The ENnie Awards

 

 

William Curtis

William Curtis

aka Wystan, Thuran

Introduction
Greetings,

I am a casual roleplayer, but an avid reader of any roleplaying game/system/rules that I get into my hands. I feel that I will be an impartial judge and will be a good judge of what the average roleplayer is looking at and thinks about a given Item.

Just as a note, of course I will be biased in some way shape or form I am human, but I have and enjoy roleplaying games from a multitude of publishers.

1. When did you join the RPG hobby and what inspired you to become involved and stay with it?
I have been playing since I was 11 when one of the other boys on the Youth Group Missions Trip was told to 'Keep him busy' and taught me to play Villains and Vigilantes. This gave me an allowed outlet for my hyperactivity and also good friends and I have stayed for the imagination and the friends....

2. Since you joined the hobby, what roles have you played (e.g. vending, professional writing and publishing, freelancing, reviewing, convention organizing, homebrewing, playing, GMing, etc.)?
I have done some free lance Writing, played a lot, and GM'd a bit.
3. The ENnies require a major commitment of time and mental energy. What resources do you bring that will help you discharge these responsibilities? Will your gaming group or other individuals be assisting you? Does your family support you?
I bring the mindset that allows me to read 500 pages a day when I have a free day and the knowledge that there is no game system that I am not willing to give a try reading and seeing how it would work out/Play. My play group is casual and will most likely ignore my fanboyism as they do now, and my wife will support me in the fact that I will have the time needed to fulfill my duties.
4. Judging requires a great deal of critical thinking skills, communication with other judges, deadline management, organization, and storage space for the product received. What interests, experience and skills do you bring that will make you a more effective judge?
I work in computer security, this means that I have an analytical mind as it is, I also have a firm grasp on communications as I also have spent multiple years as a Help Desk technician and know how to get and give the needed information from opposite parties.
5. What styles and genres of RPGs do you enjoy most? Are there any styles or genres that you do not enjoy? Which games best exemplify what you like? Do you consider yourself a particular system’s, publisher’s or genre’s “fanboy/girl”?
I enjoy almost all games/styles. My least favorite would have to be overly political games, but I will play them as well if that is the game that the group I ma playing with has decided upon.

I would have to declare the following as *favorites* (Based more on past play than anything else)
1. Top Secret S/I
2. D&D (almost any version)
6. What system do you think is best designed? Is it the one you play most?
Best Designed....That is a trick question in a way. Every system has weaknesses and strengths. I feel that almost any game can gain from looking at other games and other rules. The system that I am looking at now that I feel is tightly written and seems to have fewer gremlins is 4E from WoTC.
7. What games have you played in the past year? List up to 10 RPGs you have played the most.
D&D 3.5
Marvel FASERIP
D&D 4th
8. Briefly summarize the criteria you will use for judging products in the different categories. How will you deal with comparing products of vastly disparate lengths, medium (PDF vs. print), or mechanics to prose ratios? Will innovation and originality play a major role?
Products will be judged not solely based on the other products, but upon their own strengths and weaknesses and the view of the genre that they come from as a whole. If they have a new idea that is poorly implemented that will be noted and judged based on that and how it would play in the genre and if it is even feasible.
9. How will you judge supplements or adventures for game systems whose core rules you are unfamiliar with or you believe are badly designed? What about for systems that are out of print?
I will do my best to research the rules and systems that I am not currently familiar with. As of right now I own 20-30 different RPG's and have read at least 2x that.

If it is a system that is out of print I will track down old websites that explain it as best as possible.
10. How would you like to see the ENnies change (categories, policies, etc)? What should remain inviolate?
The only thing that should always remain inviolate is the impartiality of the judges in regards to the offerings. All else should be mutable based on the submissions and the needs of the current industry.
BONUS: (optional) If you were an RPG, what would it be, and would you play it?
I would be a LARP based on Fallout and the Spycraft universe mixed and ... Hell yes I would play it... :)

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