Messages

31

Official Rules / Re: Farmers, Pigs, and Barns

« on: September 30, 2021, 10:24:05 PM »

Indeed. Expansion 5 is very powerful at all and adding a lot of new meeples and figures can overwrite whole strategy [...] It's pity that they add a lot of things to this one expansion. For this I like more expansions like 3 Princess and Dragon or 9 Sheep and Hills or 10 Big Top. Those expansions are more balanced.

I don't have experience with 3 or 9 but I agree that 5 and 10 add a lot of elements. And I agree that - those I have experience of at least - can lead to significant changes of strategy:
Barn - as has been described elevates the importance of farms even more
Ringmaster - is a high scoring meeple  and one that I try to cycle into play as often as possible; much like the Builder from 2

I'm guessing that the 'lead characters' from 3 and 9 don't have such a pronounced impact because they are tied to tiles with the appropriate symbols coming out? (This from memory, I think this is possibly why I chose not to include them in my collection; because there is more tile draw luck in scoring in these?)

In summary (of a point I probably haven't made yet!) I don't think that any of the expansions are more or less balanced, in that all change play style to make the best of what they offer. But some are definitely more significant in their effect. As to curating my games, in general I treat each expansion as a collection of modules and add those modules individually rather than considering each expansion as something that needs to be added whole. For example I have never played with the Wagon from 5 and earlier this week played a game of Base + River + Spiel 2020 + Abbey & Mayor landscape tiles + Mayor. (We also added 3 Abbeys; 2 for my youngest daughter, 1 for my eldest and 0 for me. )

Anyway, not sure I have added much but it is fun to talk Carcassonne with you all.

32

General / Re: Pre-orders for Carcassonne 20th Anniversary UK

« on: August 08, 2021, 04:23:19 PM »

thinking of selling all my tiles

All of them?
Or just those from the 20th anniversary edition?
Or ... ?

33

News and Events / Re: Carcassonne Central is back!

« on: July 26, 2021, 04:09:42 PM »

PS

The only reason I've put quotes around 'race' is because it is a term without useful scientific meaning - I think "appearance" would perhaps be a better word but that is a whole other conversation - but I've used it because it is a widely understood expression.

Also, whilst I'm quoting Drodo to present a (strongly) opposing view on the subject of diversity representation in games, I have no motivation to insult them personally.

34

News and Events / Re: Carcassonne Central is back!

« on: July 26, 2021, 04:02:39 PM »

They're *cavemen*. The game is about a single prehistoric tribe trying to survive during the ice age and it has mammoths and wolves, which means it's a tribe of NORTHERN cavemen in Eurasia or America.

They are cavemen. So the earlier part of the paleolithic (2.5 million to 10,000 BCE) era.
They could indeed be any of the Homo Sapien 'races' you describe or indeed of African or Middle Eastern appearance (as someone else points out) or Neanderthal because the Paleolithic period covers everything from pre Sapien species to the geographical and 'racial' diversity of Sapiens in the more recent part of that era. I agree that, on balance, it is likely that the members of any one given tribe would likely be more homogenous than most modern societies.

However, I suggest we throw all the above aside because this is a game and not a simulation. Despite the apparent cogence of the argument that the tribe in the game should be homogenous because "mammoths, wolves, cavemen, tribes etc" even the briefest look at the rulebook reveals the presence of a dodo in the game. Dodos were endemic to Madagascar. No ifs or buts. So the game is set on Madagascar. With mammoths. And wolves.
I think it's clear that the internal logic of the game isn't a good foundation for any argument on how the 'race' of the cavemen should be portrayed.

But that (all the obvious contradictions and inconsistencies) is fine. Because it is a game. And sure, if we wanted to, we could have had Neanderthals or only white cavemen. Or only black ones. If we wanted to.

But we don't want to. We want to play games in which we are represented. (Not just white us, all of us.) We are diverse.

Games that don't have specific geographic or cultural reasons for representing a single 'racial' type have no good reason to do so. Because they are games. And because they are for all of us. I think it is clear that a game set somewhere in a period of around 2 million years on any of three continents really isn't specific by any measure. So - unless there is an underlying prejudice - we should not default to a homogenous white tribe/people/citizenry but instead to a diverse 'multi-racial' cast that reflects us.

