The Second Annual Game Developers Choice Online Awards Nominees are.... *drum roll sound effect*

The Game Developers Choice Awards nominees where announced today.  Organized by UBM TechWeb Game Network these awards are go to the most persistent online games ranging from mmo's to social network games and others.


With 4 nominations Three Rings Design's co-op rpg Spiral Knights leads the list. Followed closely by Trion World's Rift and Zynga's Frontierville and Lolapps Ravenwood Fair each receiving 3 nominations.  These games really show the variety of quality online games that are being produced.

The two top categories are Best Live Game and Best New Online Game.  These categories are also seeing a good amount of diversity with games like World of Warcraft going head to head against games like Mind Candy's Moshi Monsters and Kingisle's Wizard101 in Best Live Game.  Best New Online Game is also seeing new types of entries from the social networking platform like Playdom's Garden of Time. 


The event will be hosted by industry veteran Mike Goslin of Mindspark Interactive Network for this "for the developers, by the developers" ceremony.  One of the big categories too keep a eye on this year will be the Online Innovation Award, its a new category with names that have provided some great new gameplay concepts.

Here is the complete list of categories and nominees:

BEST ONLINE VISUAL ARTS
·         DC Universe Online (Sony Online Entertainment)
·         Rift (Trion Worlds)
·         Spiral Knights (Three Rings Design/Sega)
·         Dragons of Atlantis (Kabam)
·         Vindictus (Nexon)

BEST SOCIAL NETWORK GAME
·         CityVille (Zynga)
·         Gardens of Time (Playdom)
·         Dragons of Atlantis (Kabam)
·         FrontierVille (Zynga)
·         Ravenwood Fair (Lolapps)

BEST ONLINE GAME DESIGN
·         Ravenwood Fair (Lolapps)
·         Pocket Frogs (NimbleBit)
·         Zuma Blitz (PopCap)
·         Spiral Knights (Three Rings Design/Sega)
·         FrontierVille (Zynga)

ONLINE INNOVATION (New Award Category)
·         Dragon Age Legends (EA2D)
·         Shadow Cities (Grey Area)
·         Empire Avenue (Empire Avenue)
·         Pocket Frogs (NimbleBit)
·         Zombie Lane (Digital Chocolate)

BEST ONLINE TECHNOLOGY
·         World of Tanks (Wargaming)
·         CityVille (Zynga)
·         DC Universe Online (Sony Online Entertainment)
·         Rift (Trion Worlds)
·         LEGO Universe Online (The LEGO Group/Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment)

BEST COMMUNITY RELATIONS
·         Wizard101 (KingsIsle Entertainment)
·         World of Tanks (Wargaming)
·         Minecraft (Mojang)
·         EA Sports FIFA Superstars (Playfish/EA)
·         World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment)

BEST AUDIO for an ONLINE GAME
·         Clone Wars Adventures (Sony Online Entertainment)
·         Spiral Knights (Three Rings Design/Sega)
·         Ravenwood Fair (Lolapps)
·         FrontierVille (Zynga)
·         Dragon Age Legends (EA2D)

BEST NEW ONLINE GAME
·         Rift (Trion Worlds)
·         Gardens of Time (Playdom)
·         Vindictus (Nexon)
·         Spiral Knights (Three Rings Design/Sega)
·         Monster Galaxy (Gaia Online)

BEST LIVE GAME
·         Wizard101 (KingsIsle Entertainment)
·         Moshi Monsters (Mind Candy)
·         League of Legends (Riot Games)
·         World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment)
·         Minecraft (Mojang)