Alright these are the categories from last year:
 
 

GENRE/STYLE AWARDS  
3D/Poser: 
Comics that make use of the THIRD DIMENSION (oo, ah) or appear to.
 
Best Action Comic:
Chase scenes, fights, big explosions; CRASH POW ZOOM -- you know the stuff
 
Best Abstract/Random Comic:
Now for something completely different. Comics that march to the
beat of their own drum, may have varied subject matter or mismatched
jokes.
 
Best Adventure Comic:
Quests, missions, explorations, and/or other dangerous or exciting ventures.
 
Best Adult-oriented Comic:
A-rated comics. XXX No one under 18 admitted! Live nudes! Or excessive violence. Or both!
 
Best All Ages Comic:
Child-friendly comics that the whole family can enjoy.
 
Best Anthropomorphic Comic:
They act like people and think like people, but they look like foxes or dolphins or toasters.
 
**Best Community Project:
Comics and projects that bring together a variety of DD members for
massive synergy! (DD Awards are not eligible, for giving ourselves an
award would create a paradox vortex from which there is no escape.)

 
Best Fantasy Comic:
Magical, mythical, mystical, marvelous. Comics set in fantastical
settings, involving magic or mythical creatures, abilities, or beings.
 
**Best Horror Comic:
The dark, scary, and twisted. Monsters, psychological thrillers, and
 ax-wielding psychos all have their place among these wonderfully
horrific comics.
 
**Best Humor Comic:
Gags, jokes, lols, roflmaos, and such. Format and subject matter aren't important. It just has to make you laugh.

**Best Manga Style Comic:
Comics inspired by the artistic style and conventions of Japanese cartooning.

Best Mystery/Crime/Noir:
Crime drama, police, mobsters, mysteries, hard-boiled detectives, and/or meddling kids.
 
Best Parody/Tribute:
Comics that use the characters, worlds, or creations of other creators. It's not copyright infringement! It's an homage!
 
Best Philosophical/Political Comic:
Make-you-think comics that address deep topics from the spiritual and philosophical to the cultural or political.
 
Best Photo Comic:
Smile! You're on Comic Camera!
 
Best Pixel/Sprite/Stock Image Comic:
These comics take existing (or created) sprites/images and assemble them in different ways to create new strips/pages.
 
**Best Romance Comic:
Girl/boy, boy/boy, girl/girl, girl/girl/boy, man/alien, or whatever.
 It's all about LOVE! Love love love love love love love love. Maybe
some hate too, and some other things, but romantic relationship(s) take
center stage.
 
Best Sci-fi Comic:
A form of speculative fiction so named because the fantastical
elements are rooted in or explained by actual or fictional scientific
theory.
 
Best Stick Figure or Simplified Art Comic:
o.o  ^_^
 
Best Slice-of-life/Autobiographical Comic:
Autobiographical comics as well as fictional comics that revolve
around the struggles and triumphs of everyday life. Sitcoms and/or
melodrama.
 
Best Superhero Comic:
Too super for other categories.
 
**Most Deliciously Offensive:
These f&%#@ comics might p^@(# you the f*^^@* off.
 
~~~~~
 
TECHNICAL AWARDS
 
Best Background Art:
The background, setting, environment, and surroundings. Including architecture, scenery, furniture, vehicles, etc.
 
Best Character Design:
The artistic design of the characters. This includes anatomy, facial
 expressions, and clothing (but not speech, mannerisms, or
personality/actions).
 
Best Comic Layouts:
The components of visual storytelling that harmonize the artwork
into a page and direct flow and pacing. Includes panel shape and
position, placement of speech balloons, lettering, and general
readability.
 
Best Dialogue:
It's all about what they say and how they say it.
 
Best Plot Development:
The overall story composition and pacing, and the use of storytelling elements.
 
Best Use of Color:
Creative and technical mastery of color to create mood and interest.
 
**Best Use of B&W:
Best use of black and white techniques, such as cross-hatching, contrast, and screen-tones.
 
Most Improved Art:
The comic that shows the most artistic improvement between July 2010 and now.
 
~~~~~
 
CHARACTER AWARDS
 
Best Good Guy/Girl:
These are the characters who do good things or at least try. Typically, these are the main or central characters, whether they are saving the world or just resisting the urge to cheat on a test.
 
