Author Topic: The Gifts - New mini expansion announced  (Read 10937 times)

Offline Meepledrone

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Re: The Gifts - New mini expansion announced
« Reply #15 on: October 09, 2021, 04:45:20 AM »
I have spent several hours staring at the promo image trying to figure out the mechanics of this mini expansion...



This is my current opinion:
* The deck of cards contains a number of extra player actions acting as gifts. These actions are distributed during the setup of the game (no extra tiles seem to be included, so no card draws happen during the game triggered by tiles).
* Players keep their gifts face down in their supply and the can play them on their turn.
* Once a gift is played, it is discarded and removed from the game.

Known actions (from left to right):
1. Draw two tiles and play only one of them. The other is shuffled again.
2. Place a monk (or nun) next to an already placed one (what for in the base game?)
3. Score a highwayman (or traveler) as if at the end of the game and remove it.
4. Turn one knight into a farmer or vice versa. The field and the city must be adjacent.
5. Score a knight as if at the end of the game and remove it, or score 2 points instead (not totally sure about this one).
 
What do you think?
« Last Edit: October 09, 2021, 05:28:45 AM by Meepledrone »
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Offline Willem

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Re: The Gifts - New mini expansion announced
« Reply #16 on: October 09, 2021, 05:29:45 AM »
I think 5 might be to score a knight in an unfinished city, but still get 2 points per tile
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Offline DIN0

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Re: The Gifts - New mini expansion announced
« Reply #17 on: October 09, 2021, 05:44:49 AM »
Quote
What do you think?
I think the following:
Considering the name of the expansion is "Gifts", I doubt they will simply be distributed at the start of the game like variable player powers - Carcassonne historicly never had this game mechanic with the sole exception being Scout expansion for Hunters & Gatherers. Any time there is something that gives specific players extra actions/perks, it is always awarded based on some action or stipulation, so that everyone has a chance to get it initially e. g. Markets of Leipzig, La Porxada, or Count of Carcassonne.

I fully expect for this deck of cards to either work similarly to the Messages, or, if the cards are permanent, be awared to players based on something they do in the game,  perhaps some kind of altruistic behavior like the Count.

As to the actions on the cards themselves it is easy enough to come up with likely candidates, but there are several frames of mind in which one can make these predictions. One is that the effects become permanent once activated, the other is that they are one time actions.

Based on what is depicted I find the following most convincing:
You get the cards during the game (not at the start) as a gift for something you do in the game. You can then play the cards on your turn for a single use effect. The effects from left to right: 1) after drawing a tile, you can play the card to discard the tile you just drew and draw another tile. 2)you can place a monk on an unoccupied, incomplete cloister already in play. 3) you can score one of your incomplete roads and return the robber to your supply. 4) you can remove one of your farmers in play and deploy them on another unoccupied field. 5) you can return one of your knights into your supply and score 2 points.

HOWEVER!

Who cares about the expansion that we will know all about for sure in several weeks. All of you missed the most important thing about this picture!  >:D
It contains the tiles and pieces from the 6 minis (so far only available in BB6 in C2) and they now have the clipped cut-off buildings!
Maybe there is a standalone release on the horizon?

EDIT: Meepledrone might be correct on the 4), I interpreted it as  if the meeple was just floating in the air just like the other cards, but it might be actually placed in the city. But I think my suggestions are more likely when it comes to the other cards.
« Last Edit: October 09, 2021, 04:53:17 PM by DIN0 »

Offline PurpleMeeple

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Re: The Gifts - New mini expansion announced
« Reply #18 on: October 09, 2021, 05:52:36 AM »

Maybe there is a standalone release on the horizon?



Or an updated Big Box? About due..


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Offline carlium

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Re: The Gifts - New mini expansion announced
« Reply #19 on: October 09, 2021, 06:24:47 AM »

Or an updated Big Box? About due..

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I think you are right, you can see a new Gold Mines tile with those ugly clipped buildings  :'(

Offline DrMeeple

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The Gifts - New mini expansion announced
« Reply #20 on: October 09, 2021, 07:34:58 AM »
1st mini 20th aniversary tiles with special actions, next mini cards with special actions… next…? It seems this is the year for special actions for carcassonne… hahahaha


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Offline DIN0

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Re: The Gifts - New mini expansion announced
« Reply #21 on: October 09, 2021, 08:37:39 AM »
Quote
you can see a new Gold Mines tile with those ugly clipped buildings
Both that and Mage and Witch tile.
And there are also Ferry tiles and Crop Circle tiles on the original picture. A curious concentration of those minis, right?
« Last Edit: October 09, 2021, 08:41:21 AM by DIN0 »

Offline gamgeefan2

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Re: The Gifts - New mini expansion announced
« Reply #22 on: October 09, 2021, 10:31:04 AM »
Quote
What do you think?
Meepledrone might be correct on the 4), I interpreted it as  if the meeple was just floating in the air just like the other cards, but it might be actually placed in the city. But I think I my suggestions are more likely when it comes to the other cards.
I think you've got it right, including leaning towards Meepledrone's guess for #4.

