AGS Awards Nominations - Disappointment

Gord10 · Mon 14/03/2005 14:13:26

@Alkis:
You aren't the only one who got disappointed with the 2004 AGS Awards. I was expecting Lost In The Nightmare Demo to be nominated in the Best Demo category (because lots of people told me it could win it), but soon I learned that there wouldn't be a demo category this year. It was a big disappointment for me. Though, it doesn't mean I will give up adventure game developing. I'm working hard on my game now, and determined to release it.

No one has to win an award. The most important thing is to release stuff that people likes.

SSH · Mon 14/03/2005 16:08:02

I understand how you feel. I had hoped (not expected) that Awakening of the Sphinx might have had a chance in the Best Demo category. I also understand, though, that trawling through the GiP forum to find all the demos would be a pain. I really think that future AGS awards should be restricted to those entered in the AGS games database pages which would make compiling the list much easier, or even automatic. If people know in advance, there's no reason why they shouldn't be able to make sure their games are in the database by a couple of weeks into January each year.

I also agree with Radiant about giving specific puzzles as examples, etc. This has obviously worked in the character categories to an extent.

Another award for next year might be the best script module: now that 2.7 will support them! Maybe that will be clearer than best scripting, or there could even be a best open-source AGS game award, too?

Darth Mandarb · Mon 14/03/2005 16:19:11

Alkis - On one hand I can understand how you feel.

On the other hand, what does it really matter?

For me; I was excited about seeing if my game got nominated for anything. To be completely honest I didn't expect it would be (I certainly didn't nominate myself). So it was just a pleasant surprise to see it listed.

Sure it felt good, but if it had been nominated for nothing I wouldn't have been upset or offended.

concerning demos ...

Perhaps we should have a section on the AGS webpage (under games) for "Demos". So the as-of-yet unreleased games with demos out can easily be reviewed for nomination. This would save a LOT of time rather than parsing through the GiP looking for demos.

Maybe a category for 'Most Promising Demo' or 'Most Anticipated Game Demo' ... something like that.

concerning committee nominations ...

I don't really like the idea of all the award nominations being decided by committee. I like the fact that all AGSers can nominate the game(s) they really enjoyed and that the awards are decided by the community, not a committee.

Maybe just certain categories should be nominated by a committee. Like 'Best Scripting' could be nominated by some of the gods of the tech forums who really have a grasp of the scripting being used. But then awards like 'Best Game' should be, for lack of a better phrase, "Viewers Choice" and would be nominated by the community.

I like 'feeling involved' in the nomination process. Makes me feel important

Captain Mostly · Mon 14/03/2005 16:43:29

At least by not getting nominated in any REAL catagories, you'll not have to suffer the kick in the teeth of having your magnum opus beaten in the end by some novelty game that people only voted for because it had people from the community in it and "mittens" in the title... Not that I'M bitter you understand...

Sektor 13 · Mon 14/03/2005 19:31:48

Quote from: Darth Mandarb on Mon 14/03/2005 16:19:11
Alkis - On one hand I can understand how you feel.

On the other hand, what does it really matter?

For me; I was excited about seeing if my game got nominated for anything. To be completely honest I didn't expect it would be (I certainly didn't nominate myself). So it was just a pleasant surprise to see it listed.

Sure it felt good, but if it had been nominated for nothing I wouldn't have been upset or offended.

concerning demos ...

Perhaps we should have a section on the AGS webpage (under games) for "Demos". So the as-of-yet unreleased games with demos out can easily be reviewed for nomination. This would save a LOT of time rather than parsing through the GiP looking for demos.

Maybe a category for 'Most Promising Demo' or 'Most Anticipated Game Demo' ... something like that.

concerning committee nominations ...

I don't really like the idea of all the award nominations being decided by committee. I like the fact that all AGSers can nominate the game(s) they really enjoyed and that the awards are decided by the community, not a committee.

Maybe just certain categories should be nominated by a committee. Like 'Best Scripting' could be nominated by some of the gods of the tech forums who really have a grasp of the scripting being used. But then awards like 'Best Game' should be, for lack of a better phrase, "Viewers Choice" and would be nominated by the community.

I like 'feeling involved' in the nomination process. Makes me feel important

I think the problem when players are nominating the games, is that they do not play all of the games, but just most popular, but that doesn't mean that other games are bad...

I think commite should decide the nominies after playing all the game made that year...

Haddas · Mon 14/03/2005 21:06:02

I wanted Corridors of the doom to be nominated in all categories, especially the hour game, or even get nominated at all...But just you wait, I'll be back with a Bigger! Better! game that will make you go "OOH!" and "WOOOW!" and then you'll all love me and lick my feet when I finally attend a mittens.

Potch · Mon 14/03/2005 21:49:13

I was disappointed that Other Worlds wasn't nominated for other categories as well. It was a fantastic game! I mean... when I went to vote, I was specifially looking for that game! Oh well. Alkis... it was great, and you should be proud of that!

Pesty · Mon 14/03/2005 21:58:37

I would just like to say that I got rid of the Best Demo category because I wanted to put more emphasis on finished games. If you want to win an award, finish your game! I've noticed that every demo that's won or been nominated hasn't been finished (take a look here: http://www.sylpher.com/AGSAwards/Awards.htm if you don't believe me). I replaced it with the hour games category because there aren't enough hour games around and I feel they're a great way to practice and they're a lot of fun. So I didn't just get rid of the category for no reason.

alkis21 · Mon 14/03/2005 22:26:19

Vel and LucasFan... pimping? I resent the term and I don't believe I did anything remotely like it. If I don't talk about my game in the AGS forum, where will I do it? Are you suggesting that people didn't want to vote for my game because they were tired of my "pimping"?
Everyone, the reason I'm interested in the awards is because I value AGSers' opinion more than the average adventure gamer's. That's because people who visit this forum know their amateur games, many of them have made some, so they know what a good or a bad effort is. For that reason, I'm very proud of my score in votes in the main page. I didn't want to open a can of worms and I certainly didn't want to suggest that there was something wrong with the voting process. I'm sure you guys are doing everything fine, the awards were there long before I joined AGS and they'll be there after I'm gone.

