Troll Lord Games

They're near the bottom.

http://www.ennie-awards.com/vote/

Boy, am I ever out of the loop. I didn't recognize hardly any of the books or publishers. So, I didn't vote in a lot of the categories. (I wanted to vote for GURPS: Horrors, purely because Ken Hite did it. But, for personal reasons I refuse to vote anything that SJG does.)

I voted for TLG #1 (Yay!) and also voted BHP as #2 and Fat Dragon Games at #4.

As far as the fav publishers go, I wish they'd have a write in vote (Just one). I don't know how the process goes, it seems there are quite a few fringe gaming companies and I clearly understand why everyone couldn't be included, but a write in vote would solve that. Even with that one write in vote I'd have struggles between Blacksburg Tactical Research Center and Vajra Enterprises. Both offer some very cool worlds to play in but BTRC has some really good rules and Vajra doesn't. Still with even that I'd probably go with Vajra.

I'm going to be evil. I have BT Guard VPN installed on my computer so the next few days I'll fire it up and add some more votes for TLG and BHP.

Cheating is not recommended. I would hate for TLG to get thrown out if for some reason they detected the scam. I didn't recognize alot of the books either mostly because they were for games I don't play. I can attest though that Engine Publishing and their MASKS product (as well as EUREKA! and Never Unprepared) are great products. If you like plot hooks and ideas, EUREKA is a treasure trove. MASKS is a list of 1000 NPCs all with flavor and motivations. All setting neutral and system neutral. Very good stuff for you C&C or whatever game.

Fans' Favorite Publisher Troll Lord Games 1
Fans' Favorite Publisher Brave Halfling Publishing 2
Fans' Favorite Publisher Goblinoid Games 3
Fans' Favorite Publisher Goodman Games 4
Fans' Favorite Publisher Eldritch Enterprises 5
Fans' Favorite Publisher Margaret Weis Productions 6
Fans' Favorite Publisher Paizo Publishing 7

Classic Monsters: The Manual not being nominated for "Best Interior Art" is a joke. Sarah, Jason and Pete really brung it.

mbeacom wrote:Cheating is not recommended. I would hate for TLG to get thrown out if for some reason they detected the scam.

I didn't think of that. Good thing I haven't done anything. My laziness saves the day once again!

Done voted, and voted for TLG...but have to agree. Classic Monsters wuz robbed!

Last I knew, you had to submit the work to the judges, meaning you give them free copies. I thought TLG had stopped doing that. Maybe they haven't.

In any event, I'll vote for the one or two things I recognize.

Voted already. Not that the ENnies mean much anymore. That forum is a pale imitation of what it once was. I remember when posts could fall off the front page or two during the day. Now they linger for a few days. I guess the edition split also split some forums. Also, I saw a moderator call out someone in a thread saying they used profanity. The word in question? Crap. I myself was mod-smacked for not being politically correct enough to say if players couldn't trust their DMs they shouldn't game with people who had borderline personality disorders. It was obviously a joke, but intentions don't mean anything over there and the folks that do most of the edition warring are the ones the mods protect when someone dares call them out on it.

Anyway, since 4e came out I was moved into the grognard category so my opinion didn't really matter anymore over there. Dragonsfoot is probably as busy as ENWorld is and they have very active AD&D, C&C, AD&D2, and Classic D&D fora! Besides, TLG is the only company from whom I currently purchase any gaming material. They get my most important vote: the one from my wallet.

ENWorld: Yeah I noticed a precipitous dropoff in activity over there as well. To be honest, since I left 3.5 gaming behind me, I have only payed mild attention to the boards that focused on 3.5 and 4e. Wish them the best over there. Regardless of edition, I feel a bit sad to see a once vibrant board like ENWorld slowly losing users.

I hate to frame it in this light, but as I said to Morrus, I didn't leave the site, it left me. Their policies and focus are driving folks away. I'm the same as you, though; It is a sad sight to see. Heck, I remember when the old Fight Club forum was more active than General RPG Discussion is today! I wish Morrus nothing but the best, all told. Anyway, that was rather off topic and hopefully didn't come off too rude. If 5e reunites a large portion of the fan base, things might seem brighter over there. As for me? D&D has changed too much and too often for my taste. Make mine C&C! Trollzah!

To keep things off topic.

This is a very little slice of someone experiencing ENworld for the first time.

I signed up and as usual I mostly lurk, for awhile before I post anything. I only followed a few threads because most didn't interest me. Just lurking I found ENworld to be very aggressive and childish. Then I decided to post and with just one post I was inundated and I can even say attacked making it perfectly clear I was a n00b and what I had to say didn't matter. There were plenty of internet-heroes that went out of their way to "smack-down" the new guy. I have a low tolerance for idiocy like that and left to never return again.

