Carcassonne Central

Carc Central Community => Online Games and Competitions => Leagues (including expansion leagues) => Topic started by: danisthirty on May 20, 2016, 12:27:45 PM

Title: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: danisthirty on May 20, 2016, 12:27:45 PM
It's time. Carcassonne Central's next online Expansion League is here, and this time it's personal...

Like it or loathe it, Carcassonne's 4th major expansion – The Tower – is a huge game changer, so this league is certain to be a challenge for even the most seasoned Carcassonne veterans among us: "Wait, I thought I'd already claimed that field?" "Yeah, you had, but I captured your farmer and then claimed it for myself two turns ago." Your powers of concentration are going to be taken to the next level in this one so keep an eye of everything!

All matches will be base game + Tower expansion only (total of 90 tiles including classic start tile) so be prepared for there to be towers aplenty as one in five tiles will include a tower foundation.

There will be a maximum of 24 places available which will mean that all players get 8 games (Round 1: 4 groups of 6, Round 2: 6 groups of 4). But if we haven't had 24 competitors sign up by the 29th May then the tournament may continue with fewer players. Intended start date is Wednesday the 1st of June and I'm hopeful that it will be complete before the end of July, eight and a half weeks later.

Please confirm that you have read our Code of Conduct (http://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=2700) before signing up to take part, to ensure that you have a proper idea of what is expected of you individually in order for this competition to be successful and enjoyable for everyone. I will publish a breakdown of the tournament rules at some point next week, but these will be largely similar to all previous Expansion League competitions so most of our regular players will be familiar with these already.

Good luck everyone, let's have a blast! :) :(y)
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: Decar on May 20, 2016, 12:44:47 PM
Me!
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: Halfling on May 20, 2016, 12:52:13 PM
I'm in.
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: ny1050220 on May 20, 2016, 12:53:03 PM
And me! :)
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: Jéré on May 20, 2016, 01:01:05 PM
I have read the code of conduct and I am ready to suffer!
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: MrNumbers on May 20, 2016, 01:11:14 PM
Do they come in threes (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_three_(writing))? A least it's worth trying to get another title ::) :))
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: jungleboy on May 20, 2016, 01:28:04 PM
Hi all,

Unfortunately, I won't be taking part in this one, for two reasons.

Firstly, I will be in Brazil from July 15 - August 22 with no availability during this period, so given the timeframe Dan laid out, I can't commit to being available for the whole tournament.

Secondly, while farin has done a super job with JCZ and his great work has led to the existence of these tournaments in the first place in and helping make CC a better community, I really struggle with the Tower on JCZ. Basically every time I play with it, at one or more points during the game I fail to see that my opponent has extended the range of the tower and/or kidnapped one of my meeples. My opponents never seem to have this problem though! Maybe it's just a concentration thing on my part, but I don't think I can 'play my best' using the Tower using a computer version of the expansion and it ends up being frustrating for me. I really need the physical game to be able to know what is happening. Again, maybe this is just me.

So, enjoy the tournament everyone and may the best knight/thief/monk/farmer win! And at least my ELO can't go down!  :(y)
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: Rich_The_Fish on May 20, 2016, 01:32:02 PM
I'm up for it too, so count me in (I've read the code of conduct btw).

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: Chuck on May 20, 2016, 01:45:54 PM
Count me in!
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: danisthirty on May 20, 2016, 01:47:51 PM
It's great to see that so many people have signed up already, and a shame to see that jungleboy isn't going to be around for this one. Huge respect for your reasons for giving it a miss though. Losing is one thing, but losing because of a personal incompatibility with the UI is something else entirely. You will be missed Nick! :(

I'm also in by the way, and I've read the code of conduct many times over... O:-)

Players so far:
  • Decar
  • Halfling
  • ny1050220
  • Jéré
  • MrNumbers
  • Rich_The_Fish
  • Chuck
  • danisthirty
  • Leven
  • Hounk
  • Valheru
  • Andrew the Ambo
  • Merlin_89
  • zone2
  • jma03
  • Chooselife
  • khalidqasrawi
  • Rosco
  • rfielder
  • monwil
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: Leven on May 20, 2016, 02:32:02 PM
I'm in.  :(y)
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: Hounk on May 20, 2016, 02:52:12 PM
Me, too. :(y)
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: Valheru on May 20, 2016, 05:28:36 PM
'A well-ordered life is like climbing a tower; the view halfway up is better than the view from the base, and it steadily becomes finer as the horizon expands.'
-William Lyon Phelps

