Author Topic: Highlights of 2015 (Read 8100 times)

danisthirty · « **on:** December 22, 2015, 11:46:05 PM »

Since 2015 is coming to an end now and many people will be off soon to enjoy spending the Christmas and new year period with their family and friends, I thought I'd take some time to reflect on what kind of a year I've had personally in terms of my involvement with my favourite game and its fantastic community of loyal followers that I'm so proud to be part of...

Two of my biggest highlights from 2015 were the UK Games Expo and the Carcassonne Central UK Meetup. This was my 2nd visit to the UK Games Expo and there were lots of good reasons to make the journey up to Birmingham again this year. Meeting Udo Schmitz and attending his Carcassonne seminar was certainly one of them, as was taking part in the UK Carcassonne championships. Best of all though, was meeting cidervampire, Decar and Rosco from the forums and exploring the expo with them. In fact, it was partly this that inspired Decar to arrange a subsequent meetup for CarcC members five months later. We were hosted by Shadow Games in Rugby and spent most of the day playing one huge game of Carcassonne (including a selection of fan-made expansions) and a couple of spin-off games. Curt194, Decar, JT Atomico, Piklach, Rich_The_Fish and I met some of the locals, introduced a few new members to the site and generally just had a great time together.

Most of the games I played against CarcC forum members this year weren't played on tables though, and after getting the ball rolling last year with our first ever online league, 2015 saw no less than five official Carcassonne Central tournaments and several trial runs of some more experimental competitions (most of which are still ongoing). So as well as the Traders & Builders, Inns & Cathedrals and Abbey & Mayor expansion leagues, the 2015 World Cup of Carcassonne Central and Decar's Welcome Tournament for New Members there was also the Carcassonne Ladder, the Last Meeple Standing and Carcassonne Dream Teams which kept most of us quite busy throughout the year without even mentioning the dozens of weekly games and other ad hoc games! For many, these competitions have provided a good opportunity to build friendships within the community, learn new expansions and compete against some tough opponents at the same time. This is exactly the sort of thing I'd hoped for when I arranged the first competition a year and a half ago, so I couldn't be happier about where we are now and I'm very proud to have been a part of it.

Another highlight though was being meepleized by meeplesource.com! Admittedly, the 300 meeple minimum order seemed excessive at first but I do enjoy seeing my likeness alongside the hundreds of other wonderful designs available from their website and I'm glad to have been able to have shared my meeples with more than 50 members of the community here. I even gave a couple of these away to some of my real-life gaming friends and one of them took his away on holiday with him this summer. I didn't know about this until last week when he and his wife gave me a mini photo album full of photos of their Dan meeple in Bali as a Christmas present!

One ongoing project that I'm really looking forward to progressing is the "Sign a tile for KJW" thread. At first I wasn't sure how people would feel about the idea of signing and giving away their precious Carcassonne tiles, but kettlefish and other members of the community have been instrumental in providing others with spare tiles to sign, and have really encouraged people to take part in doing so both here and at CarcF. Although I haven't kept count of how many tiles I've received to date (or the number of people who have sent them), things are looking good so far and the prospect of presenting the framed landscape to KJW next October is an exciting one.

Those who know me will already be aware that I struggle to keep things short and that certainly seems to be the case with this post too!

However, I can't bring myself to stop writing without at least mentioning The Order of the Meeple, the Forum Photo Games, another successful Spare Bits Giveaway and of course our Advent Quiz. Some of these initiatives and ideas have been more successful than others for various reasons, but in terms of the opportunities that they've provided for me to get to know even more Carcassonne fans and help grow the community here I certainly don't have any regrets!

So in closing, I'd just like to wish everyone at Carcassonne Central a very merry Christmas and a happy new year on behalf of myself, Becky (AKA "Mrs_danisthirty"), Jessica & Benjamin (our kids) and this other guy holding a bottle of water (I've no idea who he is but it's such a great photobomb that I didn't have the heart to cut him out

):

Best Christmas wishes,
Dan

Linkback: https://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=2267.0

Guy · « **Reply #1 on:** December 23, 2015, 12:00:05 AM »

I can't thank you enough for all you do here at CarcC. Alongside Decar and others you keep this site becoming more of a community and less of a forum which I think is excellent. Although it hasn't always run smoothly I've really enjoyed the Carcassonne by forum game I've been a part of. It's also been great getting some useful hints and tips both in playing the game and finding expansions of the game through your newsletters.

Thank you for another great year and merry Christmas!

