I just hope they don't rush their GOTY pick this year, as they did last time around. It doesn't need to come out in 2017 - it doesn't even need to be in January of next year. Give the Allies time to play the games, and make an informed decision afterwards.
My preferred format would be: 12/12 - the long list. The reason for this cut off is that it puts it before the winter break, but late enough that the vast majority of 2017's games are covered. The last of the really big hitters - Xenoblade Chronicles 2 - comes out 01/12. I wouldn't be against the lock being at 01/12 either, honestly.
Allies each submit their favourite game from the last 12 months, blind. If there are multiple picks for the same game, so be it. There are 8/9 Allies involved in this (depending on whether Don wants to / has time to be involved), so this should probably narrow down to a long-list of 5 maximum. I'd imagine there'll be multiple picks for Super Mario Odyssey, Zelda and perhaps Persona, with maybe a left of field pick from Ian, Ben or Don. Making it a blind pick though means that Allies will only submit what they truly believe to be the best game of the year - they can't go with a left-of-field pick just because, because it means their actual favourite game may not make the long-list. The long-list is then discussed, this could maybe take the place of a regular Tuesday Twitch stream. This is the opportunity to bring up games that came close in their minds, why they didn't pick that game over their long-list pick, and as well justify their long-list pick to the others.
Over the winter break, Allies would then be able to put some hours into the games on the long-list, or revisit them. Knowing which games are in the discussion beforehand means that there is no excuse for Allies going into the final GOTY discussion uninformed. It would be a huge shame if Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is legitimately fantastic, but only Ben can make the case for it, due to him being the only one having played it. It becomes not a discussion, but a speech - which while nice, isn't conducive to finding the 'best' game. I'm not saying Allies have to fully play through every game on the long list, but at least give them a try, or look through some reviews on other outlets - what were the criticisms? Were they justified? This second GOTY discussion, discussing purely the long-list, and with blind voting at the end using a '3 points to top pick, 2 for 2nd, 1 for third' based system, would come in January of February. The discussion would be better, more informed, more authoritative, and perhaps even slightly more evergreen (if the common criticisms couldn't be levied against it).
This is probably a fever dream, but hey.
Onto something completely different - who's reviewing COD: WWII?
