Vote Rodrigo for ENnies Judge 2012

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

My name is Jody Kline, and I am seeking election as one of this year’s judges. I’ve been a volunteer for the ENnies for several years, providing technical support, working at the ENnies booth at GenCon, and I also served as a judge for the 2008-09 awards.

Being a gamer for more than 30 years now, playing and running systems too numerous to recall, I believe I have the breadth and depth of experience necessary to identify the best of the submissions. I am good at working within a group, and during my previous term as a judge, I was effective at helping to keep things on track organizationally, and in building consensus during the deliberations.

I participate in a number of local, regional, and national gatherings of gamers. I often run games for friends and strangers at these events, and during the past year, I’ve run around 20 different one-shot games, using 10 different game systems. I enjoy the opportunity these gatherings provide to introduce new games to players, and would be able to use these same opportunities to get hands-on experience with products submitted for ENnies consideration.

Voting for judges, and for the 2011 ENnie winners, begins on Friday, July 15th, and runs until Sunday, July 24th, and takes place at ENnie Awards. Because five judges are elected each year, the voting system is designed to allow you to vote for multiple candidates on a single ballot, eliminating ties or the need for run-off elections.

Thank you!

Jody Kline

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Please explain your position on what characteristics might qualify a product for nomination in the category "best aid or accessory."

Also, please list your qualifications in the judging of RPG art and cartography.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Please explain your position on what characteristics might qualify a product for nomination in the category "best aid or accessory."

Also, please list your qualifications in the judging of RPG art and cartography.

When evaluating Aid or Accessory products, I would tend to towards things that have a tangible, specific purpose and benefit to preparing or running a game. Stuff that you look and and immediately say "Wow, I could really use this." Innovation is important: if it's something that any one of a number of products out there already do, it needs to add something unique to make it stand out. And as with every category, execution is paramount. A 100% certified organic, free-trade, glow-in-the-dark battlemat might be really cool, but if the lines aren't straight, it's not really much of a battlemat.

That said, 'Aid or Accessory' is a very, very broad category. A really good book on how to GM a certain kind of game, for example, might very well be worthy of nomination despite it being a little more general purpose, or not having that immediate 'wow' factor.

As far as art, I'm not an artist by training or education. I fall squarely in the "I know what I like" category. But I look for three things: consistency, inspiration, and execution.

Execution is obvious; I may have an untrained eye, but talent and skill are discernible to anyone with a degree of objectivity. The struggle is in putting away any stylistic prejudices and look at it with an unjaundiced eye. I think not being an artist, and in general preferring a fairly wide variety of games in different genres, let's me avoid that pitfall.

Consistency of vision is very important. Pick a style and stick with it. The art needs to reinforce the fluff and flavor of a book on a visceral level. If the art doesn't match the tone, or if the style changes from page to page, you're not drawing the reader into your story.

Inspiration is easy to define but very subjective. A picture that sparks a cool adventure idea, or that in classic '1000 words' fashion brings a setting to life, differentiates the competent from the classic.

 

[Herremann the Wise]

For what it's worth, I did Ceramic DM judging here on EN World back in the day with Jody Kline (Rodrigo Istalindir) and with that incredibly lengthy and arduous task in mind could not think of a more objective, knowledgeable and thorough individual to be ENnie judging next year. I wholeheartedly suggest this nomination!

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

PS: I do not know Jody personally and this post is completely unsolicited. I recognised Jody's name from the behind the scenes Ceramic DM emails, picture selections, excellent discussions and critiques and then instantly "1'd" Jody's name on the ballot . Seeing the thread here, I had to convey my endorsement.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Thanks for the endorsement, Herremann. I miss doing Ceramic DM -- maybe we can get another one started this fall.

 

[fett527]

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