Author Topic: Carcassonne Central News #9 - January 2022  (Read 3902 times)

Offline danisthirty

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Carcassonne Central News #9 - January 2022
« on: February 01, 2022, 05:04:39 AM »
Carcassonne Central News #9 - January 2022


Welcome

Hello there, and welcome back to another edition of "Carcassonne Central News" – the imaginatively titled monthly newsletter summarising the last month of toings and froings here at Carcassonne Central. It's been a little while since I last wrote one of these, over six years in fact! But it's something that I've always wanted to come back to, and now seems like as good a time as any to get the ball rolling again. I've tried to keep it fun and light-hearted, so there's lots to read and enjoy, and a few challenges along the way. I do hope you enjoy it, and look forward to seeing your feedback – good O:-), bad >:D or ugly :@ – below...



Under Starter's Orders

As always, we start at the start with something to help you get your games started! Fans of Squid Game may remember the Glass Bridge obstacle where the contestants had to make their way across a bridge via a series of 50/50 guesses; each guess being between a stable pane that would support their weight, and a fragile pane that would break as soon as they stepped onto it. Thankfully Carcassonne isn't often this dangerous, but I thought it might be fun to mimic this using Carcassonne tiles and meeples in order to create a quick and easy pre-game game to establish a triumphant starting player.

Start by taking ten unseen Carcassonne tiles and placing them face down in a grid that is five tiles long by two tiles wide. This is the bridge! Take one meeple from each player and place them all at one end of the bridge. Everyone chooses one of the two face-down tiles directly in front of the meeples, and puts their meeple on top of their chosen tile. Tiles may be shared by more than one meeple, but both tiles must have at least one meeple on them. As soon as all meeples have been placed, the two tiles are turned over and evaluated based on the number of distinct features on that tile (including fields). The tile with the highest number of distinct features is safe and any meeples placed here will proceed to the next round. Any meeples on the tile with the least number of distinct features are plunged into certain disappointment. If both tiles have the same number of distinct features then any tile that has a pennant is safe, otherwise both tiles are stable and all meeples survive. Repeat this across as many stages as necessary (I suggested five but draw more tiles as required if your meeples are especially good at Squid Game) until just one meeple remains. The player owning that meeple may then choose either to receive €455 billion or to be the starting player. If you don't have €455 billion, they must choose to be the starting player.

left: the six meeple are split equally between the first two tiles as a shady stranger looks on from the other side
middle: disaster for Green, Yellow and Pink as their tile contains just 2 distinct features vs. the 3 on the other tile
right: two rounds later, Blue emerges victorious as his ccrr with pennant beats Red's plain old ccrr



Forum News

Arguably the biggest news we saw this month was about how Carcassonne Central is now under new ownership. Not that there was anything wrong with the old ownership, it was more just that Gantry wanted to pass on the mantle and give someone else a chance to steer the ship. So that's what Decar, Meepledrone and I are now doing, although not literally as the vast majority of my limited ship steering experience has involved crashing. We can't wait to find out what the future has in store for our beloved CarcC though, and are doing everything we can to make sure it involves as much fun and collaboration as possible!

As the news above exploded all over Facebook and Twitter, the forums were starting to feel like the 1000th episode of a popular TV program, with no shortage of cameo appearances from some of the forums regulars of old who came back to the site to say hello, to thank Gantry for his years of hard work and to wish us all the best for the future. I won't try to list all the names that brought a smile to my face, but I will mention that kettlefish and Scott were among them. Scott in particular took the time to share a little about where his life took him when he felt the call to step away from Carcassonne Central for a few years. I won't spoil it, but it's been quite the journey and it was wonderful to read about it.

