Carcassonne Central
Carc Central Community => General => Topic started by: Allan in Brisbane on January 09, 2015, 06:24:01 PM
-
Carcassonne is one of few games that encourages "Table Talk" - discussing places for tiles, making suggestions which can be both helpful and misleading, initiating alliances.
Since we are still learning there is a lot of discussion at our games (we play as a family of four, sometimes 5 - less often 2-3 players).
But now we are getting to the point where we don't want as much discussion because one player is revealing a strategy or a moves that the one placing the tile has not seen.
So effectively each turn becomes trying to outwit the combined thoughts of 2 or 3 others.
Is there a time when you decide not to have discussions?
Are there any "unwritten rules"?
Perhaps the number of people in the game - 4-5 players - is the cause?
I'd be really interested to hear how others treat the rule that "Discussion is Encouraged".
-
Most of the players in my group play close to the vest, not wanting to reveal the tile they have until they have scoured the board for a fit. Sometimes they will relent especially if it's late in the game and ask for suggestions. We rarely play 2 player at home. Usually 3 or more.
Table talk usually does occur when someone takes the exact spot that another player was going to use. Or blocks the spot inadvertantly by placing a tile adjacent to it. We've had some heated "table talk". :D
-
Table talk usually does occur when someone takes the exact spot that another player was going to use. Or blocks the spot inadvertantly by placing a tile adjacent to it. We've had some heated "table talk". :D
I play 95% of the time with two players, and so you can usually replace that "inadvertently" with "intentionally" >:D
In all seriousness though, there's not much table talk about the actual game. Talking about work and other stuff, mostly. Certainly not much in the way of suggestions about where the opponent should place the tile, except for obviously sarcastic, self-serving suggestions!
-
I'm a big fan of talking through strategy. It depends on who I'm playing of course, but I'd hate to win a game because I saw my opponent make a silly move. Often at times we'll then talk through some of the options available. It normally means they offer the same courtesy when I make a daft move. But these are friendly/family/non-serious games, so you wont see me do it when the league starts ;)
-
Yes, usually when a family member makes a play but misses an opportunity for a really good placement, I can't help myself and I say something like "Oooh, I know a really good spot for that one." I usually only do that if it helps them against me, otherwise other players get upset. But I can't help coaching. :D
-
I regularly talk through the game, give suggestions both helpful and unhelpful. I find it adds to the fun, couldn't imagine playing the game in silence.
-
Yes, usually when a family member makes a play but misses an opportunity for a really good placement, I can't help myself and I say something like "Oooh, I know a really good spot for that one." I usually only do that if it helps them against me, otherwise other players get upset. But I can't help coaching. :D
I'd love to get some coaching from some of the players on this site.
I don't suppose and of you live in Brisbane?
You should all know where that is - we showed the world how to host an "Incident Free G20".
But for those of you who were too busy playing Carcassonne to watch the news - Brisbane is the capital of Queensland, a state in Australia.
-
Hold on, I'll be right over. :D
-
When I play against my wife I will be fairly open and honest if she asks for advice. Sometimes I'll even point out things I'm trying to do so that she can try to stop me (causing me to think in new and different ways in the process), or will question certain placements if it looks like she's going to make a mistake, offer alternatives etc. She's a strong player, but isn't as familiar with the expansions as I am hence why I'm always willing to help if it comes to it. If I won all the time we'd end up playing a lot less than we already do after all. Winter Edition with Gingerbread Man can be pretty cut-throat though!
I haven't played a game with my Carcassonne crew for a while now, but when we did there was one player (out of 4 of us) who was always the first to explode with "Don't put that there! You need to block Dan/ Edd/ Michael here or he'll claim the farm for himself!" It doesn't feel entirely fair, friendly or fun when one person seems to dominate like that and wants to take everyone else's moves for them but sometimes the competitiveness is hard to contain. Sometimes the online games can feel similar but on a much lesser scale, and it's often the case that Rosco will try to badger everyone else into placing tiles he needs in his favour for no reason other than that "it's the right thing to do" (apparently). :)) :(y)
When I played in the UK championships last year, the atmosphere really varied during games. The first one wasn't nice at all and one player got cross on several occasions because another, less-experienced player made a comment that benefitted me and not her or the other player. She also got cross when he told us how many tiles were left in the bag. In another game all 4 of us ended up having an equal share in a large but uncompleteable city and another player was fairly vocal about how we should keep things friendly and leave it at that. So we did for a while, until another player took control of it and the rest of us lost out. Generally I think it's better to keep quiet and concentrate on the game when it's being taken seriously...
-
Yes, usually when a family member makes a play but misses an opportunity for a really good placement, I can't help myself and I say something like "Oooh, I know a really good spot for that one." I usually only do that if it helps them against me, otherwise other players get upset. But I can't help coaching. :D
The same is valid for me too. I also try to help the others, but always try to be neutral. Same time we have very vivid discusions and I have the impression, that we are playing Risk instead of Carcassonne. ;)
-
I always place "tile up", as in you show the tile you've drawn - there's not really any need to conceal it from your opponents as they can't play it... In fact, if you're being super-sneaky, you can watch where their eyes wander too if there's somewhere they really don't want you to put it.
I mostly play 2-player, so it's more banter than discussion about the tile placement.
When playing with newbies, I'll always be helpful (even to my detriment) as you want to make sure they enjoy their experience so you can whup their asses later.