Best Bad Guy/Girl:
Opposes the good guy -- or opposes good things and noble actions in general, usually a rival or villain. Doesn't necesarily have to be evil incarnate, but these guys and gals are good at being bad.
 
Best Supporting Character:
A noteworthy secondary character; can be good, bad, or other.
 
**Best Couple/Duo:
A memorable pairing of chums, lovers, associates, partners, or
co-conspirators. Whether Scarlett and Rhett or Batman and Robin, it's
the relationship between them that counts!
 
~~~~~
 
USER AWARDS
 
**Nicest User:
The user whom you know is always smiling whistling and just being oh so nice.
 
**Funniest User:
It's that guy/girl that always makes you lol or chuckle. You can't wait to read his/her hilarious posts or comments or comics.
 

**Most Helpful User:
The user is willing to lend a hand, the one you can count on.
 
**Most Supportive Reader:
Maybe they leave the most comments or the most insightful ones, or
they draw wonderful fanart, or they are always available to discuss your
 script ideas or send you cards when you're on hiatus.
 
**Most Dedicated Creator:
That creator who seems to be a page-making machine, every day on
time -- or maybe the one who has been at it forever and has a thousand
pages of the most amazing quality -- or the one who is updating five
different regular comics on a schedule. Whatever they are doing, they
sure are DEDICATED.
 
**Most Promising Newcomer:
This kid just showed up out of the blue this year, and (s)he's already making the rest of us look bad!

 
 
**Most Awesomest Admin or Moderator:
Because they are awesome. They put up with the rest of us crazy ducks in the pond.
 
~~~~~
 
THE BIG ONES
 
Best Completed Comic:
Comics that were concluded sometime between July 2010 and now. (Indefinite hiatus doesn't count.)
 
Best Overall Comic Strip:
Best webcomic with stand-alone updates or short, unrelated story arcs, usually in a horizontal or vertical strip format.
 
Best Overall Story Comic:
Best webcomic that tells a continuous story, usually in full page format. 

 
 
 
I think there is call this year to "trim the fat." I will start with saying that though the user awards are fun and a good idea, it is not very fun when the same person wins all the awards because of their rabid fans. So we either need to rethink how these are done or cut them entirely once again. 
 
 So I open up the field for discussion... what should stay what should go?
 
Discussion Points:
User Awards
Changing Good/Bad Guy/Girl back to Protagonist/Antagonist.
What awards to cut?
User participation
Other junk

Proposed Schedule of Events
 
Planning ~ Now - July
 
The Drunk Duck Award Design Contest ~
 
     Submissions ~ June 3 - 9
 
     Voting ~ June 10 -11
 
Drunk Duck Awards Voting Opens ~ July 1 - 20
 
Finalists Announced/Volunteers Assigned ~ July 22 - August 4
 
Judging ~ August 6 - August 25
(All Judging and Presentations is due no later than the 25)
 
The Ceremony Begins ~ September 10

The only user award I can think of that might be worth having is maybe a Duck Time Achievement Award, that wouldn't be a popular vote type of thing.
 
Aside from that (and I might have brought this up last year), the "Abstract/Random" category needs to be split into two categories, because abstract and random are two very different things. Abstract is like an abstraction of something with actual meaning, whereas random can be totally meaningless, and "random" is also used a lot colloquially to refer to ironic humor, which is neither of those things. That can make it a real booger of a category to judge!

User awards...  well there aren't that many users these days.

It would be nice not to lose too much...last year's was so much fun, and even with a large number of pages, it felt like it ended very quickly.
It didn't seem bloated at all...the extra behind the scenes stuff was so much fun (more would've been good, even...just my pov...)
Once more into the breach, eh Niceea? I'm glad you're taking it on again! It sure doesn't seem like it's been a year...probably 'cuz it HASN'T.     
X-D

The Awards were two months late last year. I'm just returning them to the usual. I don't want to cut out a ton of categories either, but with there being a less user presence on the site, I don't want to have a mess of categories and not enough judges or presenters. I ran myself ragged last year trying to get people organized. I learned from mistakes and I am being to get a little meaner when it comes to volunteers signing up.
 
This year all volunteers need to supply me with a working email address that I can use to contact them when all else fails. The judges already have to supply their email to enter the judging forum, so it won't be that big of a stretch to have the presenters do the same.

