PARANOIA won a lifetime achievement award from the nice folks at RPG Geek. Specifically, the Geek Lifetime Achievement in Role-Playing – or GLARP, for short.
I know this because I found myself with a deadline on Monday.
Allow me a moment for a flashback.
Earlier last week, I got a message on RPG Geek from a fellow called Bruce, who was organised the award and the voting process. PARANOIA figured amonst about twenty different RPGs up for consideration. Bruce admitted not knowing much about PARANOIA, and if it won the award needed to be ‘accepted’ with a quick entry into the RPG Geek Wiki. A quick summary of the game, no more. Of course, if it didn’t win, no worries.
What did I have to lose in offering to help out? I’m all for the positives.
I had a look at the vote. Each Geek could make three votes, 1st, 2nd and 3rd places. PARANOIA looked to have quite a few 2nd place votes, but seemed thin elsewhere. Several other systems had far more 1st place votes. I didn’t need to worry.
I enjoyed the rest of the week, and a good part of the weekend (despite working for most of it). Then the fateful message arrived. PARANOIA had won the award. The scoring system for the award meant that even though the game got fewer 1st place votes than others, the weight of the 2nd place votes swung the victory.
Brilliant. No, seriously. I’m 100% behind recognition for this great game, soon to celebrate it’s 30th anniversary (in 2014). I hope that getting the Geek Lifetime Achievement in Role-Playing award represents just another accolade on PARANOIA’s path into the future.
Bruce had said he hoped to have the Wiki entry in place before the close of 2012, so I had a day to get it done. I drafted the brief piece out Monday morning and posted it before lunch time. After some feedback from Allen Varney, on Google+, I added a tweak about the way the mechanics thematically supported the game.
(As an aside, when Bruce originally asked me to write something about PARANOIA, if it won, I considered seeing if Allen might be interested. PARANOIA XP – the reincarnation of the game for the 21st century – was Allen Varney’s baby and he has posted to RPG Geek in the past, so… I figured it might be an alternative. As it happens, I decided this was no time for Slopey-Shoulder Syndrome…)
Thanks to everyone who voted. Thanks to Bruce for asking me. Please drop by to have a quick read – and if you don’t contribute (or even visit) RPG Geek, add it to your bookmarks and come along for a bit of gaming banter. And, thanks for the late addition, Allen – always open to your feedback.
Related articles
Discover more from Omega Complex
Subscribe to get the latest posts to your email.