God bless,

Guy

danisthirty · « **Reply #2 on:** December 23, 2015, 12:24:11 AM »

Thanks Guy, it's been a blast!

I hasten to add though, that a lot of people play a lot of different roles behind the scenes (and in front of them) and it's only thanks to all of these people together, as well as the members of the whole community, that this site is what it is...

My intention wasn't to draw attention to what I'd most enjoyed taking part in so as to draw it away from others, more that I wanted to provide an opportunity for everyone to discuss their own personal highlights, including those who have been behind the great many other fun things that have been taking place over this last year.

Decar · « **Reply #3 on:** December 23, 2015, 04:21:34 AM »

Great post Dan

This year has been a blast, but it's flown by pretty quick. I'm not sure I remembered what happened during the start of the year.

Pictures says a 1000-words, so I'll post a picture review of my Carcassonne year:

January saw me 'complete' my Carcassonne Collection:

and get addicted to spin-offs:

February, received a Big Box from Basically Wooden

:

It also saw me making contact with Japanese Carcassonne Players, which reminds me, I must make contact again:

March, saw my Carcassonne addiction go to the next-next level.....Russian Tiles:

April saw a goodie bag from kettlefish

and the exclusive JCloisterDan:

Certainly the highlight of the year for me was visiting the UK Games Expo (see Dan's post above). This was the first time I decided to meet people I knew from the internet. The prize goes to Rosco btw (Dan was fashionably late)

.

I was hoping a large event would secure my safety, from all those psychopaths you meet online; in fact everyone I've met was jolly nice. I've said it numerous times, as have others: We seemed to get along and be on the same wave-length it was like we had known each other for years.

The UK Meetup saw me crack open my craft drawer, for what seemed like the first time in about 15years. Having seen the Russian Tiles, Dan and I struck upon an idea to share Mythological stories from our home nations: England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland. After some careful thought we stumbled across the legends of the Patron Saints and next thing you know I'm off to Staples to buy label paper, scalpels and cutting boards. You should know now: I'm not artistic; I cannot draw myself out of a paperbag; however somehow, I bodged together some simple artwork and every CarcC member who attended the meetup got a little pack. I stayed up many nights 'perfecting' the craft, in fact I even missed an important game with Jere to complete them in time:

They made quite a stir - A Polish Carcassonne player on BGG asked me if they were legitimate after they made it to the HiG Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/Brettspiele/photos/pb.237314407298.-2207520000.1450873266./10153336774682299/?type=3&theater

June saw Artscow take all my money:

Being a relatively new member of Carcassonne Central, and after the success of the UK Expo, I began to think Carcassonne Central needs to invest a little time on encouraging new people to join our ranks and at the start of July the Welcome Tournament began. This was the first time I ran a tournament. My intention was that it was slightly slower paced than the 'pro' tournaments members were used to here. Needless to say, I have a new appreciation of the time, energy and effort DanisThirty & kettlefish spend keeping these tournaments running. It was great to see new people join the forum and play some excellent Carcassonne.

July also saw the 'Most Loved' thread - http://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=1943.0

The people that congress here are what make the community and seeing the wonderful creations people have shared with each other, means an awful lot.

and an addiction to Purple Teacher Meeples:

and the construction of my own Meeple:

AND the particularly awesome (if I don't say so myself): GenCan't Tournament:

http://www.gencant.com/carcassonne-solo-play-contest/

Well done to Leven scoring 303!

August was where I stumbled into Orange Phantoms:

Stacked a Lot of meeple:

September: I've not got a photo here, but I was travelling to NY, where I got hold of Kids of Carcassonne & Travel Edition from the Carcassonne Shoppe

October was Carcassonne 2.0:

nuff said...

October was also the first UK Meetup (see Dan's link):

A fantastic day in Rugby! It was brilliant meeting even more members from Carcassonne Central and finding out they're all jolly nice too!

and a vast collection of Russian Tiles:

November - More Phantoms & Teachers:

December: Tile Printing:

What a quick review of my year. No doubt I've forgotten all sorts of things. I know there's lots of people I'd like to mention and many kind words said by members too:
Those people who posted things from afar with little knowledge of who I really was.
Those members who share their processes when crafting.
Those members who share their creations having spent hours perfecting their art.
Those members who run tournaments and invent new ways for us to play.
Those members who compete in the tournaments.
Those members who keep us posted with events going on abroad.
Those members who share a recent playthroughs or meetups or events.
Those members who come to events!
Those members who keep this forum functioning (and adding new emoji).
Those members who just love Carcassonne.