I think the DD awards 2011 was handled brilliantly so i'm glad you are up for it this year again Niccea :)
 
That said, the only thing i can really complain about is that the popular comics still tend to "spam" the contest with being nominated for more or less every category. I think "Death porn" got 23 nominations for example which is not surprising with it's huge and loyal following.
 
I'm not gonna lay judgement and say they are not worthy of that, absolutely not, but i would like to see more variety in the nominated categorys with perhaps setting a limit for 5 or 10 nominations for each comic. One of the main reasons i love the DD awards is because it makes me discover new comics i have not found, and this rule would potentially mean we'd get to see OTHER comics than the same ones over and over which can get tiresome.
 
As an example i used before,  if the acadamy awards did the same thing with their nominations the "twilight" movies would be in every category. :)

VegaX [..] wrote:
I think the DD awards 2011 was handled brilliantly so i'm glad you are up for it this year again Niccea :)
 
That said, the only thing i can really complain about is that the popular comics still tend to "spam" the contest with being nominated for more or less every category. I think "Death porn" got 23 nominations for example which is not surprising with it's huge and loyal following.
 
I'm not gonna lay judgement and say they are not worthy of that, absolutely not, but i would like to see more variety in the nominated categorys with perhaps setting a limit for 5 or 10 nominations for each comic. One of the main reasons i love the DD awards is because it makes me discover new comics i have not found, and this rule would potentially mean we'd get to see OTHER comics than the same ones over and over which can get tiresome.
 
As an example i used before,  if the acadamy awards did the same thing with their nominations the "twilight" movies would be in every category. :)

Actually, what I did last year was not count any ballot that had the same comic in all spaces. Other than a couple of those, there wasn't a lot of people that nominated deatj porn for all those categories in one ballot.

I think a lot of the lopsided voting might have been related to the site not being settled yet, so I doubt I'll get anything like the number of noms I did last year. However, in the case that I do get nominated for a category that I think I shouldn't be in, I should probably just forfeit my spot so somebody else can take it. Not only would that make more spots available for other comics, but it would make my life easier as far as doing acceptance speeches... for categories I don't end up winning, if last year is any indicator! :P

Perhaps the categories could be more defined, it may help voters vote appropriately, or at least make it more clear as to whether comics are appropriate for the category so if they don't fit it is easier to remove them.
Also I think more promotion in the run up to the awards would be good, especially if we can get creators campaigning for awards.  It may mean popular comics get a lot of votes but if creators are suggesting categories they feel the comic fits then it may help reduce the spamming effect.  Perhaps even create a awards campaigning do and don't thread...  I dunno.
I don't think you can stop spam voting trying some measure of control is the only way I can see.  
As for categories, I think action and adventure could be merged.

Action and adventure are different things though. Adventure comics involve some sort of epic quest, or journey, like LOTR, but they don't necessarily need to be action-packed. They're more story-based and character-based. An action comic need not have any story whatsoever.

Arguably, you could very nearly merge Adventure into a Best Fantasy/Adventure category, but then that would exclude adventure comics that have a more mundane setting... though I can't think of any of those off the top of my head...

I get what you're saying, and I agree that merging fantasy and adventure would be bad... but action and adventure can blend.  It could be seperated into  best action/adventure comic and a seperate one for best action/fight scenes,  that way people are judging for it's action and not other elements.  
Just throwing that out there.

In regards to best photo comic or best use of black and white, part of the answer is in how they are grouped.  best use of black and white is listed as a technical award, therefore we're judging just that aspect.  Where as best photo and best 3D are best comics which use that medium. This is part of my suggestion about best action being moved to technical awards and making best adventure best action and adventure.

How is 3D a genre then? It's a medium, not a genre. That should be a technical award. Photo comics too. The other genre awards are irrespective of medium.

Don't ask me, I'm just going with how they are categorised.  the same goes for stick figure and sprite too.
Although they are called genre/style awards...

I can kina see making a new partg of the technical awards just for style therefore splitting the genre/style into Genre and style or medium. It would be good to reduce the ammount of user awards but I don't know how an achievement award would be selected other than popular vote.