35

Official Rules / Re: Question about City gates and builder

« on: May 25, 2021, 11:03:56 AM »

Thank you!

36

Official Rules / Re: Question about City gates and builder

« on: May 25, 2021, 11:01:20 AM »

What expansion includes "city gates"?

37

General / Re: Where are you most active online?

« on: May 25, 2021, 10:37:04 AM »

We interacted briefly on BGG when you replied to my first blog post with very helpful comments.

I had to go back to BGG and search for your username and figure out what that interaction was. But, when I did find you and then your post, I immediately remembered our Omnipotent Abbot discussion!

Honestly getting any reply at all was very encouraging and motivated me to make later posts better.  I just saw your name pop up here recently.

Yes, I've been away from Carcassonne Central more than I've been present recently. Mostly exploring other games and developing new minor obsessions in the wider world of games on BGG.

But I don't usually get many interesting or helpful comments there.

Yes, the BGG discussion around Carcassonne - in forums and in most blog posts - is usually much less interesting than here. Although I do enjoy helping people there - I regularly refer BGG people (and Reddit users for that matter) to WikiCarpedia and Carcassonne Central.

I love the BGG blog feature as a way to document my favorite Carc variant ideas.

And I'm still reading them.

CarcC has a core group of very knowledgeable, creative, and highly engaged users who post and provide great comments

Absolutely, which is one of the many reasons why I'll always be back. I've deliberately restricted my collection but will still be interested in minor additions and tweaks in future. And I like that coming here gives such expert insight on the latest mini expansions, sourcing components etc. (In my Carcassonne dreams there'll be a C2 reissue of Beseigers and I'd pick it up in person as part of a broader gaming visit to Essen and of course pick up that year's Spiele tile at the same time.)

38

General / Re: Where are you most active online?

« on: May 24, 2021, 05:58:37 AM »

Poll amended to include all Carcassonne centric sites

39

General / Where are you most active online?

« on: May 24, 2021, 04:49:34 AM »

I'm curious as to how other Carcassonne Central members divide their time between here and BoardGameGeek.

I'm interested partly to know how likely I am to bump into you over on BGG (I've bumped into a few already) and partly because I'm assuming it'll reflect how central Carcassonne is to your playing/collecting - I'm guessing some are Carcassonne players/collectors only and for some (like myself) Carcassonne is one game in a wider collection.

Clarification
When considering time spent on BGG, it doesn't have to be Carcassonne related.

Edit poll amended to include all Carcassonne centric sites

40

Leagues (including expansion leagues) / Re: 2021 Basegame round 1

« on: March 28, 2021, 12:56:27 PM »

Round 1 result

1st game - cicerunner went first


2nd game - Allograft went first

41

News and Events / Re: Announcement from Hans Im Gluck

« on: March 26, 2021, 01:26:12 AM »

So, to clarify, this is your translation of the Czech rules and you posted this image just to Facebook and Twitter?

42

News and Events / Re: Announcement from Hans Im Gluck

« on: March 26, 2021, 01:20:20 AM »

Glad I added that at the bottom, in case people started copying it and posting it on their own social media platforms.

Ah hah!

What on earth is reddit, looking at the comments they're a grumpy lot.

You're not wrong!

Still we know everything in this image, so didn't bother posting it here. Is on our twitter thing and maybe the facebooks

I don't know everything. Perhaps it's buried in this thread somewhere? This image seems to concisely sum up all that is currently known.

For interest, what is the source?

43

News and Events / Re: Announcement from Hans Im Gluck

« on: March 26, 2021, 12:47:45 AM »

I stumbled upon this on Reddit

https://www.reddit.com/r/Carcassonne/comments/md5j2r/a_leak_on_the_20th_anniversary_rules_and_tiles/

It seems odd that the rules image has "continue the conversation at CarcassonneCentral" on it but I have yet to see it here. Unless I missed it somewhere?

Here's the image:

44

General / Re: BGG post - known tile error in 2014 edition ?

« on: March 22, 2021, 11:32:15 PM »

Thanks.

45

Leagues (including expansion leagues) / Re: The Basegame (Double) League

« on: March 22, 2021, 11:30:17 PM »

Hi all, I've published the first round.

Published it where?
Can you share a link?