I'm not sure it's precisely flavour text,
I think the Abbot is a core-mini-expansion, its implementation has been put into effect in all subsequent expansions. It is core to the game play mechanically, it is ever present.
If farmers are optional the Abbey and Mayor Rules would have said: 'If using the optional expansion Farmers' when explaining the rules of the Barn, however it does not.
Talking again of flavour text the first paragraph, 3rd sentence of the rule book reads: [ snip ]I've not even started reading the rules and this thematic description explaining the scene has made references to Farmers. Like the core rules always did.
Making farmers an optional consideration doesn't make them less important.
How can Farmers be considered non-core when the rule book is littered with recommendations that players should progress to the advanced rules of using them.
Simply starting to learn to play the game without them (on basic-mode) is a mechanism to encourage players to start learning and improve their game.
Interestingly, Carcassonne 2.0 has an age rating of 7+ with a run-time of 35-minutes printed on the box. The previous version I own was for +8 and had a running time for 30-45 minutes. It seems to me that moving farmers into an advanced rule set may allow HiG to sell a more accurate measurement
"You can ignore [farmers], but only after a few games."
Sorry if I created a bit of a storm here
I don't actually care one way or the other because I don't own 2.0 and optional farmers aren't part of my Carcassonne universe.
"If you have played the game once or twice, we recommend you play with the fields and farmers"
However, this part still confuses me; I just ignored it the first time, but since it keeps coming up ... maybe you're saying the opposite of what you intend here?Quote from: Decar on July 13, 2017, 08:23:17 AM"You can ignore [farmers], but only after a few games."
I recommend that we take a break now from the debate and go get a coffee.
Would someone look on the box of an 8+, 40min game and say, 'No, my child is seven and we want a 35-minute maximum game, so this game will not be suitable for us'?
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