2016 XYZZY Awards

When will the xyzzy awards begin? As far as I can tell, the latest they’ve started in recent years is April 15th, and in years before that, they were generally in January.

Do the organizers need help this year due to volume?

A post-comp release can be commercial in any way. But ifcomp.org and ifarchive.org will continue hosting the free comp release.

The vague phrasing of the “commercial” rule drives me crazy. What could be more vague than “etc.?” Spring Thing changed the rule to “must be freely available both during the festival and in perpetuity afterwards on the IF Archive” and I think that’s a much better policy.

I passed the request for clarification along to the IFComp committee.

The first two sentences of the rule seem straightforward (and include what Spring Thing says). It’s just the last line which needs work. 90s terminology, not at all clear how it fits in the era of Patreon.

Is there any way to currently play This is my memory of my first heartbreak, which I…

I wanted to play it after the comp, but I can’t find it anywhere.

It appears TiMMoFHB,WICQPBT was only hosted online and has been taken down. Even the index.html that was on IFArchive is just a link to a dead page where I presume it originally was.

Has there been any more word on XYZZYs?

I have a proposal concerning the Xyzzy’s.

I have been concerned about the Xyzzy’s as well, and I have talked to several people in private who are anxious that they should occur. I have talked to maga, and it seems very likely that it should be done at some point, but not necessarily soon (although introcomp going up is a good sign).

With so many people concerned about the Xyzzy’s, I propose a sort of XYZZY insurance, similar to FDIC in America. If the awards do not appear in a given time, say July 1st, then a group of volunteers can construct a new XYZZY website, and have voting proceed then, perhaps under the aegis of the IFTF.

Anything later than July runs the risk of overlapping with Ifcomp.

I don’t think this would be necessary, because Maga has done this successfully for years, but it’s foolish not to have backup plans of some sort. Also, there may not be enough interested people with the technical skills to make an appropriate website, but I know at least one person has the full list of eligible games, so there’s a start.

Anyway, that’s my proposal, if anyone’s interested in helping at that date, if necessary.

I suggest this because there are some other IF institutions run by one person which have gone under, and while I think Mega has a plan, this would provide assurance for the 20 or so people who are eagerly anticipating the awards.

If the XYZZYs won’t happen until after July, it would be good to have that confirmed. I just can’t find anything except the Twitter message from April, but it’s outdated.

Progress! xyzzyawards.org/?p=488

(Last year a week passed between the eligibility list being posted and the opening of round one voting.)

This is great to see; maga has a lot of experience with the Xyzzy’s. I liked the thoughtful explanations of the different categories.

I should’ve just waited a little longer before asking! I’m glad they’re still happening.

Round-1 voting is open.