Potch · Mon 14/03/2005 23:00:48

Hey Alkis, are you going to make another game? I'd love to play something else that you made.

alkis21 · Mon 14/03/2005 23:09:10

No I won't, I guess I'll stick to writing manuals from now on, it seems that it's the only thing I'm capable of.

Jokes aside, I'm afraid I no longer have the luxury to dedicate so much time and energy to something that gets me no financial profit.

Potch · Mon 14/03/2005 23:31:55

Well, that's too bad. You did great work.

Snarky · Tue 15/03/2005 00:51:16

Maybe you could join a team? Since your strengths seem to be writing the story and the puzzles, why not get others to do all the really time-consuming work for you?

Pelican · Tue 15/03/2005 01:36:25

I think it might be useful though, to have the authors actually submit their games. Because, I did actually try to get a hold of all the games before making a nomination, and couldn't get a whole bunch of them.

I have to agree, some of the nominations did seem a little odd. Perhaps if the nominations were reviewed by a panel it might help? It just seems like the more high profile games were repeatedly voted for in all the catergories, whether they were appropriate or not. I personally found a few rather good games, from trawling through that lengthy list, that could have equally deserved a nomination. Perhaps there should be a rule that you have to play at least 50% of the games listed before nominating?

DragonRose · Tue 15/03/2005 05:55:11

I don't think anyone has time to play 50% of the games that come out in a year. There are just too many.

My thought- what if people advertise their games? Allow me to explain.

When Oscar season comes around, film studios put out "For your consideration" ads in various trade magazines. They list off all the Oscar worthy people and movies the studio has churned out in the past year. Movies like The Aviator or Million Dollar Baby get ads like this. Movies like Dodgeball do not, unless it's a joke.

Anyway, what if people who feel they should get an AGS award in a particular category put up a post in a specific thread saying, as an example, "For your consideration, Other Worlds for Best Game" or "For your consideration, Leisure Suit Larry 2 Point and Click for Best Documentation."

This would A) make sure we're only looking at games where the maker is still around, B) increase the likelyhood of people checking out the forerunners, and C) encourage people to actually look at specific points of the game, rather than just saying "I LIEKS IT AWL!!!11!"

And yes, it is pimping.

Just a thought.

MrColossal · Tue 15/03/2005 05:57:28

We had that before but not this year, don't know why, probably because Pete is lazy...

And she's smelly!

Gregjazz · Tue 15/03/2005 05:59:08

Quote from: alkis21 on Mon 14/03/2005 23:09:10
No I won't, I guess I'll stick to writing manuals from now on, it seems that it's the only thing I'm capable of.
Jokes aside, I'm afraid I no longer have the luxury to dedicate so much time and energy to something that gets me no financial profit.

I'm sorry to hear you didn't get nominated, but it's cool that you got recognition in other places -- your review in Just Adventure and your review in the PC Master magazine.

I think I agree with what the other people said: it's all about pimping your game (or "advertising" it, if that word sounds better to you). Sometimes it takes a game a while to get recognition -- not always will it spread like wildfire. So good luck, and I'll check out Other Worlds (to tell the truth I haven't played it, and only heard very little about it).

Pesty · Tue 15/03/2005 06:14:54

Quote from: MrColossal on Tue 15/03/2005 05:57:28
We had that before but not this year, don't know why, probably because Pete is lazy...

And she's smelly!

OMG ERIC SUCKCKCKCKCKS!1!!

It's not because I'm lazy, it's because I had no idea I was supposed to do it. If I had, I would've done them.

Vince Twelve · Tue 15/03/2005 06:17:39

Quote from: Vince Twelve on Mon 14/03/2005 02:05:13
Now, the big problem here is that you have a small number of people who are responsible for playing a huge number of games... The way they handle this at most big awards shows (like the Oscars) is to limit the entries by requiring the people responsible (developer(s)) to submit their product (game) to the categories for which they believe they have a reasonable chance of winning. This submission may be a simple Email or PM from the developer with the game name and the categories he/she wishes to enter the game into, or it may be more complicated, like a web form including a paragraph on why the game deserves to win [insert category name here].

Quote from: DragonRose on Tue 15/03/2005 05:55:11
Anyway, what if people who feel they should get an AGS award in a particular category put up a post in a specific thread saying, as an example, "For your consideration, Other Worlds for Best Game" or "For your consideration, Leisure Suit Larry 2 Point and Click for Best Documentation."

This would A) make sure we're only looking at games where the maker is still around, B) increase the likelyhood of people checking out the forerunners, and C) encourage people to actually look at specific points of the game, rather than just saying "I LIEKS IT AWL!!!11!"

Sounds like we're on the same wavelength, here. I definitely think it's a good idea.

Snarky · Tue 15/03/2005 06:38:52

Quote from: DragonRose on Tue 15/03/2005 05:55:11
A) make sure we're only looking at games where the maker is still around

Is that desirable, though? Look at this year's nominees. Yahtzee doesn't post here (at least not openly), and cerebrit (creator of No-Action Jackson) hasn't posted anything since last June. Does it matter whether they're still around, or if they were ever around at all? Are these the AGS Awards or the AGS Forums Awards?