The TLG forum is a rare breed, in that everyone here makes the experience a good regardless if you have one post or 1000. Not to mention that there are zero (hate to use the term) nazi-mods that most forums have.

Back on topic. Now that I have a better idea just how noninclusive the Ennies are, this is the only time I will vote. I have better things to do with my time.

Hope I didn't stir anything up with my mention of the Ennies. I'm not active on their site but I know the awards winners get quite a bit of free exposure so I figured we could try to give some to TLG. IMO they have certainly earned it. Great content and customer service have been hallmarks of my experience with the Trolls.

I'm just Chuffed to Bits that Brave Halfling Publishing is on the Ballot! Way to go, John!

Voted!

mbeacom wrote:Hope I didn't stir anything up with my mention of the Ennies.

I don't think you did, at least to me. This thread has been valuable as far as the info about the Ennies go.

Awards, of all kinds, have some kind of system where maybe some are good and some are flawed. (I'm looking at you, Academy Awards and Nobel awards. Any kind of award panel that gave Obama a peace prize but Gandhi never got one, is fatally flawed.) I also get that coming up with some kind of system isn't easy. May it be awards, hall of fame inductions ect.

The Ennies seem to combine two flawed systems. The first is a board of people who decided just who gets nominated for such and such award. Then they put it into the world as a popularity vote. Popularity votes are just that. People vote for whatever allegiance they have to their favourite game/company. This doesn't mean that the best of category truly will have a winner that is deserving an award. The board is the same as there is a very small group of people who get to decide just who you can vote for. A good example is here. Had there been products up for an award from TLG, I'll admit that I would vote for TLG regardless if there are other games that are really better than TLG offerings. I'd also pick my votes with people I have a friendship with or respect of the individual, doing an end around of the process. People like John from BHP, Steve from here, Brian from Vajra Enterprises, Greg from BTRC, Fred from Evil Hat, Bill from Hinterwelt, Luke from Burning Wheel, etc. The other flaw is who really knows anything about all the books, in each category? I couldn't vote for many of the awards because I had no idea what these books were like in comparison to other nominees. So, now you get a popularity vote from people with very limited knowledge about the nominees, making the voting pie even smaller.

Now, I know that coming up with a more balanced type of awarding system is not the easiest to do. The best I can think of is get the voting public to vote for who will be on the voting panel. They throw their hat into the ring and supply a bio for sorts about their involvement and knowledge of the rpg industry. It is much easier for the voting public to read-up on the panel nominees, as there would be much less to read and make a informed decision, than trying to find out as much as you can about each nominated product. Then there will be "X" amount of people would be put on the panel. Then let the panel decide what game wins what category with maybe runners-up posted.

I do get that it should be up to the game companies to provide a book for the panel to judge. I don't see why that pdf's couldn't take the place of books for entering a product. Pdf's are pretty standard these days and would be much cheaper for game companies to offer product for review. Not only will this get more companies involved but it now gives each company two options for submitting material.

It may not be as fun as going to the Ennie site and picking your favourites, but it'd be just a little more fair. Maybe that is the point of the Ennies. The fun factor for the gaming community.

Just my 2 cents. ( Though that will become irrelevant when Canada abolishes the penny. )

mbeacom wrote:Hope I didn't stir anything up with my mention of the Ennies.

No no. If there is a blame, it should be mine for bringing up my personal beef. I wish morrus the best. Erik Noah is a great fellow who I admire a great deal. And, I do hope TLG wins a publishing award, though they are up against some very big publishers with very big followings. In the end, it's nice that someone tries to honor the RPG industry. It's not the best system, but it's the one we have.

Personal beef.....mmmmMMMmmmm!

TLG received my support!

The Trolls rec'd my vote.
Would have voted for them across the board if the option was available.
The only other game I voted for was Savage Worlds.

Volo.

Harlock wrote:

mbeacom wrote:Hope I didn't stir anything up with my mention of the Ennies.

No no. If there is a blame, it should be mine for bringing up my personal beef. I wish morrus the best. Erik Noah is a great fellow who I admire a great deal. And, I do hope TLG wins a publishing award, though they are up against some very big publishers with very big followings. In the end, it's nice that someone tries to honor the RPG industry. It's not the best system, but it's the one we have.

Not at all. This is a valuable thread and I certainly can appreciate positive exposure for TLG and C&C! Personal opinions are what keep the forums interesting so no worries there.