The Forge Archives

Hey all, thanks to the efforts of Ron Edwards and Matt Forbeck, we have a locale for the Indie RPG Awards ceremony!

The ceremony will be Wednesday Night (before the opening day of GenCon) at a local pub called "Jillian's" at 9:30PM sharp. It's the same place that will be hosting the Diana Jones Awards at 10PM, so if you come early you get to see two awards ceremonies for the price of one!

Here's some info on the place that I found online:
Jillian's Sports Cafe and Hibachi Grill Restaurant
141 S. Meridian St.
Indianapolis, IN 46225
317-822-9300

If you're in the area, and can make it, come by and see who won firsthand, plus hear some of the great feedback left about the games and Indie Humans of the Year!  

The ceremony will end at 9:55PM, after which I will spend the five minutes before the Diana Jones Award popping off a line of Snakebite shots off of the cover of my hard copy of InSpectres.*

If you're not going to GenCon, I'll be posting the results online as soon as humanly possible.  Whether this happens at GenCon itself or the following Monday is up to time, energy and internet access. I'll see what I can do, though.  This year was a VERY interesting year for the awards.  Just wait and see. :)

-Andy

* I like shots, in case you're buying.

I'll so be there!
Holding the Indie Awards ceremony together with the Diana Jones things is trés cool.

Quote from: Andy KitkowskiThe ceremony will end at 9:55PM, after which I will spend the five minutes before the Diana Jones Award popping off a line of Snakebite shots off of the cover of my hard copy of InSpectres.*

May I suggest using the german edition of InSpectres then? The cover is at least twice as big as the original, so the line of shots can be much longer! Only 15 Euros for you, pal! ;)

Are the Indie Awards and the Diana Jones Awards open to the "general public" or are these invite only events?

Tigger

Hello,

Tigger, that's a question which has been puzzling me a bit. The DJA has an open invitation to industry people via various mailing lists and closed advertising venues. And the Indie RPG awards are also semi-closed in terms of voting.

So I guess I'm completely not sure what to do with the public announcement of the awards - and since I was the one who asked Andy to make it here, I'm doubly confused.

Here's my call, which people are free to ignore (obviously) - think of it as a request.

If you want to attend one or both of the ceremonies in the full commitment to support the activities and candidates, then please come. But if your goal is to "get inside with the insiders" and buttonhole Jonathan Tweet with criticisms of D&D3E, or to "get a chance to talk to Peter Adkison," or otherwise to be an annoying fanboy party-crasher, then please do not attend. You have the whole con to find these people and make their lives miserable for a few minutes.

My experience with the DJA ceremonies is far more positive, exciting, and affirming as a publisher than any other formal activity associated with the so-called industry. I think a lot of other folks see it the same way, as a return to the approach of the late 1970s when most of the publishers really liked one another and played and advertised one another's games. I would really hate to see these events swarmed by people who bring any other attitude or behavior with them.

So, as a request - bring your best self to the event, understand the event, and recognize that everyone there doesn't want to have to put on their "for the fan" faces. If a whole lotta people show up with the right attitude, it only makes the event more exciting and positive. If even a few show up with the wrong one, it'll fuck it up big-time.

Best,
Ron

Hi,

Ron so then if you have no inkling or give a rats ass who is who and are just interested in seeing who gets the award as well as tossing back a few you are in?  If you are interested it talking about your latest 3E elf in leather chaps you are out?

Keith

Almost spot-on, Keith. With the added benefit that, if you take the former approach, you'll get to learn a little about who's-who as a fun side effect.

Also, about the "bad" approach, it's not just about avoiding dressing-up or being gamer-ish. It's about how to deal with other people in general, relative to publishing role-playing games.

It's a very big deal to me that role-playing publishers are not some kind of anointed special-people. Keith, you are a role-playing publisher, for instance; never mind whether you get mentioned in Dragon or any such crap. You might like meeting Peter Adkison; he might like meeting you. That can only happen if you meet as humans, not if he's on a pedestal and you wish you were up there with him, or envy him for being there. There aren't any pedestals at the DJA award ceremony.

So what I'm talking about is a bunch of people who put a lot of effort into publishing games, and who want to celebrate some unique artistic and commercial outcomes of this activity. If you can get behind that, then come on over and join in.

Best,
Ron

Hi,

You had me at hello...

It sounds like it would be fun.  Me and my cronies (I love calling them that.  Almost as good as lackey.) we share my disinterest in corning poor souls to extoll the virtues of how we fixed XYZ mechanics in game ABC will surely come to see who wins.

Keith

Ron,
    Thanks for the input, I look forward to enjoying the award ceremony.  I'll see if I can keep my geekdom in check though. :)

Thanks again,

Tigger

Good point everyone (and Ron): I wasn't aware that the DJA was sorta an "off list" production.  But your clarifications really help.

As for the Indie RPG Awards, well, my thoughts on the matter are the following:

1) If you're interested, show the f*** up!

2) Don't interefere in any way with the DJA crowd or procession. I'm a guest to their digs this year- They set up the mic, the area, etc, and have told me "Sure, just do your thing- It's cool".  I'm very grateful for that, and request that y'all listen to Ron's advice, above, and don't make a scene.

Thanks!

-Andy

Just a quick update for everyone who won't be able to make it:

I just got some pages together faster than I thought: Looks like on Thursday you'll be able to see the results of the 2003 Indie RPG Awards.

Go to www.rpg-awards.com . You'll know when the site is updated with the winners, because on that front page there'll be a big red button that will say "CLICK HERE TO SEE THE WINNERS".

So, enjoy.  And looking forward to seeing you DJA folk, too.

-Andy

Congratulations, to the winners. Excellent choices, all, IMHO.

Very sorry we couldn't make it -- especially given the results -- but timing just didn't work out this year.  Rob and I are still woozy and shocked from it all... Especially given the high quality of the competition.

Just got back home from GenCon.  A lot to process, will not be around much for a week or so.

Just one thing:

If ANYONE took pictures from the Indie RPG Awards ceremony at Jillian's, PLEASE let me know. PM me or email me at ziggurat AT gmail DOT com.

-Andy

Got one reply from a guy who took pics. Thanks Tav. Can always use some more, so PM me.