So you want to be an ENnies judge...

[Skeld]

I'm still a bit confused on the "Product of the Year" category -- is this category supposed to a "best of the best" to have come out in the past year? And if so, why are there several that weren't nominated in other best categories? I'm not trying to be deliberately obtuse here, but I'm just not getting the gist of this category.

Not necessarily. I approached it more as the big "wrap up" category, which takes into account the total product instead of focusing on the individual components.

For example, a product could have awesome art, but have dull game mechanics. It might get a nom for Best Art, but the mechanical/rule issues could prevent it from being PotY material. More realistically, PotY could be a product that is edged out in some (or all) of the individual component categories, but brings it all together in an excellent total package.

Hope that helps (and makes sense).

-Mark

 

[C.W.Richeson]

I'm still a bit confused on the "Product of the Year" category -- is this category supposed to a "best of the best" to have come out in the past year? And if so, why are there several that weren't nominated in other best categories? I'm not trying to be deliberately obtuse here, but I'm just not getting the gist of this category.

That's right! Let's walk through it.

Products A, B, C, and D have been submitted to the ENnies. Go them! After reading and playing these products the judges have been talking and a consensus has been reached. Product A has really awesome writing, but doesn't quite measure up to other categories. It gets nominated for Best Writing. Product B has a very clever rules system, but the judges agree that the setting is far from inspiring. It goes up for Best Rules.

Product C has everything that makes for a great time at the table. The rules work well, the game is clear, and everyone's having a great time. Still, the writing could be better and different judges point out certain flaws. It goes up for Best Game. Product D has some of all of this and was near to several nominations. However, overall it wins out. It may not be a contender for Best Writing, but it has great writing anyway. The rules it showcases aren't ones the judges find particularly awesome, but they're strong. In this way, though Product D wasn't nominated for other categories it has a collection of virtues overall that pushes it towards product of the year.

Note: These examples are fictions for the purpose of illustration.

 

[madwabbit]

Ah, OK. Thanks for the explanations. I'm not sure I agree with the catch-all nature of the category, or any need at all for it, but at least you've got solid and consistent reasoning behind it.

 

[Crothian]

Ah, OK. Thanks for the explanations. I'm not sure I agree with the catch-all nature of the category, or any need at all for it, but at least you've got solid and consistent reasoning behind it.

I can tell you why the category came about as I was the one who suggested it. One question I got every year was what was the best submission over all. It wasn't a question of best game or best part of a book but just best or favorite item over all. So, I thought it would be neat to have a category that reflected the best in a big free for all.

 

[scholar]

hey folks, james here

I decided to run, and apologize for not showing up sooner, but work, they don't pay me if I"m not there,

So, where do the various aspirants stand on the podcasts and blogs being given equal (or greater) consideration with settings and rules?

podcasts are the wave of the future, and blogs are the wave of the present.

they should definitely be included in their own categories, or, if there are few entrants, a combined category, simply because they are such a widespread resource of the gaming community at the moment.


anyway, anymore questions, I'll be back around

 

[jdrakeh]

hey folks, james here

Since there is more than one James running this year, I'd like to clarify that scholar and I (James Hargrove) are, in fact, not the same James.

 

[Mexal]

Mark & C.W. have explained the way that we went about the Product of the Year category this year... it's a kind of overarching "Which game am I actually likely to recommend you buy if you're after a new one" kind of thing.

 

[scholar]

Since there is more than one James running this year, I'd like to clarify that scholar and I (James Hargrove) are, in fact, not the same James.

point... I just tend to think of you as drake, and forget the j in front... no offense

 

[Morrus]

I think of Product of the Year like this:

The nominees in all the other categories scored a 9 or 10 in that category; but only in the category they were nominated in. So a product might have scored a 10 for artwork, or rules, or what-have-you, but only 5s in other areas.

The PotY may not have scored 10 in anything, but it scored 8 or 9 in everything. So it's not the best at any one thing, but it is the product that's most consistently great in all areas. It's total score (if one were scoring it) would be higher than any other product.

Product A: 10 (writing), 5 (art), 5 (rules)
Product B: 5 (writing), 10 (art), 5 (rules)
Product C: 5 (writing), 5 (art), 10 (rules)
Product D: 9 (writing), 9 (art), 9 (rules)

As you can see, Product A would get the nomination for writing, Product B for art, and Product C for rules. Product D doesn't get any of those nominations because it's not the best in those categories.

However, it still got 3x9 = 27 points, whereas the other three products only got 20 points each. Product D isn't the best at one thing, but it is very good at all things. Overall, it's a better product that products A, B, or C.

That's an incredibly simplistic example, of course (and it doesn't actually work on a points system like that), but it helps illustrate the principle.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

I think our rationale in 2009 was the opposite -- that something couldn't be PotY without being exceptional enough in some regard to make the top 5 in at least one category. Merely being above average across the board wasn't enough.

PotY ought to be something that has a lasting impression, and it's hard for me to see how a product that couldn't get 3 of the judges to agree it was the bee's knees is going to make that kind of impression.

The suggestion was made at one point to have a Judge's Pick -- a chance for each judge to single out a single product they thought was awesome but that didn't garner sufficient support to make the top 5. Mostly as an alternative to the Honorable Mention, which I still think is something of a cop out.