This will be mayhem as some point but count me in! The higher, the better  O0
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: danisthirty on May 21, 2016, 01:32:02 AM
'A well-ordered life is like climbing a tower; the view halfway up is better than the view from the base, and it steadily becomes finer as the horizon expands.'
-William Lyon Phelps

 :(y)

Welcome aboard Leven, Hounk and Valheru! :)
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: Andrew the Ambo on May 21, 2016, 04:16:19 AM
I'm in. Being winter here, I will be more available at weekends  whether morning our night to play my games against those in Europe.

Sent from my ASUS_Z00AD using Tapatalk

Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: Merlin_89 on May 21, 2016, 06:46:08 AM
No hesitation. I'm in!
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: Clownfeet on May 21, 2016, 11:44:40 AM
can i join this if i'm also participating in the welcome tournament as well???
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: danisthirty on May 21, 2016, 11:56:00 AM
can i join this if i'm also participating in the welcome tournament as well???

Probably best if we see whether we reach 24 participants by the end of the month. If not then there may be a place for you, but I would recommend sticking to one tournament at a time, especially if you haven't taken part in any previously.
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: Jéré on May 21, 2016, 11:59:29 AM
can i join this if i'm also participating in the welcome tournament as well???

I think you should choose.

You could join the Welcome tournament to see if you like playing online with JCZ or skip the intro and go straight to the regular league.

Tower league will be a bit stricter regarding frequency of playing (2 games per week) so if you join another tournament and have to play more games during the same period you might put yourself in a difficult situation.
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: zone2 on May 21, 2016, 12:18:51 PM
I'm in. :blue-meeple:
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: jma03 on May 21, 2016, 04:59:43 PM
Come on!!!
I'm in.
  :(y)
Title: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: Jéré on May 22, 2016, 12:41:28 PM
I'll be in a different time zone for the first 2 weeks:  UTC/GMT +3 hours (2h ahead of UK, 1h ahead of Central Europe, same as Latvia)
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: danisthirty on May 22, 2016, 01:25:07 PM
Welcome back zone2 and jma03! We have now reached 15 competitors which means there are 9 places left... :o
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: Carcking on May 22, 2016, 07:09:48 PM
I am out Dan. I have too much going on in the summer time and it is very difficult to be available. Good luck to all! It's sure to be a challenge!
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: Chooselife on May 23, 2016, 06:27:36 AM
I'm IN!!!!!!!
Thank you Jeré for the reminder PM.
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: khalidqasrawi on May 23, 2016, 08:47:21 AM
I'm in too please and also thank Jéré for drawing this to my attention.

kq  :red-meeple:
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: Rosco on May 23, 2016, 09:10:59 AM
Count me in

Sent from my SM-G800F using Tapatalk

Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: kettlefish on May 23, 2016, 11:38:18 AM
This time I don't play in the league, but I am helping with the x-score lists. That means you will see me in the chatroom here and there...
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: danisthirty on May 23, 2016, 12:17:55 PM
I am out Dan. I have too much going on in the summer time and it is very difficult to be available. Good luck to all! It's sure to be a challenge!

Sorry to hear this Chuck. I hope you have a nice summer without the added pressure of a Carcassonne tournament to contend with/ in.

I'm IN!!!!!!!
Thank you Jeré for the reminder PM.

I'm in too please and also thank Jéré for drawing this to my attention.

kq  :red-meeple:

Count me in

:(y) :(y) :(y)
(and thanks Jéré for sending out PMs - please can you drop me a PM with a list of everyone you PMd so I don't end up PMing any of the same people :o)

This time I don't play in the league, but I am helping with the x-score lists. That means you will see me in the chatroom here and there...

