The more I look at the gorgeous front page of the recent Spielbox issue, the more I regard this as a missed opportunity. I know that both almanachs were published ages back (2005 and 2008, correct?) and I actually never had a chance to read through any of them. It may bee nowadays too much to devote a special issue to a single board game, even though a really famous and successfull one. But something little more to commemorate an anniversary that maybe not that many games celebrate at such a good shape would may not be too much to wish. The possibilities are so many. Just yesterday we, albeit perfecly at home, played a quick game of Carcassonne für zwei. This travel iteration of C2 base game never saw any expansion so far, right? Could have been a neat possibility to introduce few tiles of a right size with 20th anniversary themes through Spielbox... And we may think of so many little extras. Pitty.
This is not bad idea. But you have also to look to publisher. Publisher add this "minis" to increase of sale of his magazine. Image, how much of us, bought some of issues just for included mini. In these days, all of informations are on internet. So why to buy printed media. I has to have something unique, and those minis are. Maybe is problem, that previous minis was published by SpielBox and they were also available on cundco. Than (availability on cundco) it looses it's uniqueness.
Another point of view is: Will be this mini interesting for most of readers and buyrs of magazine? Imagine, that they has to produce that mini which means, print tiles, print rules, sleeve it. This mini can be bought on cundco for 4.50 - 5.00 EUR. When you add it as "ad" to magazine, it just brings costs for HiG as included ad. (And in huge numbers of copies).
For this case, previous minis included in magazines was printed by publisher with some cooperation with HiG. But most of costs I guess was paid by publisher. And by way of were are back to publisher?
Will include publisher mini for game which is:
1. old (20 year) - carcassonne
2. most of players of game buys only official expansions and not all of them
3. maybe some jung player are not interested in old games
4. there are plenty of new games which is interesting for readers and can increase sell of game if they are in hype (Micro/Macro)
5. you will never add mini for game, which is sold out (travel carcassonne)
So it's very expensive and risky business for both sides - publisher and HiG.
I wrote it elsewhere - HiG got big profit of minis sold on cundco
1. He not pay to other language publishers for this sell
2. Costs of delivery is bigger than they pay for postage
3. They don't care on rules interactions on mini and other expansions (large or mini) -> this means, it's more cost free like large expansions where thay care about rules interactions at least on large-large expansions
Howk
Or as somedy said on big funky animal tausend year (-1 * ago) "I have spoken."