A little while ago I wrote about the problems facing the Golden Geek awards in the RPG category, and I’m reminded of them now that we’ve hit the voting for the ENnie awards.

In a nutshell, those problems are: Too many products which not enough people have seen.

Role-playing games are time-intensive to play. The most popular games play in campaign styles, where you could quite possibly spend years just playing one game. I’m fairly exceptional in the amount of time I spend playing RPGs (average of about 8 hours per week), and in the past year I’ve managed to play exactly seven different RPGs: AD&D, D&D 4E, D&D Next, Pathfinder, Amber, Savage Worlds and Marvel SH. Yes, four of those are versions of D&D.

There are certainly people out there who play lots and lots of different games, but I’d say they are a distinct minority of the role-playing community.

Now that we’ve got to the ENnies, I scan my eyes down the nominated products and the list of ones I own is short. The list of the ones I’ve read is shorter. The ones I’ve played? Almost non-existent!

Here’s my list of the games per category I know about, and my current status with the game:

Best Adventure: Rise of the Runelords (own)
Best Aid/Accessory: The One Ring GM Screen and Laketown sourcebook (read)
Best Art (cover): NPC Codex (own)
Best Art (interior): Ed Greenwood Presents Elminster’s Forgotten Realms (read)
Best Blog: none
Best Cartography: none
Best Family Game: Doctor Who (read)
Best Free Game: none
Best Free Product: Shadowrun/Battletech Quick Start Rules (read)
Best Game: none
Best Miniature: Blood of Grumsh (played)
Best Monster: Inner Sea Bestiary (read); NPC Codex (own)
Best Podcast: none
Best RPG Related: none
Best Rules: none
Best Setting: Magnimar (read), Menzoberranzan (played)
Best Supplement: Menzoberranzan (played), Time Traveller’s Companion (own)
Best Website: none
Best Writing: Time Traveller’s Companion (own)
Product of the Year: Menzoberranzen: City of Intrigue, Doctor Who: The Time Traveler’s Companion, NPC Codex

Note that “read” means “own+read”; I haven’t been borrowing my friends’ books recently.

When board games are voted on, I generally know them a LOT better. To play a boardgame, I require friends and 1-2 hours. To play a RPG, I need so much more time.

I also note that we’re currently also in the award seasons for wargames – the Charles S Roberts Awards are open for voting. Wargames are between RPGs and boardgames in their difficulty to rate: most take longer than a normal boardgame, but a lot less than a RPG. I play a fair number of wargames, but even there my ability to make good choices is limited.

At least I know more of the games: I’ve played three in the ancients category (and own four more), and I’ve played four in the modern category (and own three more). At least I can make a comparison!