I like the idea of regrouping and putting style/medium in a different group from Genre.
I'm kinda conflicted on Action/Adventure, but at the moment, I think they're better served as separate categories, even with a best action scene under technical awards.
The User Awards... I can see the pros and cons of keeping those.  But I don't think those are judged, so having those categories only impacts presenters, rather than judges.
I really don't have any good thoughts on how to trim things down.  There are an awful lot of awards, but I can see a reason for most (if not all) of them.  At the most maybe not judging anything that only ends up with 2-3 nominees that have more than X votes (how much X is, I've no clue), and letting those win by popular vote?  Hardly a good idea, but it's the only one I've got.
Unfortunately, with the DD awards back to summer, I won't be as available to help, especially in July and early August.

The Good/Bad Guy/Girl tended to have the same problems as Protagonist/Antagonist, maybe change it to best main character and best main adversary?
and how about introducing a worst comic category so I can win something!

Tom, as bad as you think your comics are (they aren't) thereare ones i think are far far far worse.  Perhaps Bravo and caal me tom should have a fight over who makes worse comics as they are both convinced they make shit.  Actually I've just convinced myself that a worst comic category could work.

One of the fell I can see getting rid of though won't if there is a chorus of boos. Is the Most Deliciously Offensive. The reasoning comes mainly because a lot the offensive ones are adult comics anyways and both categories had similar nominees.

hmmm, I duuno.  Adult usually means porn to most people, deliciously offensive often leans to humour (at least in my eyes.)

I could see how that one can go either way. On the one hand, the comics that MDO covers all fall into other categories (funny offensive comics fall under Humor, gross-out offensive comics might fall under Horror or Adult, etc.), but on the other hand I do think comics that test boundaries and force readers to step outside their comfort zones do deserve special recognition. Personally, I think it's worth keeping.
 
Honestly, I don't see any Genre categories worth getting rid of. Some suggestions I can think of for reducing the number of awards:
 
** Get rid of the User rewards. You could maybe replace them with two general honorary achievement awards, one for a highly accomplished artist and one for an accomplished community member, but personally, I wouldn't miss them if they were done away with entirely. I think we did get rid of them in the 2010 awards? Can't remember, but I think so.
 
** Eliminate Best Couple/Duo and instead people have the ability to vote for groups as Best Protagonist/Antagonist. Also, Best Supporting Character... I like that one personally, but I'm not sure it's such a big honor. The Awards could probably do with or without that one.
 
** Best Use of Color and Best Use of B&W could be eliminated and replaced with a single generalized Best Art or Best Visuals category. Best Background Art is another category I like, but that I don't believe generates enough excitement that it really needs to be included, if we absolutely have to cut something.

Keeping an open mind. I made sure there was plenty of time to get te categories down just in case. I will also make a new "For you Consideration" tread so people can prote their kccomics. It seemed to work pretty well last year. And yes Cid, I also considered couple duo on the cuting block.
 
Also, Water Rat, thanks for tye heads up. we would appreciate any help you are able to give.

Genejoke [..] wrote:
Perhaps Bravo and call me tom should have a fight over who makes worse comics as they are both convinced they make shit.

 
You know I'd win, my comic has no boobes in it! ;)

The next post contains the edits to the categories.
* Category with a new name
** New category

GENRE AWARDS 
 
 
**Best Abstract Comic: 
Needs Discription 
 
 
***Best Random Comic:
Needs Discription 
  
Best Adventure Comic:
Quests, missions, explorations, and/or other dangerous or exciting ventures. 
   
Best Adult-oriented Comic:
A-rated comics. XXX No one under 18 admitted! Live nudes! Or excessive violence. Or both!
 
Best All Ages Comic:
Child-friendly comics that the whole family can enjoy.
 
Best Anthropomorphic Comic:
They act like people and think like people, but they look like foxes or dolphins or toasters.
 
Best Community Project:
Comics and projects that bring together a variety of DD members for
massive synergy! (DD Awards are not eligible, for giving ourselves an
award would create a paradox vortex from which there is no escape.)

 
Best Fantasy Comic:
Magical, mythical, mystical, marvelous. Comics set in fantastical
settings, involving magic or mythical creatures, abilities, or beings.
 
Best Horror Comic:
The dark, scary, and twisted. Monsters, psychological thrillers, and
 ax-wielding psychos all have their place among these wonderfully
horrific comics.
 
Best Humor Comic:
Gags, jokes, lols, roflmaos, and such. Format and subject matter aren't important. It just has to make you laugh. 
  
