Anyone follow the Interactive Arts & Sciences Awards?

[Venkman]

Nominations for 2006:

• Eve Online: Revelations
• Guild Wars: Nightfall
• Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach
• Auto Assault

I am ambivalent. Was 2006 so dry that two of them are expacs, the third has had much trouble at retail and the fourth could arguably be considered a failure, and they're all qualified for awards?

I think Eve and GW deserve it, and I'd have considered DDO for a technical sub-award maybe. But with that lineup I'd have considered with the EQ2 expac coming off of the major changes in Pub 19 and 20 before AA.

And I definitely would have gone with a sub-award for MMO itself, like they had so many technical awards on that list. I guess MMOs are pretty below the bars set in those other lists though.

Thoughts?

[stray]

Thoughts?

Seriously?

Why the MMOG forum? Why? 

There are 29 other categories that are given awards....Not mentioning them is why I "begrudge other people's fun".

And yes, 2006 was a bad year for MMOG's (uh, badder than usual I mean).

[eldaec]

I am ambivalent. Was 2006 so dry that two of them are expacs, the third has had much trouble at retail and the fourth could arguably be considered a failure, and they're all qualified for awards?

Both DDO and AA were certainly a failure and I don't care about the other two; but I'd go for Eve because it will never feature an Elf.

Also, wtf is an Interactive Arts and Science award, and why should I be interested in what I assume is just an opportunity for industry PR bunnies to run up an expense account?

Please understand that I ask in the spirit of genuinely never having heard of these people.

[Signe]

It certainly felt that dry.  I agree, though.  I'd have chosen EQ2's expansion over AA.  The expansion actually made a better game than the entirety of AA.  As for DDO, I thought it does what it does pretty well.  I wasn't nuts about certain things and it's not my sort of game, but I rather enjoyed the beta and thought it would be a must have for the D&D fanatics.  Of course, not being one makes my opinion on that sort of unreliable.

Most of everything else that came out were freebies or the sort of generic Asian MMO that gets spit out about every 15 minutes.  Archlord should get an award for extreme confusion, in my opinion.  First they want you to pay almost $40 a month so you can have "special" stuff and then, when no one takes them up on it, they beg for a mere $15... now, it's free.  Still not worth it.  Let's see... oh!  Dark and Light launched, didn't it?  Then they took it back.  Then they launched it again.  Still broken.   

What about PSU?  I should think it applies as much as GW does and it's not a failure, like AA.  Although, it's not my sort of game, it's clever, fun and different.  Why not acknowledge that?

PS  Everyone seems to have an MMO of the Year Award.  Every magazine, online game site, fansite, the guy playing a kazoo at the bus station... and every game seems to get one, regardless of it's success or failure.  I'm not sure you can buy one in a shop that doesn't have a sticker that reads, "Voted Game of the Year!" 

[Falconeer]

Nominations for 2006:

• Eve Online: Revelations
• Guild Wars: Nightfall
• Dungeons & Dragons Online: Stormreach
• Auto Assault

This is clearly a joke.

[stray]

Got an alternative list then?

I think it's spot on: Two expansions (one of a game that isn't even an mmo), an abortion, and a lost opportunity with the geek license that could rule them all.

That's the best of MMO's 2006.

[Falconeer]

Got an alternative list then?

Not listing EQ2's Echoes of Faydwer makes the list a joke.
Two major failures and two expansions OVER Echoes of Faydwer means the list is a joke. Or should be (although not a fun one).
Actually, it sounds like a joke anyway... but I can't remember any other MMO release at all for 2006.
So basically they had just 5 choices and went for that shit over Echoes of Faydwer. Nice!

[Venkman]

The funny part is that you could put WoW Burning Crusade beta in there, or even LoTRO beta in there and easily trump two of the experiences. NDA be damned. I think putting in two quality betas would tell the whole story of this genre.

And Stray, the reason this is in MMO forum is because the rest of the categories and nominations make sense :)

[Stormwaltz]

Perhaps this has something to do with it:

http://gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=22479

[Nebu]

Not listing EQ2's Echoes of Faydwer makes the list a joke.
Two major failures and two expansions OVER Echoes of Faydwer means the list is a joke. Or should be (although not a fun one).
Actually, it sounds like a joke anyway... but I can't remember any other MMO release at all for 2006.
So basically they had just 5 choices and went for that shit over Echoes of Faydwer. Nice!

I have to agree.  As many lingering problems as EQ2 has, it's still a better game than DDO and AA by a large margin.  Hell, the latest DAoC expansion is better than AA and DDO and still doesn't deserve a nomination.  The list smacks of someone running to an intern 5 mins before the nominations are due and asking "quick, give me the names of MMO stuff released in 2006!"

EDIT: well-played Storm.

[stray]

[EDIT] Oops sorry. Delete.

[Strazos]

That entire list is fucking clownshoes. They don't even explain why each game is nominated for each category. It smacks of laziness.

[WayAbvPar]

[EDIT] Oops sorry. Delete.

And we discover the secret of Stray's ballooning post count! ++ 

[Endie]

Stray, ffs make your arguments on substantive grounds.  Fair's fair, I thought you were handling it ok in the VG discussion for a while.  And we get that you hate MMOs.  But the title of this forum is MMOG Discussion, so it can get wearisome when useful cynicism spills over into outright cross-post trolling.  At least nuance your points a bit: I suspect you don't hate MMOs as such, but diku-model ones.  Merely having lots of people as competition or team-members is surely not your problem, despite your misanthropic comments.

If you'd just concentrated on the fact that the list is nonsensical in its choices, like Darniaq, or had added potentially explanatory info like Stormwaltz, then you'd have been adding to the discussion.  As it is you must see that it's predictable.  Merely repeating time after time that you don't like a genre may be helpful to you but couldn't you go blog about it or smoething, rather than trolling that genre's board?  And claiming that the posting of MMO lists in the MMOG Discussion board without including the other 29 non-MMO categories is offensive to you is just daft.

[ahoythematey]

Perhaps this has something to do with it:

http://gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=22479

Jesus Christ.

I  Capcom.

Any best game list that snubs RE4 is a complete fucking sham.

[HaemishM]

Any best game list that snubs RE4 is a complete fucking sham.

QFT. That game makes the Pope love violent video games.

[d4rkj3di]

Here's a list of previous winners:

1998 - Ultima Online
1999 - Ultima Online: The Second Age
2000 - Everquest (To be fair, it was up against Pop-Tarts "Pop" Trivia, I kid you not)
2001 - Everquest: Ruins of Kunark
2002 - Dark Age of Camelot
2003 - The Sims Online (WTF?)
2004 - Everquest: Lost Dungeons of Norath
2005 - World of Warcraft
2006 - Guild Wars and City of Villains

EoF not being on the list had nothing to do with SOE not paying for membership in the cool kids club.

[Falconeer]

EoF not being on the list had nothing to do with SOE not paying for membership in the cool kids club.

Maybe they skipped a payment or two. Maybe they thought AIAS subscription was part of the Station Pass.