The multiple expansions of Carcassonne have made it very hard to keep up with all the rules and how the different expansions interact. The CAR helps a lot. But even this document doesn’t have all the answers.
The CAR is, in my opinion, too big to be practical to use when you play the game. A lot of players are not so geeky as me, and don't sort the different expansion after each game. They play with what they have of expansions each time, and don't know in which expansion for example the Barn belongs. For a player, who don't are familiar with which element who is included in which expansion, it can be quite frustrating to find what you are looking for in the CAR.
This inspired us to make our own “rule-book” who is sorted after the different elements. As we play with some of our own and fan-made expansions, we have also included these in our “rule-book”. Over the years we have edited the “rule-book” every time we introduced a new expansion and when we discovered that some issue wasn’t addressed. We have also included our house rules for those rare instances when the CAR doesn’t provide an answer.
We have made our “rule-book” as an interlinked PDF-document, which we use on an iPad. This has made the game more enjoyable for us and it’s very rare that we have a discussion concerning the rules when we play. We just look it up.
Our “rule-book” - unfortunately in Norwegian.
Maybe it’s an idea to make a smaller version of the CAR for players who knows the basics of the game? This will not exclude the big CAR as the ultimate reference, but an interlinked small version that works on a tablet is very handy during a game.
I realise that it would be a huge task to make this, and I am unfortunately not up for the job since my English is not that good. Besides I already have this in Norwegian. But maybe someone else will be up for the task? If not, maybe this will inspire some of you to make your own “rule-book”, with the expansion you have and your own house rules.
PS: This is not intended as a criticism of the CAR. The CAR is the ultimate resource for Carcassonne and I am one of those who are really looking forward to the next version!