Origins award nominees!

joewolz · April 30, 2007, 10:47:40 AM

Via RPG.net, I nabbed this from Ogre Cave

QuoteOrigins Awards nominees announced for 2007

Though underannounced and hard to find (as usual), the 2007 Origins Awards top nominees are decided. 'Tis an interesting batch this year, with many expected titles (Ptolus was a no-brainer), and some surprises as well (Shear Panic? Really? Huh). The list also contains a few endangered or extinct products, such as Paizo's Dragon Magazine and the defunct MSM publication Games Quarterly Magazine. The nominees are as follows:

Board Game or Expansion of the Year
BattleLore (Days of Wonder)
Hey! That's My Fish (Mayfair Games)
Oshi (WizKids, Inc.)
Shear Panic (Mayfair Games)
Treehouse (Looney Labs)

Miniatures Game or Expansion of the Year
Dreamblade Game Mat (Gale Force 9)
Dreamblade: Rules (Wizards of the Coast)
Heavy Gear Blitz: Rules (Dream Pod 9)
Hordes: Primal (Privateer Press)
Rezolution: Shadow War (Aberant)

Miniature or Miniatures Line of the Year
Colossal Red Dragon (Wizards of the Coast)
Hordes: Monstrous Miniatures Combat (Privateer Press)
Easley Dragon (Dark Sword)
Ptolus: Minotaur Priest (Paizo Publishing)
Rezolution: Shadow War (Aberant)

Non-Collectable Card Game or Expansion of the Year
Cowpoker (Steve Jackson Games)
High School Drama (Shifting Skies)
Knights of Charlemagne (Playroom Entertainment)
Munchkin Impossible (Steve Jackson Games)
Treasures & Traps (Studio 9 Games)

CCG or Expansion of the Year
Anachronism (TriKing Games)
Magic the Gathering: Time Spiral (Wizards of the Coast)
Pirates: Davy Jones' Curse (WizKids)
The Spoils (Tenacious Games)
UFS (Sabertooth Games)
World of Warcraft (Upper Deck)

Game Accessory of the Year
Campaign Cartographer (ProFantasy Software)
Dungeon Tiles I (Wizards of the Coast)
GameMastery Combat Pad (Paizo/Open Mind Games)
Hero Lab (Lone Wolf Development)
Settlers of Catan Event Deck (Mayfair Games)

Fiction Publication of the Year
Horus Heresy: Horus Rising (Black Library/Games Workshop)
Horus Heresy: False Gods (Black Library/Games Workshop)
A Practical Guide to Dragons (Wizards of the Coast)
Dungeon Magazine (Paizo Publishing)
Three Shades of Night (White Wolf)

Non-Fiction Publication of the Year
The Art of Warhammer 40,000 (Black Library/Games Workshop)
Art of Dragon (Paizo Publishing)
Dragon Magazine (Paizo Publishing)
Games Quarterly Magazine (Matthew Simmons Markeitng)
No Quarter (Privateer Press)

Roleplaying Game of the Year
Burning Empires (Burning Wheel)
Exalted, 2nd Edition (White Wolf)
Faery's Tale (Firefly Games)
Hollow Earth Expedition (Exile Game Studio)
RuneQuest (Mongoose Publishing)

Roleplaying Game Supplement of the Year
Deadlands Reloaded (Pinnacle/Great White Games)
GURPS Bio-Tech (Steve Jackson Games)
Out in the Black (Margaret Weis Productions)
Ptolus (Sword & Sorcery)
Tome of Battle: Book of Nine Swords (Wizards of the Coast)

joewolz · April 30, 2007, 10:48:36 AM

Can an admin fix my typo? I can't believe I misspelled Origins.

C.W.Richeson · April 30, 2007, 10:51:11 AM

As I said on RPG.net: Out in the Black? Huh?

Dr Rotwang! · April 30, 2007, 10:56:04 AM

HEX, baby. Yeah! Winner! We're done!

C.W.Richeson · April 30, 2007, 10:57:31 AM

Hmm. I've actually reviewed three of the five RPG nominees and am working on a fourth (Burning Empires) right now. RuneQuest is the only one I missed.

Faery's Tale was my favorite, but I'm surprised to see it listed as a potential Game of the Year. I know it's getting the royal treatment from GR, and I think that's awesome, but it's a little surprising to have a game on the list that most folk haven't heard of. But then, I don't know what its distribution model is like - is Faery's Tale commonly available?

My understanding is that most folk don't thinking highly of Origins. Anyone care to fill me in?

Nicephorus · April 30, 2007, 11:02:49 AM

How does a slightly altered reprint of Runequest qualify as rpg of the year? Is that the best they can find?
Re: low quality of Origins: I vaguyely remember allegations of inside shenanigans affecting the nominations, but I have no idea on the truth of any of that.

I think a bigger issue is that looking at nominations and winners always produces a few wtf moments, where games don't really fit the categories they're in or clearly don't deserve the nomination/win. The awards serve several disparate groups so you wind up with judging and voting by people who don't know much about categories that they're affecting.

jrients · April 30, 2007, 11:09:08 AM

Tome of Battle is a really great supplement and well worth the nomination, IMHO. I'm off the research the Gamemastery Combat Pad.

Zachary The First · April 30, 2007, 11:17:21 AM

Quote from: NicephorusHow does a slightly altered reprint of Runequest qualify as rpg of the year? Is that the best they can find?

I think a look at what Origins has historically considered candidates for RPGs, they have exactly been the cream of the crop, so to speak. In fact, there have been some genuine clunkers in there, not to mention a few head-scratchers. Still and all, it's nice for folks to be recognized. I'm pulling for HEX. I wish GAMA did a better job with the whole business, though.

Mcrow · April 30, 2007, 11:20:28 AM

I have all of the games nominated for RPGotY.

HEX & Buring Empires are, IMO, by far the two best in the group.

I think I'd give HEX the slight edge.

Zachary The First · April 30, 2007, 11:28:15 AM

Quote from: McrowI have all of the games nominated for RPGotY.

HEX & Buring Empires are, IMO, by far the two best in the group.

I think I'd give HEX the slight edge.

I really like HEX a lot. Fun game, smart system. I love Burning Wheel, but for the life of me, I couldn't get into BE. To each their own.

Caesar Slaad · April 30, 2007, 11:28:44 AM

Quote from: Zachary The FirstI think a look at what Origins has historically considered candidates for RPGs, they have exactly been the cream of the crop, so to speak. In fact, there have been some genuine clunkers in there, not to mention a few head-scratchers.

Further, said head scratchers usually have in some way been products that have had work done on them in some way by people on the committee.

Sosthenes · April 30, 2007, 11:30:40 AM

Wow, looking at the nominees, I can't get excited 'bout a single thing. Didn't something really exciting come out last year?

joewolz · April 30, 2007, 12:23:14 PM

Quote from: SosthenesWow, looking at the nominees, I can't get excited 'bout a single thing. Didn't something really exciting come out last year?

BATTLELORE!

Sosthenes · April 30, 2007, 12:26:09 PM

Quote from: joewolzBATTLELORE!

Meh, I've heard better finnish metal bands.

pathfinderap · April 30, 2007, 03:22:47 PM

Hoo thats a crime, no mention of Spirit of the Century, yet they have the crappy mongoose version of Runequest, etc,

nice to see Faery's Tale in there, it belongs,
but putting in HEX and not SotC is wrong,