END THE 2009 MISAOS DO (RESULTS ARE IN!)

As of 12:01am on February 17th, 2009, the 2008 Misaos Awards are active. Most of you probably think you know the drill, but we're doing things a little differently this time around. Some key things to take note of:

- Category nominations this year are fixed. That is, they were pre-determined by rpgmaker.net with feedback from our users. Hopefully this will allow for a more consistent process from year to year. However, our web application hasn't changed so it will just like like I (rcholbert) am a big jerk.

- As a reminder, only games that were actually released during the 2008 calendar year are eligible. Games that were released in the years previous are ineligible, unless they had a re-release with a substantial amount of content changes and/or bugfixes. Games released in the 2009 calendar year are also ineligible unless they had a prior release in the 2008 calendar year. For a fairly comprehensive listing of 2008 games, visit here: http://www.rpgmaker.net/forums/index.php?topic=3067.0

- rpgmaker.net will be actively monitoring the nomination and voting processes. Any attempts to game the system, whether by outright cheating or "poll flooding" will result in disciplinary action up to and including permanent bans for the users involved and their game being rendered ineligible for the Misaos. One person, one vote, no groupthink. We will not be terribly lenient with this.

- You cannot nominate or vote for your own project.

The timeline for the remaining processes should each last one week and are as follows:

- Game nominations will run from 12:01am CST on February 18th, 2009 until 11:00pm CST February 24th, 2009.

- Game voting will commence sometime on February 25th, 2009 and last through March 3rd, 2009.

- The official results will be tallied and announced the following week.

Get nominatin' and spread the word!

Update: If you decide to go ahead and nominate the same game for every single category, particulary the best and worst game categories, I will nullify your vote. It doesn't even make sense.

Edit: Final Results!

OFFICIAL WINNERS LIST

GOTY: Game of the Year - Balmung Cycle
GOTY: Best RPG - Balmung Cycle
GOTY: Best Non-RPG - SkyE
GOTY: Best Completed Game - Balmung Cycle
GOTY: Most Promising Demo - Alter A.I.L.A. Genesis

Writing: Best Storytelling and Direction - Do You Remember My Lullaby
Writing: Best Plot - Quintessence - The Blighted Venom
Writing: Best Dialogue - Master of the Wind
Writing: Best Character - Shadar (Demon Legacy)
Writing: Best Setting - Quintessence - The Blighted Venom

Audio-visual: Best Atmosphere - Quintessence - The Blighted Venom
Audio-visual: Best Graphics & Artwork - TIE! Alter A.I.L.A. Genesis & U.S.G. & A New Beginning
Audio-visual: Best Music - Quintessence - The Blighted Venom
Audio-visual: Best Sound - Balmung Cycle
Audio-visual: Best Cinematics - Quintessence - The Blighted Venom

Game Design: Most Technical Prowess (Coding Award) - U.S.G. - A New Beginning
Game Design: Best Game Design - Balmung Cycle
Game Design: Best Level Design - TIE! Balmung Cycle & Master of the Wind
Game Design: Best Interface Design - U.S.G. - A New Beginning
Game Design: Most Fun - U.S.G. - A New Beginning

Wisao: Worst Game of the Year - sonic and mario
Wisao: Biggest Disappointment (Overhyped Award) - Monopolo
Wisao: Worst Case of Vaporitis - Barkley: Shut Up and Jam Gaiden (by default)