Nominations are up!!

[Psion]

I agree that 'clearer' defintions wouldn't hurt though.

Man law?

 

[Umbran]

Honestly, I'm glad for the discussion and constructive criticism. However I'm going to ignore it for now. There's no time for reform between this moment and when I get back from Gen Con.

You are wise. This is an entirely appropriate approach.

Discussion right now is important, because it will catch a lot of things while the details are fresh in people's minds. You don't need to use it now. But next year, the relevant folks can come back and look these discussions over, and consider the ideas presented.

 

[DaveMage]

I agree that we need definitions, but I will say that when the judges decided on the definitions for this years categories, we thought we had made it clear enough what was expected for a given category. We wanted them to be broad enough to include all titles that could reasonably fit, while being narrow enough to eliminate things that didn't fit. We went back and forth on categories, definitions,a nd acceptable wording wuite a bit, and in the end, we provided what we thought were useful, reasonable definitions that we would be comfortable working within. Obviously, those definitions, while we were all in agreement (along with the Board fo Directors), were not found to be specific enough for some people. There is a balance point, and I am confident that it can be reached.

However, one thing that I will point out, the judges have always, and will always, have the right to move titles into or remove them from any categories. If, upon reading, they find that a title fits into a category where it was not entered, but they are all in agreement, that title can be moved into that category.

I would also add, just so there's no confusion, that I fully support the judges and ENnies producers coming up with the definitions and putting whatever products wherever they want as long as it fits the category definition.

(And for the record, I think Shackled City is among the best adventure products ever made for D&D, so I certainly don't have a problem with it being considered for multiple awards.)

 

[nakia]

I just wanted to add my congratulations to the nominees and those that received honorable mentions.

And give big thanks to the judges and Board of Directors.

 

[hong]

Man law?

Worst Rolemaster expansion. EVER.

 

[Vocenoctum]

For me, the definition would probably be a lot smaller. Can I run campaigns based in or off/around this material. <snip>Just define enough to be useful.

For Pantheons... as some settings, like that of Unknown Armies, is well away from Fantasy, or others that may lean heavily on other modern settings or sci-fi might not have a panethon, I see that as a very limited set of criteria.

I agree that 'clearer' defintions wouldn't hurt though.

I would say a campaign setting is a product that will allow you to run a campaign there with no other setting material needed from elsewhere. Cauldron is well developed, and I can see it being a setting expansion maybe, but not a setting as such. I think it comes down to, would you buy the product for the setting, or the adventure. For Shackled City, I think the city is indeed just a place to have the adventure, where Ptolus is a city that happens to have a premade adventure set there. It gets subjective sure, but since we're basically talking about 5 judges opinions anyway, how can the process not be subjective? I think close categories like Adventure and Setting should have a line drawn though, since too much overlap is counter productive.

 

[Numion]

I would say a campaign setting is a product that will allow you to run a campaign there with no other setting material needed from elsewhere.

In this sense Shackled City is a campaign setting. Phanteon is in the core books of D&D, and nothing else is really required. This from actual SC DMing experience.

 

[Teflon Billy]

Thank you. That's very cool to hear. I've always said that I'd rather have a magazine that 50% hated and 50% loved than one that 100% thought was okay.

Anyone who has yet to read Critical Miss's "Actual Play" column about Cyborg Commando should get over there and read it right now.

I laughed hard

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Anyone who has yet to read Critical Miss's "Actual Play" column about Cyborg Commando should get over there and read it right now.

I laughed hard

Here is the direct link:

http://www.criticalmiss.com/issue3/worst1.html

 

[Ghostwind]

Whether you have concrete definitions for categories or not, I suspect much of the controversy is because gaming supplements have evolved to a point where they are no longer easily classified under a single generic label. Take Shackled City for example, it is an adventure (designed to take you from levels 1-20), city supplement, campaign setting (a self-contained world setting that needs no other source material outside ofthe 3 core books), and yet also a setting supplement because of its ability to be dropped into any existing campaign world. There are no clear boundaries here. And it is likely to only get worse as games continue to mature.