Boardgamegeek wins 2010 Diana Jones Award

We’ve already mentioned it briefly in this morning’s TJI From Gen Con! show notes post, but in case you missed it, Boardgamegeek has won this year’s Diana Jones Award. The mostly-anonymous award committee selected the tabletop gaming website over three other game nominees shortlisted this year, FFG’s Chaos in the Old World, and the RPGs Kagematsu by Cream Alien Games, and Montsegur 1244 by Thoughtful Games. See the press release for more details.

Diana Jones Award committee press release follows:

Diana Jones Award 2010 winner announced

The 2010 Diana Jones Award for Excellence in Gaming has been given to Boardgamegeek, a website edited by Scott Alden and Derk Solko.

The winner was announced by author and game designer Matt Forbeck at a ceremony packed with games industry professionals, from designers to publishers and distributors. The award, part of the annual Diana Jones Award and Freelancer Party, was held at Jillian’s in Indianapolis at 9pm on Wednesday 4th August, the unofficial first event of the games convention Gen Con Indy.

The Diana Jones committee described its choice as follows:

“BoardGameGeek is a resource without peer for board and card gamers, the recognized authority of this online community.

“If BoardGameGeek did nothing more than provide an exhaustive database of board and card game editions, designers, publishers, and translators it would be a heroic and valuable undertaking, but this is simply where it begins. Past being a first and best reference, the site hosts reviews, photos, strategy guides, variant rules, and session reports all created by the site’s members.

“BoardGameGeek’s internal economy of thumbs and GeekGold effectively rewards those who make the site broader, deeper, and better, and as a result its community is smart, enthusiastic, and steadfast. The site and membership are together a seamless whole that exemplifies the best in modern Internet-based collaboration. Even better than some Wikipedia writ small, BoardGameGeek’s size is just exactly right, allowing its users’ passion for the hobby to shine into its every corner.

“BoardGameGeek provides its data and resources free of charge, but like many of the best online resources, offers paid memberships that eliminate advertisements. This direct relationship between the site’s users and owners effectively aligns the motivations of all concerned with producing the best site, rather than satisfying the whims of transient sponsors to the annoyance of all.

“In 2010, BoardGameGeek celebrates its tenth anniversary, adding longevity to the roll of its merits. Recently, BoardGameGeek’s creators have spun off additional sites devoted to other types of games, most notably roleplaying games. Time will tell whether the broadening of the ‘GeekD?’ umbrella will breed such fantastic communities in these other areas, but the initiative is more than welcome.

“In one small corner of human endeavor, BoardGameGeek’s exhaustive knowledge base, devoted community, and collaborative bedrock exemplify the absolute best that the Internet has to offer society.”

Also shortlisted for the Diana Jones Award this year were the small-press RPGs Kagematsu and Montsegur 1244, and the boardgame Chaos in the Old World.

The Diana Jones Award is given annually to whatever in the opinion of its mostly-anonymous committee shows or exemplifies gaming at its best. Anyone and anything within the games industry and hobby is eligible to win the Diana Jones Award, including individuals, products, publications, publishers, distributors, retailers, clubs, organisations, conventions, events, trends, innovations and concepts. Previous winners include Peter Adkison and Jordan Weisman, the RPGs Nobilis, Sorcerer and My Life with Master, the boardgame Ticket to Ride, and the card game Dominion

For more information please contact James Wallis: james@spaaace.com
Contact the Diana Jones Award committee: committee@dianajonesaward.org
More information on the award: http://www.dianajonesaward.org