Sorry to hear this kettlefish, but thanks for the ongoing support and for all you do to help enable this competitions to go ahead...
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: Ailurus on May 23, 2016, 01:31:16 PM
Thanks Jéré for the PM :gray-meeple:. Unfortunately, the next couple of weeks will be rather packed with other things (organizing and going to conferences, summer schools, ...) so I won't be able to join this tournament. Next time!
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: aenima on May 23, 2016, 01:57:59 PM
Same for me... thank you jere for the message, but I have to say no... not this time... and I am really sad because I really love the tower! But I prefer to say no! Too many work and I can't ensure my availability to play for the next days! Sorry! :)
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: Curt194 on May 23, 2016, 02:59:24 PM
Thanks for the PM Jéré! Unfortunately I'm not sure I can commit this time round, I don't have any free weekends for the next 5/6 weeks, and weekdays are getting quite booked up too. Hope you all have fun though! Love the tower, so it's going to be a great league for all involved!
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: rfielder on May 23, 2016, 05:19:09 PM
Jere - thanks for the PM!

Towers is not our favourite expansion.  Kind of in the same way that ice is not a driver's favourite surface....

However, we will set aside our preferences and participate, if there is still room!
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: Jéré on May 24, 2016, 02:18:59 AM

:(y) :(y) :(y)
(and thanks Jéré for sending out PMs - please can you drop me a PM with a list of everyone you PMd so I don't end up PMing any of the same people :o)

I sent you the list of all 20 people I spammed  :D
Pretty sure I missed a few due to the limit of 10 people per message.


Jere - thanks for the PM!

Towers is not our favourite expansion.  Kind of in the same way that ice is not a driver's favourite surface....

However, we will set aside our preferences and participate, if there is still room!

Great! And rest assured, I don't like the Tower either!  :-\  I anticipate a complete disaster...  ::)
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: danisthirty on May 28, 2016, 01:12:16 PM
However, we will set aside our preferences and participate, if there is still room!

Welcome aboard rfielder. Will monwil be joining you?
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: rfielder on May 28, 2016, 02:22:58 PM
Welcome aboard rfielder. Will monwil be joining you?
Yes, she will.

Thus the "we" rather than "I"   :)
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: danisthirty on May 30, 2016, 03:54:10 AM
Entries are now closed...

We have 20 competitors so the first stage will consist of 4 groups of 5. As we've done with most previous competitions, finishing positions in stage 1 will determine which group everyone joins in stage 2 such that there will then be 5 groups of 4 (everyone in each group will have finished in the same position in their initial group).

The competition will be launched on Wednesday the 1st June so please expect a detailed update before then which will include details of the initial groups.

Stay tuned!
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: jma03 on May 30, 2016, 06:40:18 AM
 :(y)
Thanks Dan
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: Decar on May 31, 2016, 10:27:56 AM
Just to let you know. I'm away from Friday for a friends stagdo this weekend and there is an ever increasing likelihood that I will be shipped abroad with work as soon as I get back on Monday.  I doubt I'll be free until next weekend.

Wednesdays and Thursdays are always terrible days for me but i dont want to hold up the tournament, so:
Once Dan has posted the groups  if anyone is free from Group this evening let me know!
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: danisthirty on May 31, 2016, 02:14:15 PM
I haven't created any new posts for posting results to yet, but the groups have been determined according to the following simple process... ;)

Firstly, I removed the 4 highest-ranking players according to Elo at the end of the Princess & Dragon league, and separated them into the 4 different groups (A – D) so that no two competitors would be in the same group (thus avoiding a “group of death” situation as far as possible). The remaining 16 names were written down on identical scraps of paper, folded up and dropped into my daughters cycling helmet. After a thorough mix around I numbered all of the bits of paper from 1 – 16 without unfolding any of them. I then unfolded everything and made a list of all names and their associated numbers which I emailed to Jere...
 
Meanwhile, it seemed appropriate to ask MrNumbers to allocate a letter (A – D) to the numbers 1 to 16 since numbers are his speciality! As requested, he split the 16 numbers evenly between the four groups and then sent his list to Jere too, the outcome of which was that he had no idea which numbers were linked to which people, and I had no idea which numbers were linked to which groups. Jere however was the only person with both sets of information so he was able to decode which players were in which groups according to the doubly-randomised information MrNumbers and I had sent to him individually. Jere then sent the group information back to me along with MrNumbers’ information to prove that he’d hadn’t made the groups up himself!
 
So after this fairly long and convoluted but impartial, fair and randomised process, I’m happy to share the initial groups for the Tower league below:
 
GROUP A
Chooselife
Decar
khalidqasrawi
Merlin_89
MrNumbers
 
GROUP B
Chuck
danisthirty
Halfling
monwil
ny1050220
 
GROUP C
Andrew the Ambo
Hounk
Leven
Rosco
zone2
 
GROUP D
Jéré
jma03
Valheru
Rich_The_Fish
rfielder

I wanted to explain this process in full detail as I think it will be used again in future and I wanted everyone to know that I try hard to keep things as fair as possible for everyone.

