What's up with the River in Big Box 5?

[NGC 54]

There are no I, II or III. There are only the "The River" (that comes in various configuration) expansion and the "Count, King and Robber" expansion that comes with 12 river tiles with only 1 configuration.

Thus, there is no "River I", "River II" or "River III". We have The River (that can be the normal C1-C2 river, the normal C3 river, the 20th Anniversary River, the BB5 river, or any of these rivers + GQ11) and the Count, King and Robber river (that has only 1 configuration, but also a variant with GQ11).

[danisthirty]

There are no I, II or III. There are only the "The River" (that comes in various configuration) expansion and the "Count, King and Robber" expansion that comes with 12 river tiles with only 1 configuration.

Thanks for clarifying...

[NGC 54]

Ah, but River II no longer exists! It was merged with Exp. 6, so River II is Exp. 6, and in the same time, is not Exp. 6. The same happened with Cathars and Siege. They have been banished, and now we hope that they will release The Besiegers in C2/C3 on CundCo!

Look also at Heretics and Shrines. The 6th tile has been banished along with the whole expansion, because the great Exp. 6 emerged.

[danisthirty]

Ah, but River II no longer exists!

I've just checked my shelves; thankfully it's still there!

[Willem]

(on the back of both C1 and C2 Exp 6, it calls out the different components, including River 2....)

[NGC 54]

Ah, but River II no longer exists!

I've just checked my shelves; thankfully it's still there!

Yes, it is still on the shelf. But it is just an incomplete Exp. 6 expansion, not a complete so-called "The River II" "expansion". 

(on the back of both C1 and C2 Exp 6, it calls out the different components, including River 2....)

The same happens to Exp. 9, but very is no expansion called "Vineyards", for example.

[Willem]

So on that logic, Inns&Cathedrals, Traders&Builders and the 6 Minis don't exist anymore?
(And the minis haven't existed since C2)
As they are now part of the big box (both bb6 and bb7).
But, BB6 doesn't exist, nor does BB7, as they are just called Big Box.
But, the Spanish& Portuguese have been called Carcassonne Plus, so for them, a Big Box didnt exist until recently...

All to say, naming is and will be a mess across languages and years.

If anything, what were aiming at is a naming convention that makes it clear as to what we're referring to. River 3 is clear to all on what we mean.
The BB5 river could work just as well (other than the above logic that there is no BB5, so it wouldn't be a single iteration to refer to)

[Death Meeple]

All you heretics still calling it River 1....
Is like calling the first Lion King movie Lion King 1... There's no such thing! 

Ok, I agree on this!

So:
The River = The Lion King
The River II = The Lion King II
The River from BB5 = The Lion King... Oh wait... You're gonna hate the official name of that movie 

Following that logic, the River from BB5 is now The River 1/2... Not too bad, in my opinion.  )

[DIN0]

@Death Meeple you have entered the side of rational thinking by abstaining from River III Congratulations!
I like your Lion King analogy.

Really, there are many more things which make different rivers distinct that the bulk of the community does not know about, but I am slowly comming back from my Carcassonne hiatus, so I hope to finally finish one of my Carcassonne projects that would unveil this, among other things. That will make it even more clear as to why any numbering beyond River II does not make sense.

And there is in fact River 1 - explicitly named that way - a standalone boxed version by Rio Grande Games.

[lr]

You can struggle as much as you want, but only River III has sheep and vineyards, specific to extension 9.
This river is therefore unique and well deserves its specific numbering. 

In River III we trust   

[DIN0]

Haha, your side is the one struggling. Logic and sense shall prevail! 

[lr]

Logic and common sense dictate that specific functions be clearly differentiated.

The unique specific functions of River III fully justify its numbering.

[Whaleyland]

All you heretics still calling it River 1....
Is like calling the first Lion King movie Lion King 1... There's no such thing! 

Ok, I agree on this!

So:
The River = The Lion King
The River II = The Lion King II
The River from BB5 = The Lion King... Oh wait... You're gonna hate the official name of that movie 

Following that logic, the River from BB5 is now The River 1/2... Not too bad, in my opinion.  )

I hate to break it to you, but internationally, the third film is called The Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata.

[LaPorxada (aka BigBoss)]

The only valid (and maybe weak) argument for me to call the river from the BigBox V river III are those added unique specific functions for the 9th. expansion, mentioned by @lr

However, the river (III) expansion symbol does not count, as HiG decided from 2006 onwards, with the release of the first BigBox, that all expansions would receive such an exp. symbol.


We can of course speculate - and with a high degree of probability this could be true - that the first river was only called River, as no further rivers were planned.


And regarding the "official" cundco-store tile list, someone should talk to @maik63de  and ask if he has discussed the name with the HiG or the CundCo team -
I'll "go out on a limb" saying no ;-)


@Scott
Does this "idiom" also exists?
 

[Death Meeple]

All you heretics still calling it River 1....
Is like calling the first Lion King movie Lion King 1... There's no such thing! 

Ok, I agree on this!

So:
The River = The Lion King
The River II = The Lion King II
The River from BB5 = The Lion King... Oh wait... You're gonna hate the official name of that movie 

Following that logic, the River from BB5 is now The River 1/2... Not too bad, in my opinion.  )

I hate to break it to you, but internationally, the third film is called The Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata.

As a practical international name, but not the official one, not the one used to announce the movie... Nor even the one on the poster: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lion_King_1%C2%BD

But let's not start a Lion King debate here, the River debate is already heaten enough haha