Offline gamgeefan2

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Re: The Gifts - New mini expansion announced
« Reply #23 on: October 09, 2021, 10:36:49 AM »
I was hoping to see Land Surveyors get a physical print though...

Me too! The mechanics of the PnP work fantastic, but my home-crafted efforts will never meet the same standard as actual punchboard.
I too would like to upgrade from my home crafted PnP to factory punched Land Surveyors!

Offline Meepledrone

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Re: The Gifts - New mini expansion announced
« Reply #24 on: October 10, 2021, 07:53:13 AM »
Here you are the ad in full so you can appreciate the overflowing city segments for the reprinted (?) BB6. You can see this affecting: base game tiles (without easter eggs), Exp. 1 (check the cathedral tile with the pink meeples) and Exp. 2 tiles (the city tile with the black abbot - Whaaat?), River 1,... and all those tiles from Minis #1, #3 (with a ferry on an adjacent field?), #4, #5, #6 and #7... 

Is this a foreshadowing of the new normal for C2? Does this mean a new reprint of all major expansions? What about mini expansions?  :o

Offline carlium

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Re: The Gifts - New mini expansion announced
« Reply #25 on: October 10, 2021, 08:47:49 AM »
Hehehe, thanks for sharing the whole ad Meepledrone!. Really, that ad is a complete mess!



Edit: I created a poll in BGG just to know what people think about it, here is the link in case you want to cast your vote  ;) :
https://boardgamegeek.com/thread/2739401/newest-graphic-styles-clipped-buildings
« Last Edit: October 10, 2021, 09:52:09 AM by carlium »

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Re: The Gifts - New mini expansion announced
« Reply #26 on: October 10, 2021, 01:03:23 PM »
Note that in the render, similar to the Peasant Revolts and 20th anniversary edition, also rounder corners for the tiles are featured. It truly is the new standard.

Offline Whaleyland

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Re: The Gifts - New mini expansion announced
« Reply #27 on: October 10, 2021, 04:40:33 PM »
Sorry carlium, but I am one of the "I love it!" people, although I feel that is a tad exuberant. And I still am very much a fan of the original Doris Matthäus art. That being said, medieval cities were quite tightly-packed and lived in, and I have felt from the beginning that the cities in Carcassonne look too empty, probably contributing to almost everyone incorrectly calling them castles. These new city formats make it quite clear that you are dealing with a population centre, with people living and working in the narrow streets.

Am I annoyed that the roofs and buildings get cut off? No, not particularly. After all, the city walls have always had a strange perspective and those are heightened where a wall meets another wall. Many of the cities don't even have a gate and some are absolutely tiny rugby/American football balls. So I feel buildings with cut off roofs and walls is really the least of these cities' problems, and none of them bother me much at all.

Offline carlium

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Re: The Gifts - New mini expansion announced
« Reply #28 on: October 10, 2021, 05:29:36 PM »
lol, you make me laugh about the football balls! To be honest with you, I am surprised that option is even chosen multiple times in my poll. Most people usually are more attracted by aesthetics, so clipped, incomplete, or abstract things may not be very appealing at some point. In the end, this is just a matter of taste, like the radioactive green change or the dramatic Matthäus-to-Pätzke transition, pleasant for some, unpleasant for others, and completely irrelevant for the rest.

Until now, there are 10.6% of clipped-cities fans out there. Some People Just Want to Watch the World Burn  >:D

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

 :red-meeple:



« Last Edit: October 10, 2021, 05:56:51 PM by carlium »

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Re: The Gifts - New mini expansion announced
« Reply #29 on: October 10, 2021, 11:14:54 PM »
People are typically very biased regarding such polls. Heck, I am biased. My Carcassonne base game has clipped and densely populated cities, so yeah, I prefer this new direction. Mixing the two styles together can be as disturbing as different shades of green for the grass aesthetic wise. Especially a cathedral in a densely populated city breaks-up the city appearance at the moment, where it almost looks like multiple projects instead of one.

Similarly, and I think that holds for the majority of people, the change to this new course implies as well a mixed bag of art styles when playing with the original Carcassonne V2…

So let’s just say for the sake of my point that cities with clipped buildings do look better and are more realistic. Is that alone worth changing the art style, when already a lot of people are invested in the non-clipped style? The added value of the change is very small and I think will not result in sales going up, while we all, clipped and non-clipped, are now stuck with inconsistencies, harming the game’s table presence (which is one of its major selling points).

In the end, the game just looked fine the way it was.


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