is not hosted on EN World's servers.
But remember, so long as EN World and Gen Con pay the bills, their names get to be on everything, there's no way to escape that.
The d20 Issue
People are still harping on this? I have to say, I'm getting sooooooooo tired of that argument. Look at the results for the past few years. Considering:
- The amount of d20 vs. other systems material published during the year
- The amount of d20 vs. other systems material submitted
The numbers speak for themselves. There is a disproportionate representation of non-d20 system games in the nominees and winners. This is not a d20 award any more, and hasn't been for years.
There's been a push to eliminate the Best d20 category, but I've resisted it because I think we still need to remind ourselves of the beginnings of the Awards since we've moved so far away from being a d20 system award.
It's way too late to say things like "leave the ENnies a d20 system award". They stopped being that years ago.
Finally
At the end of the day, the ENnies are a fan-based RPG award for all systems. The fans spoke with their votes and in ever-increasing numbers, so I know we're on the right track. Also, we have ever-increasing participation from multitudes of systems and publishers from small to big, so I know we're on the right track.