Zachary Houghton resigns as an ENnies judge

[RangerWickett]

Praesul, you seem to want a lot of stuff to be publicly announced when it really truly honestly isn't stuff that matters. Let me give you an example.

In 2005, when I was on the ENnies staff, I met and talked with Erik Mona of Paizo on Friday morning. Then, Friday evening, in the elevator up to the awards, I saw a guy who looked familiar and was like, "Hey, do I know you?" And he was like, "I'm Erik Mona, from Paizo. You talked to me this morning and gave me directions to the event."

That occurred as part of the ENnies. Do you think it's critical that the public knows it happened? I don't. I think it's just an embarrassing anecdote. In my judgment, it wasn't important to share this information with the public. I'm just sharing it now in an effort to show how unreasonable it is to expect the judges and staff to tell the public everything that goes on with the ENnies.

Let the judges and staff do their job. When some actual cronyism and abuse starts up, we should complain about it then. But people are making a mountain out of a molehill here.

 

[fusangite]

To be clear I never asked them to publish everything they talk about in private. All I was attempting to say is that people always want to know what's going on behind the scenes. When they find out, I would argue, the best response is not to tell them, "Mind your own business, we tell you what we want to tell you, anything else you should just ignore!"

Glad to hear I misinterpreted you.

Here's my deal: an organization with a public image has to strike a delicate balance when it faces groundless, false accusations. Too much response and it appears to validate and encourage tinfoil hat-wearers, who know that they will be rewarded with attention whenever they decide to make up new falsehoods. Too little and it creates a perception of indifference or corruption.

I think the ENnies generally do a pretty good job of maintaining that balance. But there is certainly room for improvement.

 

[RangerWickett]

To be clear I never asked them to publish everything they talk about in private. All I was attempting to say is that people always want to know what's going on behind the scenes. When they find out, I would argue, the best response is not to tell them, "Mind your own business, we tell you what we want to tell you, anything else you should just ignore!"

Okay then. You and I have interpreted this thread much differently.

Don't disregard the news. Heck, I don't think anyone wants people to ignore what Zachary has said. But we don't need to be worried about it, because Zachary's criticisms don't stand up to examination. Zachary has not come to EN World of late to respond to this thread, whereas several people have stood up and said, "The idea was proposed and they decided the money shouldn't go to the judges."

I think it's on Zachary now to make the case that there was actually any wrong-doing.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

A quick $0.02, since I had the one nominated product in the "Fan products" category that was neither a podcast nor a website, but instead an adventure -- and actual gaming product, albeit in free pdf form from a not-for-profit endeavor:

1. I think establishing firm categories is a good idea. Lumping podcasts with websites is apples and oranges. If there are fewer than five submissions, so what? Less work for the judges (though I'd just drop the award for the year if there are fewer than three submissions in a category). In hindsight, my adventure should have either gone in the adventures category or the free products category, but I take no issues with the judges decisions or outcomes.

2. Websites aside, I don't thikn it is unreasonable to ask that a physical copy of the product (whether book or CD) be provided to the judges -- even if the submission is freely available for download online (as my product is). For podcasts, the submission should be a representative episode; otherwise, you're asking judges to judge an entire body of work, not a discrete product. Submitting to the Ennies cost me all of $13 shipping plus the cost of 6 CDs. Compared to the time spent putting together the product, that's negligible, and is certainly worth the positive feedback that comes if the product is nominated. Streamlining submissions, in my opinion, makes the process easier for the judges which gives them more time to look over and review products. Plus the minor barrier of entry keeps out the folks who would otherwise just spam with links. And it's fair for all products, though arguable still much cheaper for a pdf or podcast than for a print book.

3. We know the Ennies is a subjective, fan-driven awards system. The judges are nominated by popular acclaim, and the awards are presented that way. It may not be perfect, but I for one am happy to have the process that gives the community a vote (two, infact). It could be the Oscars, where a mysterious cabal chooses nominees and winners in a mist-shrouded process. Given Oscars or Ennies, I choose Ennies.

4. That said, a judges guide wouldn't hurt. Whether as a general guide or by category, to prvide some general guideline -- transparent to the public -- that would provide the rough evaluation criteria the judges are supposed to follow. The process would still be subjective, but it might be a little transparent -- you'd know that products being noninated for "best mechanics" didn't get the nomination because of great interior artwork (not that I feel that has happened).


So in summary, though there are potential areas for improvement, this particular free product submitter doesn't feel at all slighted by the way the Ennies submissions were stuctured or conducted this year.

 

[Crothian]

Neither have I heard a response about a judge's name being listed on the back of a submitted work.

Up thread I asked what the book was. I haven't seen a response to that and if I missed it, my bad. But until I can see what is being talked about there is no response that can be given.

 

[Praesul]

RangerWickett, you should read my reply to Fusangite. You've both made assumptions about my intentions which are incorrect.

 

[Rodrigo Istalindir]

Up thread I asked what the book was. I haven't seen a response to that and if I missed it, my bad. But until I can see what is being talked about there is no response that can be given.

Epic RPG. Zachary Houghton has a blurb on the back cover: "Epic has definitely won itself a favored spot on my bookshelf."

A quote taken from his blog, apparently, and something no one should have a quibble with. None of us know what products are going to be submitted in advance, and I think it's silly to expect gamers (which is all any of us judges are) to abstain from reading, playing, or commenting on messageboards as our fancy strikes us. So long as there is no quid pro quo, obviously.

And in this particular instance, the quote is on the back of the cover of the copy I personally bought at GenCon '07; given the lead times for printing and what not, I'd be surprised if Zachary was even a judge at the time the quote was used.

 

[Crothian]

Epic RPG. Zachary Houghton has a blurb on the back cover: "Epic has definitely won itself a favored spot on my bookshelf."

Thanks!!

 

[Charwoman Gene]

These reviews were not based on opinion- we set the criteria for review before we opened them.

My non-opinion review of a book. It has X word in it. Here is the word breadown by frequency. I found these spelling mistakes.

You can't review something "objectively". You will be subjective at assigning values to any system you try top impart.

 

[Cam Banks]

My non-opinion review of a book. It has X word in it. Here is the word breadown by frequency. I found these spelling mistakes.

You can't review something "objectively". You will be subjective at assigning values to any system you try top impart.

I believe (but I'm not going to assert as true) that the BG folks have established what they consider to be an objective, scientific approach to analysis of games in order to determine what makes them good or bad games. I do not believe that Meghan, Josh, or Zeke feel that their game analysis is opinion for this reason, and that judges should likewise establish this objective set of critera going forward.

Cheers,
Cam