Monte Cook Presents the Year's best D20

[Teflon Billy]

Monte is releasing a "Best of D20" product for the year, here is an excerpt from his press release...

link

...In any event, I've got a lot of reading ahead of me. Publishers submitting material would be well advised to put their best foot forward and tell me what they think is their best material, and be blunt and straightforward about it. "Here's book X, while I think it's all great, you should really check out the Stand on One Foot feat on page 13 and the Anklebiter prestige class on pages 39-40." That's not cheating or immodest, it's just good sense. And while there's no limit on the number of products you can send, if you know that one of your three 2004 products wasn't as good as the others, don't send it at all. I'm only human.

Baffling; seeing as when Monte was cricising the ENnies judges (claiming they had not read the submissions) he was of the following opinon...

...But when I write a review, I mull the product over for days, sometimes a week (that's not a week doing nothing but the review, but a week of considering the product, going over it a few times, and--if possible--using at least some of it in an actual session). I couldn't go over as many products as the handful of judges does in that amount of time and give each one a fair shake.

Link

So are only 52 products up for consideration in this "Best of D20 Collection" (assuming you keep up your other activites)?

I think there were in the nighbourhood of 1 gazillion D20 products released last year (4 gazillion counting .pdfs), and I know Monte's stated feelings (above) on reviewer's ability to subjectively choose good prodcuts over bad.

It takes roughly a week/product.

So is this...

• Going to be "Maybe the Best of D20, 2004"?
  
  
• The "Best of D20--of 50-- that Monte managed to read, 2004"?
  
  or...
  
  
  
• Has Monte's opinion changed on valid judging of product?

Because frankly I'm curious. It seems kind of an "about face"

 

[Acid_crash]

I think his wife is making him do it.

 

[Maldur]

I wish I would be able to do something like that, but I doubt I am the Celebrity Monte is.

Ok here goes nothing:

Hi, Im Maldur.
I have been gaming forever, and I am one of the regular posters here, on ENworld.

I am doing an "Best 100 games of 2004" so please all send you best books and games so I can fill the list (and my bookcases).

As most of you know Im the intuitive judge of the ceramic Dm contest, so I can judge these within the first 5 minutes of leaving through them.

 

[coyote6]

My guess as to his thinking: he's not writing reviews of products, or even picking the best products; he's picking the best bits (in his opinion) out of books & putting them together.

A book could be the Wurst d02 Book EVAR for 62 pages, but have one really neat bit on the page just before the OGL, and he'll take that.

That's what I gather from the column, anyways.

Edit: What I think is interesting is that it's not going to be out until September, 2005. That would seem to give him quite a bit of time to read stuff, especially since he's looking at rules material (and thus not art, layout, adventure, setting info, etc.). But still, 2004's best will be out 3 months before the 2006?

Maybe he's trying to build demand for backlist! Other people's backlist, at that; Malhavoc's stuff is exempt.

Too bad, that leaves out Mearls' Book of Iron Might.

 

[SynapsisSynopsis]

It takes roughly a week/product.

But:

when I write a review, I mull the product over for days, sometimes a week (that's not a week doing nothing but the review

Ergo he could easily mull over 7 or 10 or 20 products simultaneously over the course of a week. The point seems to be more that he doesn't just read it once and then set it aside.

 

[Eremite]

I think it's an interesting idea except that leaving it until Sep05 seems to be a mistake, IMO (particularly if 4E gets announced around about then!).

As for the other part about what Monte thinks etc..., why not ask him -privately- away from these messageboards? After all, he's not some sort of elected representative accountable to you or anyone else for his beliefs.

 

[Umbran]

After all, he's not some sort of elected representative accountable to you or anyone else for his beliefs.

No, he isn't. But he is as close to a celebrity as the business ever gets. His celebrity is largely based on his good judgement. By questioning this sort of practice at one time, and then turning around and doing something similar himself, he is putting his own judgement in question. He might want a chance to clarify.

If he's changed his mind, that's cool. One is allowed to do that. If he feels and can show that what he's planning is fundamentally different than what he criticized, then all is also cool. Givent hat he does have a record of sound judgement, I expect he can justify himself quite well.

 

[DaveMage]

I'm curious how he's going to fit the World's Largest Dungeon in that book...

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

I think it's an interesting idea except that leaving it until Sep05 seems to be a mistake, IMO (particularly if *DELETED* gets announced around about then!).

Invoke not the name of the beast! Speculation on the coming doom will get us nowhere! We must cast out false profits (sic) and rally behind the continuity we have established! As "Bob" is my witness, I will not move on to some theoretical next edition until they give one hell of a good reason. We must fight against enforced upgrades! Yaaar!

 

[Crothian]

So, years best: What did you all find was great from this year? And not just the book titles but the specific cool feats and classes and spells and magic items and bits of wrtiting.....