It's incredible really, just how many things our community manages to get done. I hope 2016 sees the same!

danisthirty · « **Reply #4 on:** December 23, 2015, 05:20:15 AM »

Fantastic post. And what an insight; it looks like it's been a great year for you!

I'd just like to add though...

Quote from: Decar on December 23, 2015, 04:21:34 AM

Certainly the highlight of the year for me was visiting the UK Games Expo (see Dan's post above). This was the first time I decided to meet people I knew from the internet. The prize goes to Rosco btw (Dan was fashionably late) .

...I arrived in good time but got fashionably lost in the car park trying to find my way to the expo. There weren't a lot of people to follow at that time of the morning but someone told me to follow the red line on the ground. Which led me to an industrial estate where some random guy in a high-vis jacket told me I was lost.

Decar · « **Reply #5 on:** December 23, 2015, 06:47:46 AM »

It's always good when someone tells you you're lost. It means they're not going to help you find your way back

I distinctly remember ignoring the handwritten sign that said: 'Car Park - Full' - I didn't see anyone checking it.

danisthirty · « **Reply #6 on:** December 23, 2015, 07:27:48 AM »

Quote from: Decar on December 23, 2015, 06:47:46 AM

I distinctly remember ignoring the handwritten sign that said: 'Car Park - Full' - I didn't see anyone checking it.

Maverick

jungleboy · « **Reply #7 on:** December 23, 2015, 07:42:39 AM »

Great posts Dan and Decar, merit to you both. I don't contribute at the level that you two do so I don't have nearly as many forum highlights. On a personal level, my highlights were getting the tunnels to complete my collection (as I see it) and getting Basically Wooden box(es) as a beautiful and efficient storage solution.

Quote from: Decar on December 23, 2015, 04:21:34 AM

February, received a Big Box from Basically Wooden :

Did you have to pay extra for a box that hangs on the wall like that?

Decar · « **Reply #8 on:** December 23, 2015, 07:53:08 AM »

No it's the trippy wallpaper!

kettlefish · « **Reply #9 on:** December 23, 2015, 12:07:14 PM »

My highlights in 2015 - a short list:

- exhibition "modell-hobby-spiel" in Leipzig
- exhibition "Spiel 2015" in Essen
- fan-meeting with KJW and Carcassonne-on-Tour at Castle Konradsheim
---------------------
for the CarcC forum:

- gantry is back again and he has updated the forums software.
- all the x-score lists for the tournaments
- twice a year the clarification of rules
- meeple tile tower
- Carcassonne-Mastermind

Rosco · « **Reply #10 on:** December 23, 2015, 02:45:35 PM »

Thankyou for you posts. They are great.

I am not one for long posts but what I would like to say is that my highlight of the forum is the continued generousity from several members.

I have recieved so many nice things from members and some amazing bargains from eBay. Some of the best are below:

Pewter meeple set
Tunnels - still shrink wrapped
Clear dragon meeple
Score discs
Tournament momentos
Almost completing my set
Getting almost all the spinoffs (winter, Castle, hunters and gatherers, star wars, stock and stein, South Seas, mayflower, the discovery)
Almost playing a super mega game with friends (postponed until after christmas)

Thank you to everyone and here's to another great carcassonne year. MERRY CHRISTMAS.

franks · « **Reply #11 on:** December 26, 2015, 09:50:31 AM »

Great posts everyone, (especially Danisthirty and Decar).

My long list includes:

•   Addition of several Carcassonne related iterations, (stand alones, expansions, etc., etc.). Collection is almost complete – and then some!
•   Participating in the Welcome Tournament - My first experience of this sort that taught me a whole different aspect to this great game.
•   Metal Meeples from Vanguard (Indigogo)
•   Clear meeples from Quevy
•   Participating and getting to better know folks on CarcC!
•   Also have to give a nod to all the other great games in my extended hobby. I’ve played more games in general this year than ever.

Safari · « **Reply #12 on:** January 04, 2016, 07:05:20 PM »

My absolute top 2015 highlight were the alt coloured phantoms. These are fantastic!

MrNumbers · « **Reply #13 on:** January 05, 2016, 01:44:40 AM »

My [positive] highlights of the year are:
- Winning T&B League;
- Visiting Udo Schmitz in Germany;
- Essen 2015;
- Very good cooperation with local meals bar, as a result I have regular and very successful Carcassonne public game nights.