Best Mystery/Crime/Noir:
Crime drama, police, mobsters, mysteries, hard-boiled detectives, and/or meddling kids. 
  
Best Parody/Tribute:
Comics that use the characters, worlds, or creations of other creators. It's not copyright infringement! It's an homage! 
  
Best Philosophical/Political Comic:
Make-you-think comics that address deep topics from the spiritual and philosophical to the cultural or political. 
 
Best Romance Comic:
Girl/boy, boy/boy, girl/girl, girl/girl/boy, man/alien, or whatever.
 It's all about LOVE! Love love love love love love love love. Maybe
some hate too, and some other things, but romantic relationship(s) take
center stage.
 
Best Sci-fi Comic:
A form of speculative fiction so named because the fantastical
elements are rooted in or explained by actual or fictional scientific
theory.
 
 
Best Slice-of-life/Autobiographical Comic:
Autobiographical comics as well as fictional comics that revolve
around the struggles and triumphs of everyday life. Sitcoms and/or
melodrama.
 
Best Superhero Comic:
Too super for other categories. 
 
 
~~~~~ 
 
 
STYLE AWARDS 
 
3D/Poser: 
Comics that make use of the THIRD DIMENSION (oo, ah) or appear to.
 
*Best Action Within A Comic  :
Chase scenes, fights, big explosions; CRASH POW ZOOM -- you know the stuff
 
Best Manga Style Comic:
Comics inspired by the artistic style and conventions of Japanese cartooning.
   
Best Photo Comic:
Smile! You're on Comic Camera!
 
Best Pixel/Sprite/Stock Image Comic:
These comics take existing (or created) sprites/images and assemble them in different ways to create new strips/pages.
 
 
Best Stick Figure or Simplified Art Comic:
o.o  ^_^
 
Most Deliciously Offensive:
These f&%#@ comics might p^@(# you the f*^^@* off.
 
~~~~~
 
TECHNICAL AWARDS
 
Best Background Art:
The background, setting, environment, and surroundings. Including architecture, scenery, furniture, vehicles, etc.
 
Best Character Design:
The artistic design of the characters. This includes anatomy, facial
 expressions, and clothing (but not speech, mannerisms, or
personality/actions).
 
Best Comic Layouts:
The components of visual storytelling that harmonize the artwork
into a page and direct flow and pacing. Includes panel shape and
position, placement of speech balloons, lettering, and general
readability.
 
Best Dialogue:
It's all about what they say and how they say it.
 
Best Plot Development:
The overall story composition and pacing, and the use of storytelling elements.
 
**Best Use of Medium: 
Whether the comic is in black and white or full color, the author does a good job at using it.
 
Most Improved Art:
The comic that shows the most artistic improvement between July 2011 and now.
 
~~~~~
 
CHARACTER AWARDS
 
*Best Protagonist:
Contrary to popular belief, the protagonist is the main character of the story whether they are good or evil.
 
*Best Antagonist:
Opposes
the protagonist. Doesn't necesarily have to be evil
incarnate, it could be Superman in a comic about Lex Luthor for example.
 
Best Supporting Character:
A noteworthy secondary character; can be good, bad, or other.

 
~~~~~
 
USER AWARDS
 
**Outstanding Achievement Within the Community:
The user that will win this award is always there to particpate in the community no matter what. These people show their support for the site within the forums and by participating in community projects.
 
 
**Most Dedicated Creator:
That creator who seems to be a page-making machine, every day on
time -- or maybe the one who has been at it forever and has a thousand
pages of the most amazing quality -- or the one who is updating five
different regular comics on a schedule. Whatever they are doing, they
sure are DEDICATED.

 
~~~~~
 
THE BIG ONES
 
Best Completed Comic:
Comics that were concluded sometime between July 2011 and now. (Indefinite hiatus doesn't count.)
 
Best Overall Comic Strip:
Best webcomic with stand-alone updates or short, unrelated story arcs, usually in a horizontal or vertical strip format.
 
Best Overall Story Comic:
Best webcomic that tells a continuous story, usually in full page format.

Most Improved Art: The comic that shows the most artistic improvement between July 2010 and now. 

shouldn't that be 2011?

Crud. I got the date changed for completed but not for that one. Fixed.

Please continue "Most supportive reader".  What would this site be without readers?
 
Somebody who comments and makes you feel like you're doing something right?  well, we can't give them gold, just a duck award.