2012 Game of the Year Voting/Discussion Thread

1) Dark Souls
2) XCOM
3) Mass Effect 3

I was fine nominating, but I can't vote in this round. I've only played like 3 of the games on that list. They all look great. I just haven't been able to play them. I'm sure looking forward to some time with Dark Souls, X-Com, Dishonored, Xenoblade and Dragon's Dogma though...REALLY looking forward to it.

1) Dark Souls
2) Dishonored
3) Mark of the Ninja
4) Spec Ops: The Line
5) XCOM

1) Dark Souls
2) The Walking Dead
3) Dishonored

I forgot about this! Thank you for the tag, I would've missed it.

1. Crusader Kings 2
2. X-COM
3. Mass Effect 3

GOTY 2013 will naturally be the blockbuster 16-bit RPG I am making using RPG Maker VX Ace, which someone bought for me over Christmas and which has devoured my life. Mostly it has served to reveal that I have no business being a game designer and am doomed to be a part of the 90% covered under Sturgeon's Law, but making crappy sandcastles in the sandbox remains fun regardless.

1) Ascension - Storm of Souls: I was LTTP with Ascension and started just prior to this pseudo-stand-alone expansion and I have played an insane amount since then. So, it has to be my top.

2) Diablo 3 - As I have said repeatedly, it has faults and I cannot really explain why I played so damn much of it, but I did and enjoyed it so much. I can't wait for an expansion.

3) XCOM - This could have vaulted over Diablo 3 if it had a bit more variety. I still played through it 2 1/2 times and will return to it. Looking forward to a meaningful expansion or DLC and I will be a Day one purchaser. I loved the original and I love this one even though there are many differences, there were also many improvements.

Extra Point Question: That's a tough one. It is hard for me to buy the AAA titles and actually play them all in the year of release, so, for me, in most cases I would opt for the most lenient of interpretations of "release" possible.


EDIT: I have played a few of the others, but not really enough to bless them with my voting point multiplier thingie.

1. Walking Dead

screw the rest

Blackadar -thanks !

1. Crusader Kings 2
2. XCOM
3. Mark of the Ninja

1 Dishonored (I'm a sucker for effectively and imaginatively created worlds/atmospheres)
2 Borderlands 2
3 X-Com

Thanks for reminding me.

1. XenoBlade Chronicles
2. Mark of the Ninja
3. The Walking Dead

That doesn't seem absurd to me at all.

Oh alright, since you went to the trouble. :)

1. Xenoblade Chronicles
2. Spec Ops: The Line
3. Mark of the Ninja

1. Dark Souls
2. FTL
3. Eador: Genesis
4. Crusader Kings 2
5. X-Com

This was actually hard to decide as there are a lot of good games on the list that I've played. I tend to appreciate new and different and so my list reflects that a bit, which was almost enough to put Dragon's Dogma on the list as well. Yes, the last two are a sequel and a remake, still, there aren't many games like them these days.

I haven't played anything that made the cut, so it would be inappropriate to vote. I suppose being a Backlog Gamer has its downside. ;)

1.) Dragon's Dogma
2.) Borderlands 2
3.) Eador: Genesis
4.) Dishonored
5.) Torchlight 2

Discussion Question:

Both metrics are important, but they should be separate polls. Further, the GOTY that's year-restricted should only address version 1.0 of a game (to be more specific, the version the game was when you bought it). Yes, Diablo 3 came a long way this year -- honestly, the version that you can play today probably deserves the phantom #6 on my list. But in my mind, that's not a fair way to run things. Big guys can release a turd and then throw money and time at the problem until it's fixed (again, see Diablo 3). Little(r) guys don't have that luxury.

Well, to be fair to D3 most of its problems had been fixed by November of 2012. The game was originally released sometime around summer 2012. So I'd say its fair to keep d3 in its current icarnation on the list. If the game was released in November 2012 and they weren't able to fix their shit until say February or march 2013, then I wouldn't say it's eligible for the 2012 list (game at release was fun, but not goty worthy IMO). And I also wouldn't say it's eligible on the 2013 list, unless there's a major xpac that cones out (not just horse-armor like dlc).

1) Tribes: Ascend
2) Crusader Kings II
3) Dark Souls

And?

Not to mention that it tends to be the little guys that keep adding huge sweeping changes to games years after they were first released (Minecraft, Dwarf Fortress, Terraria, many rogue-likes, etc.)

1. Dark Souls
2. Walking Dead
3. Torchlight II
4. Borderlands 2
5. FTL: Faster Than Light

Thanks for the heads up about voting Blackadar. I finally got around to actually putting in some time with the PC version of Dark Souls so now I don't have to feel guilty about including it :)

1. The Walking Dead
2. Crusader Kings 2
3. Dishonored
4. Borderlands 2
5. X-Com

Seconded

1. FTL - This was by far the single game that I enjoyed the most during 2012.
2. XCOM: Enemy Unknown - This was an "important" game that proved that turn-based squad tactical games are still viable. Despite its flaws, I think it deserves recognition.

I'm sure the other nominees are excellent games, but I haven't spent enough time with them to feel comfortable justifying an endorsement. I look forward to playing some of them ... eventually (this year maybe?).

1. Drox Operative
2. Dragon's Dogma
3. Wing Commander Saga: The Darkest Dawn

1. Dark souls
2. X-com

Thanks for the reminder!

I think worrying about the exact release timeframe of a game too much is going to be a waste of time as the problem will 99.9% always solve itself across the spread of all users. As long as the general gist is a 'best game of the year' rather than 'of all-time' then we shouldn't be fretting about whether a game was released on December 29th 2012 or whether an expansion pack that got loads of the board playing is enough for eligibility.

If the entire board of a general gaming forum really feels that a game that 'released' in 2009 (Eador: Genesis) or 2011 (Dark Souls on Consoles) was actually the game of 2012 (because it was translated, or because it was ported to PC) then that's good enough for me. I'd rather have a measure of what people were actually playing and talking about in 2012 rather than excluding things because they missed the collective board gaze in the allotted window of time.

1. Dishonored
2. The Walking Dead
3. Mass Effect 3

1. X-Com
2. FTL
3. Dark Souls
4. Crusader Kings 2

Read the rules if you want your vote to count, please.

1. Crusader Kings II
2. Diablo 3
3. Eador: Genesis
4. XCOM: Enemy Unknown
5. FTL: Faster Than Light

You judge what you played. If you were at the D3 launch and couldn't get past some crazy elite spawn, or were turned off by the AH then judge it like that. If you came to the game a few months later and the rough edges were patched out and you really liked it then you judge it on those merits.

CK2

Read...the...rules...please.

CK 2
XCOM

There .. ;)

I'll see you in the Nerd Rage thread.

1. Walking Dead
2. blackadar's mom

1) Guild Wars 2
2) Dragon's Dogma
3) XCOM : Enemy Unkown

Alas I haven't played Walking Dead yet (just bought it over the holidays) or Borderlands 2 so no 4th or 5th votes for me.

For those who can't wait for the official tabulation, I give you my unofficial, pro-proletariat (aka non-weighted by forum score), non-error checked results- in order of votes:

GOTY and Runner Up division:

Heavy Weight Contenders:

Other Fan Favorites:

Can't wait to see what the official results are!