Receiving the Diana Jones award

Hello,

I've been trying to wear my "brave but humble" face, publicly, but here in my own forum, I think I'll let it slip. This has been a full and total sea-change in my professional life as Adept Press. I was fully settled in my role as fringe publisher and mildly-interesting addition to the pro and user community. To have so many people whom I respect in the role-playing hobby, applauding me with what appeared to be full sincerity and enthusiasm, was astonishing.

I'd convinced myself that Robin was to receive the award, and my first thought upon hearing my name pronounced was, "Quit listing the nominees and get to it, already!" When I realized that Peter had announced, not the first on the list of nominees, but the recipient of the award, I was floored. (I've been knocked out by a full elbow to the face, right between the nose and the upper lip. It lasted less than a second - I bounced up like a rubber ball, and continued to fight. It takes a lot to floor me.) Receiving it from Peter was very much like directing a clumsy person in a play - "Now step on the chair, don't fall. Now take the award, don't drop it. Pose it like a pizza - ut! Watch your balance."

I'll let someone else tell the story of the item's origin, or with any luck point us all to a good site about it. Its economic and historical significance is huge, and I'll probably post an essay about that later in this thread. As an object, the award itself is an outright eyesore - there's no other way to say it. It's this epoxy pyramid with all sorts of snippets from the Indiana Jones game buried in it, on a wooden base. The bottom image is a still from an IJ movie, with Harrison Ford's image looking very much like the money-shot in a porn movie. The other bits include the "Diana Jones" logo, the TSR proof-of-purchase, and several of the standups from the game - most significantly, the "Nazi TM" ones that precipitated the game's demise, all scorched around the edges.

They expected me to say something. I spoke first of my regard for Robin Laws and the pleasure I'd received from his games, specifically Hero Wars. I don't know whether that was appropriate or not, but it struck me that his work was not to be eclipsed or disregarded simply because I'd received the award. I then said, "I have two things to say, one of them non-controversial and the other one perhaps controversial."

The first was "Thank you very much." It drew a big laugh and a lot of applause, which is about when I realized just who was out there, and what sort of award this was. I still don't know why this comment was so appreciated, unless maybe because it was the "non-controversial" one or maybe because it unintentionally quoted Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit.

The second concerned the industry. I said, as best I remember, "It is changing, most especially in the sense that we are not agreed upon how it is changing. Whether you think the bar to entry is being raised or lowered, whether you think that distribution is falling apart or stronger than ever before, whether you think that creator ownership is or is not a central issue ... all of these elements of game creation and publishing are changing around us. The Red Queen cannot stand still. I only ask that you consider that she, or we, must run to stay in place. So let's run together and see what happens."

Or something like that, probably a lot less articulate.

Some pictures of me receiving the award are posted at Gaming Report - see my site to find a link to them.

One last thing: one of the best things about getting the award was having a contingent from the Forge present, including Jake Norwood, Matt Snyder, Jason Blair, Juergen Mayer, and others (say who you are; I can't remember).

Best,
Ron