So for the time being, please start contacting each other and look out for the official group posts that I will start soon.
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: danisthirty on May 31, 2016, 03:24:48 PM
Group threads have now been created:

Group A (http://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=2763)
Group B (http://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=2764)
Group C (http://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=2765)
Group D (http://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=2766)

Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: Hounk on June 10, 2016, 01:16:31 PM
Hi, there are two League Games, which could be played now, monwil vs. Chuck and zone2 vs. me, but we have no host, and online server is down. Is anybody available to help out?
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: danisthirty on June 12, 2016, 02:23:19 PM
Here's an updated on progress so far...

Group A: 3 games played/ 7 remaining
Group B: finished! 8) :(y)
Group C: 8 games played/ 2 remaining
Group D: 3 games played/ 7 remaining

TOTAL: 24 games played/ 16 remaining

Well done everyone, thanks for making the effort to play all the games that have been played so far! C:-)
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: ny1050220 on June 13, 2016, 07:50:54 AM
Is Group B qualified for a prize for finishing all games so fast? ;)
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: Halfling on June 13, 2016, 01:29:18 PM
How about a 5-way game on Thursday evening for the Group B players?  Could there be a better prize?
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: Chuck on June 13, 2016, 11:45:11 PM
Sounds good, Halfling, but on Thursday evening I'll be unavailable since the Germans have a match in the Euro 2016.
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: Merlin_89 on June 14, 2016, 12:07:06 AM
POLAND-GERMANY! Can't wait for this one.
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: Halfling on June 14, 2016, 12:19:57 PM
I didn't think German fans were bothered until the knockout matches because it is obvious you will qualify from any group in any tournament?
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: Chuck on June 14, 2016, 12:34:18 PM
I didn't think German fans were bothered until the knockout matches because it is obvious you will qualify from any group in any tournament?

Well, there were times.... Was it in 2000 or 2004? We didn't qualify to the knockout stage of the tournament. But as you said, the knockout stage has to be the goal! (No pun intended).
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: Jéré on June 17, 2016, 05:53:09 AM
Is Group B qualified for a prize for finishing all games so fast? ;)

I think that the idea (http://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=2700.msg39878#msg39878) is now to impose penalties on players who fail to play 2 games per week, as they agreed to do by joining the league. In the past, incentives did not have the desired effect, unfortunately.  :(
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: ny1050220 on June 17, 2016, 11:30:25 AM
I think that the idea (http://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=2700.msg39878#msg39878) is now to impose penalties on players who fail to play 2 games per week, as they agreed to do by joining the league. In the past, incentives did not have the desired effect, unfortunately.  :(
Oh, mathematically, even if everyone plays 2 games per week, there still may be a group finishing up very fast. ;)
Aha, obviously I just wanted incentives. ::)
I like halfling's idea of a 5-way game! I hope we can make it happen, and multiple games before other groups finish are even better!
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: Jéré on June 17, 2016, 11:38:49 AM
I think that the idea (http://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=2700.msg39878#msg39878) is now to impose penalties on players who fail to play 2 games per week, as they agreed to do by joining the league. In the past, incentives did not have the desired effect, unfortunately.  :(
Oh, mathematically, even if everyone plays 2 games per week, there still may be a group finishing up very fast. ;)
Aha, obviously I just wanted incentives. ::)
I like halfling's idea of a 5-way game! I hope we can make it happen, and multiple games before other groups finish are even better!

Sure! Actually, I have no idea what Dan will do... Just trying to guess :)
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: danisthirty on June 17, 2016, 12:53:07 PM
I like halfling's idea of a 5-way game! I hope we can make it happen, and multiple games before other groups finish are even better!

I like this idea too. I'll send a PM round to see a) if everyone in our group is interested and b) when those of us who are interested are all free to play.
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: Chuck on June 17, 2016, 02:16:58 PM
I'm interested. Tower with multile opponents.... :-)
Title: Re: Expansion League #5: The Tower - SIGN UP HERE!
Post by: danisthirty on June 17, 2016, 04:31:06 PM
I'm interested. Tower with multile opponents.... :-)

PM sent! I really ought to be in bed...