Congrats Bill! Roma True 20 is truely deserving of the nomination.

To jump in here, I really don't think that was every a concern.  For example, two PDFs from Open Design LLC that were sold on the "patron" method were nominated.  It never even entered the discussion that considering there can't be that many copies of the product floating around out there, it would be difficult to compete with larger distributions.  From what I saw in the judges' discussion forums, whether a product stood a chance of winning never entered the consideration.  They were more concerned about awarding quality where deserved.

Quote from: HinterWelt;222305Zach,
Not meaning anything nasty but could it be that the other judges simply look and say "Sure, its good, but no one will vote for it. No one has even heard of it. It would be a waste to nominate it." I can see that logic very easily with a public voted award. I mean, really, why nominate something if there is similar quality (or even slightly lesser) products with bigger fan base? Yeah, helpful and good exposure but from a judges point of view, you are setting up categories for fans to vote for their fav games. So, nominate the game with 300K sales or the one with 300?

Just sayin' man,

Bill

Thanks!

Well on first glance, it seems like a diverse enough range of companies and system to satisfy me.  There are probably some major things missing, but I am never sure what year certain stuff came out in (like where is Reign?) so I can't be sure.

But that Best Product has some serious competition in it.  Aces & Eights, Star Wars Saga, Pirate's Guide to Freeport (which I may have to vote for on principle), Solomon Kane.  

Good year for gaming anyways!

Quote from: walkerp;223835(like where is Reign?)

HM, Best electronic.

Congrats Bill and Brett! You guys both deserved it!

-clash

Quote from: Caesar Slaad;223836HM, Best electronic.

That's weird.  It's not really an electronic book.  It was sold as print on demand.  That's kind of a tricky category, I guess.

Here is my grumpy take on the nominees:

http://weblog.xanga.com/RPGpundit/665513066/item.html

RPGPundit

Quote from: flyingmice;223839Congrats Bill and Brett! You guys both deserved it!

-clash

Yes, congrats Brett. Two-Fisted Tales is great game an alos well deserved.

RPGPundit, have you even touched Aces & Eights, let alone read it, because you are really coming off as totally ill-informed.  In terms of physical production values, it really does deserve a nomination.  You can argue about whether it should receive best rules or best product, but it was probably the best produced book this year and in many years.  I seriously suspect you haven't even seen it.

I do agree with you about the word "regalia".  That makes no sense.

Quote from: walkerp;223842That's weird.  It's not really an electronic book.  It was sold as print on demand.  That's kind of a tricky category, I guess.

World on Fire is also print... real print, not PoD.

I think the header is misleading, if the same rules prevail that did when I was on the ENnies board. You can qualify for both; it's how it's submitted.

Of course times have changed. PoD is much more prevalent now than then, and I wonder if the categories need to evolve, too.

Quote from: walkerp;223851RPGPundit, have you even touched Aces & Eights, let alone read it, because you are really coming off as totally ill-informed.  In terms of physical production values, it really does deserve a nomination.  You can argue about whether it should receive best rules or best product, but it was probably the best produced book this year and in many years.  I seriously suspect you haven't even seen it.

I do agree with you about the word "regalia".  That makes no sense.

While I don't own a copy, I've paged through it several times at the FLGS trying to decide if I should buy it. I love westerns. The book looks like it should be a museum or collectors piece. It definitly would get my vote.

While I really liked changeling, I wasn't all that impressed with the art. Solomon Kane has great art but not as good as A&8 and I've seen nothing of the other two.

I hope that you (and others) will use the next ten days before the polls open to check out some of the other products with which you are unfamiliar!  I pushed the publishers to make sure there were decent product pages and hopefully some samples so that voters can better familiarize themselves with the products.

And to anyone who doesn't like the selections, then I suggest you hold the judges accountable when it comes to vote for the new panel August 4-10th.

Quote from: Mcrow;223856While I really liked changeling, I wasn't all that impressed with the art. Solomon Kane has great art but not as good as A&8 and I've seen nothing of the other two.

Quote from: RPGPundit;223846Here is my grumpy take on the nominees:

http://weblog.xanga.com/RPGpundit/665513066/item.html

Quote from: Pundit's BlogThere's Grimm, again. But at least, finally, in this section I've found a few nominees worthy of praise. In a fair world, Two-Fisted Tales ought to be the one sweeping many of the awards. Of course, that's not going to happen because at least a third of the ENnies judges are idiots, and another third are intentional plants of the Swine who despise games that are actually GOOD.

So, do you have a misunderstanding about the way the ENnies works? The judges' role is done. If it's nominated, it's because the judges got it there. If it doesn't win, it's because the fans voted that way. (Which gives products with a bigger market a big leg up. Some of us out there think the nomination is the REAL mark of quality.)

Quote from: Mcrow;223827Congrats Bill! Roma True 20 is truely deserving of the nomination.

Thanks Mike! I especially am honored for the category it was nominated in.

Quote from: Denise;223834To jump in here, I really don't think that was every a concern.  For example, two PDFs from Open Design LLC that were sold on the "patron" method were nominated.  It never even entered the discussion that considering there can't be that many copies of the product floating around out there, it would be difficult to compete with larger distributions.  From what I saw in the judges' discussion forums, whether a product stood a chance of winning never entered the consideration.  They were more concerned about awarding quality where deserved.

My point was simply, it would be a logical weight in the decision process and not to imply anything unfair or untoward. I stated as much in my original post.

Quote from: flyingmice;223839Congrats Bill and Brett! You guys both deserved it!

-clash

Thanks Clash.

Quote from: RPGPundit;223846Here is my grumpy take on the nominees:

http://weblog.xanga.com/RPGpundit/665513066/item.html

RPGPundit

Thanks Pundit. I especially appreciated your "half-baked games in favour of real quality" comment on your blog.

Bill

Regarding Aces & Eights, or Grimm, note that I have nothing against either game. I just noticed that both were nominated (or got HM) for a ridiculous number of awards compared to any of the other products. My guess is that this is due to one or two of the judges deciding that this would be the game they would push, for whatever motive, in absolutely everything.  Its an example of how easily the nomination process can end up being subverted.  Neither of those games are particularly bad games, but certainly neither is worthy of such praise that they should get to sweep an RPG awards nomination process. I very much doubt either will be particularly remembered in a few years.

And I have not seen Aces & Eights in person, no, only reviews and images.  If Kenzer wants to send me a review copy, who knows? I might revise my way of thinking.

RPGPundit