Ennies Awards

So, on the last episode of RPG Circus, we made a slate of Ennies predictions.  Given the results this weekend, I thought I'd do a wrap-up and see how accurate I was.  Also, sincere congratulations to all the winners.  It was definitely a tough field out there this year.

Out of the 42 awards given, I called 24 correctly.  Though, as a note, I gave myself half credit if I picked the right product, but the wrong medal (e.g., I picked it for Gold, but it took Silver).  I did not totally wash out of any category, and was perfect on 5 of the 21 categories.  All in all, not too shabby.


First of all, to the guys putting together the Ennies, would it have killed you to put the results in the same order as the nominees?  I mean, seriously, that's just annoying.

Best Adventure - I predicted that Pathfinder would take the Gold, and Revenge of the Iron Lich would take the Silver.  As a note, I was using the Rob Donoghue method for several of these categories, so some of my success must be credited to him.  The Pathfinder did indeed take the Gold, but Delta Green took the Silver.  I has the sad, because I really wanted the FourthCore guys to pick up the award.  Accuracy: 1 of 2

Best Aid/Accessory - I went with the D&D Essentials tiles for Gold and Gaming Paper for Silver, based largely on name recognition.  I clearly underestimated Hero Lab, which took the Gold away from Essentials, though WotC still managed to grab the Silver.  Accuracy: .5 of 2

Best Art, Cover - I went with Song of Ice and Fire to win, and M&M to place.  I was right to count of the Game of Thrones multimedia juggernaut.  I was very pleasantly surprised, though, that Shadowrun took the Silver.  In my "want" list, I really hoped it would take the Gold.  That is a damn fine cover.  Accuracy: 1 of 2

Best Art, Interior - I must admit that I haven't seen any of these books, so went solely with Rob's flowchart.  That gave me Pathfinder in Gold and Dark Sun in Silver.  Pathfinder did indeed take the Gold, but DC Adventures snagged the Silver.  WotC really wasn't doing so hot this year.  Accuracy: 1 of 2

Best Blog - This was a tough category.  Except for the oddball Thistle Games, I read all of these blogs, and follow all of these guys on Twitter.  I really wanted Quinn "gamefiend" Murphy to win with At-Will.  But, I was pretty sure that Critical Hits and Gnome Stew had the edge just in terms of readership.  I was, indeed, correct.  Accuracy: 2 of 2

Best Cartography - Another total crapshoot for me.  Again, the rabid fans of Pathfinder gave it the Gold.  I thought it was interesting that Bookhounds of London took the Silver.  I might have to look into that.  Accuracy: 1 of 2

Best Electronic Book - What the hell is this category, anyway?  I had zero knowledge here, and there was neither a Paizo nor a WotC entry to guide me.  I went with Shanghai Vampocalypse for the Gold and Temporal Probability Agency for the Silver, based on nothing more than those are some damn cool titles.  (I've noticed in the past that a number of people tend to vote that way.)  Posthuman Studio's Continuity took the Gold, but Shanghai Vampocalypse did grab the Silver.  Accuracy: .5 of 2

Best Free Product - I went with Old School Hack for the Gold and FourthCore for the Silver.  FourthCore got denied again, as BattleTech used its name recognition to take Silver instead.  Accuracy: 1 of 2

Best Game - Ah, the Dresden Files machine starts rolling.  I went with DFRPG for the Gold and M&M for the Silver.  How'd I do?  Accuracy: 2 of 2

Best Miniatures Product - Another crapshoot that I lucked out on.  I'd figured that WARMACHINE had a powerful fan base and would take Gold, and BattleTech would take Silver.  Apparently the cuteness of the Mousling Heroes was too much, and they went home the big winners instead.  My gut held somewhat true on the brand name.  Accuracy: 1 of 2

Best Monster/Adversary - I have to say that I was surprised on this one.  There was no question that it would be down to Monster Vault and Pathfinder.  I'd put the Monster Vault in Gold, because I've heard a lot of people speak very highly of it.  Unfortunately, Paizo's legions swung the vote the other way.  Accuracy: 1 of 2 (in that I got each half right)

Best New Game - DFRPG for the Gold again, a no brainer in this category.  I honestly thought that Icons would take the Silver, though, based mostly on name recognition.  It's gotten some fantastic buzz this year.  I was very pleasantly surprised to see the Laundry take it, though.  Do I get any points for matching the results in my "want" list?  Accuracy: 1 of 2

Best Podcast - This was a wide open field, because I very much doubt that there are many people who can honestly compare all five of these entries.  I went with Chronicles for the win, based on the Pathfinder association.  I picked Atomic Array for the Silver, because I just thought they had a bigger audience.  I must say that I was stunned to see Yog-Sothoth sweep the category (I suspect there may have been Elder Thing influence), but Chronicles did pull in the Silver.  (As a note, if you don't listen to Flagons & Dragons, I highly recommend it.)  Accuracy: .5 of 2

Best Production Values - I cashed in on the twin juggernauts of Pathfinder and DFRPG, and they did not disappoint.  Accuracy: 2 of 2

Best RPG Related Product - The infamous "miscellaneous" category, that was ludicrously weighted.  Did anyone not expect Castle Ravenloft to take this one?  And, again, I picked BattleTech to pick up the Silver based on the name.  Sorry, Lyndsay, maybe next year.  Accuracy: 2 of 2

Best Rules - Sticking with my love of DFRPG did me good.  But, I deviated from the Rob method here, and it cost me.  I honestly thought that M&M would beat out WotC here, but I was wrong.  Accuracy: 1 of 2

Best Setting - Why is ASoIaF in here, but DFRPG not?  Bah.  Again, I doubted the Rob method, and it cost me.  Is Inner Sea really so good that it overpowered both Dark Sun and Game of Thrones?  Apparently.  Fortunately, I'd at least picked Dark Sun for the Gold, so it wasn't a total loss.  Accuracy: .5 of 2

Best Supplement - Yeah, yeah, Pathfinder again.  This is like shooting fish in a barrel.  I figured the Silver was pretty wide open, and went with Block by Bloody Block.  Not only is it one of only two nominees from former powerhouse White Wolf, but the reviews all say it's one hell of a good book.  Bizarrely enough, Space 1889 took it.  I was seriously planning on picking that up just based on the nomination.  It's now moved up into my top 10 wish list.  Accuracy: 1 of 2

Best Website - I nailed this one, picking Obsidian Portal for the Gold and d20pfsrd for the Silver.  I really wanted Escapist to pick up the Silver, because I like a lot of what they do over there, but didn't think they had the oomph.  Accuracy: 2 of 2

Best Writing - I have to admit that I didn't pick a Silver in this category, because I haven't read any of them but DFRPG.  Fortunately, the Evil Hat boys brought home the Gold.  (Delta Green brought home the Silver, for the record.)  Accuracy: 1 of 2

Product of the Year - I hang my head in shame.  I was loyal to DFRPG all the way up to this point.  But, I didn't think they had it to take the whole enchilada.  I went with DC Adventures to take the Silver, instead.  At least I picked the right Pathfinder to take the Gold.  Accuracy:  1 of 2