As far as we know, 2022 looks like it could be another big year for Carcassonne. With new-artwork editions of the basegame and latest Big Box scheduled to be released later this year, you certainly wouldn't be alone if you've ever wondered why there are so many "different" versions of Carcassonne that seem so similar, or what the differences between all the boxes actually are. Yet there's never been a suitably thorough and detailed account of Carcassonne's chronology... until now! Decar (with some help from Willem) has pulled out all the stops to put together this well-written and easy to understand history including details (and plenty of photos) of box art, scoretracks, international deviations and many other points of interest along the way. :(y)

I'm not a big Instagram user personally as I'm usually so hungry by mealtimes that it won't occur to me to take a picture of my lunch until I've already mostly eaten it, and I've been advised by the Police that I could face prosecution if I continue posting 200 selfies a day as - apparently - they "scare children" C:-) :(n). Thankfully, others have found more productive ways to use Instagram, so if you're not following them already please be sure to visit The Carcassonne Museum by Willem and MP Works by MMike. Neither of them ever seem to post photos of what they're about to eat, or selfies, but they do post a lot of fantastic Carcassonne content so please show your support by following them anyway.

Although there was too much in the way of news and discussion for me to summarise everything here, it would be remiss of me not to draw attention to Melvin Quaresma's awesome Carcassonne Everywhere project (you are hereby implored to make the most of this opportunity to be part of it), exciting news about the upcoming MSO Grand prix and Mind Sports Olympiad 2022, and finally Decar's insightful interview with Board Game Arena which takes us behind the scenes of one of the most significant online boardgaming platforms that's used by millions of boardgamers around the world (he posted it in February but I'll allow it because it's such a great read).



What Happens Next? (by Decar)

It's Black against Green in the Carcassonne World Championship final, and you're playing Green! Black draws the first tile and takes an easy 4 points with a cfff. Hate it when that happens! You go next and it's an fffr cloister which you drop on the east end of the road across the start tile, claiming the cloister with your first meeple of the game in the hope that it comes back to you quickly. Black's next turn, and it's an ffrr corner road. He extends the road across the start tile with the open end facing South and claims it. Now it's your turn again, and you've got a crrf to play. What's the plan boss?


I'd love to hear your thoughts on what your next move would be, and why. I have something in mind, but I also have an open mind, so share your thoughts and let's help GREEN become Carcassonne's next world champion! :(y) :green-meeple: :(y)



Member of the Month

The purpose of this little section is to recognise the efforts of those forum members who have championed some of the ideas and initiatives that have benefitted our community throughout the month. Everyone can contribute something (or lots of things) and we're very lucky here in that most people do! All things big and small are appreciated; whether it's acts of generosity such as we've seen from The-Edge with his recent giveaways, or simply just by exuding the sort of enthusiasm and positivity that kothmann and Challa007 have been demonstrating so consistently, it all adds up to making our little corner of the internet something that we can enjoy all the more and be truly proud of. 8)

While we (the admin team) do try to recognise and consider everyone's individual efforts, some efforts are rewarded in different ways, for example by awarding forum badges to individuals who have contributed significantly in specific areas. Recently, Decar announced on this post that oldbonz and Wolnic have both been awarded the "Author" forum badge which you'll now see just below their name alongside any of their forum posts. This is somewhat overdue considering how long they've been with us, but please join me in congratulating them both for the creativity and outstanding artwork that they've both been responsible for over the years.

Our Member of the Month for January though, is someone who promised us last year that he was working on a number of Carcassonne projects that he planned to share with us throughout 2022. This said, he was apparently so excited about the first of these that he couldn't quite wait until January before sharing his Carcassonne Game Notation with us on New Year's Eve! ;D Based on this, I'm sure I speak on behalf of the majority of our members at the moment when I say that I'm very much looking forward to his next project already, and am happy to name DIN0 as our Member of the Month based on this and his many contributions elsewhere across the forums. Congratulations to you, and thanks for all your hard work! :(y)



Carcassonne Knowledge Tester (by Meepledrone and/ or one or more of his imaginary friends)

Dear boys and girls,

Supervisor Nick wanted to share with you some insights about scoring. He noticed during the Advent Quiz that a few answers showed some issues when scoring roads or cities with complex layouts.

The issue stems from the fact that you may get distracted with the shape of the feature and count the same tile multiple times. This may happen  when the same tile has several segments connected to the feature. When you score a road or a city you always count the number of tiles, not the number of segments conforming the feature.

Let's have a look at the following examples showing a road loop with some surprises. The tile bottom right contributes twice to the road loop but we are used to that configuration and we count that tile only once automatically, because it is easy to spot. However, we may get fooled if the tile contributing multiple times to the road is not at one end.

The roads in the following examples have 7 tiles, no matter the configuration of the tile at the center (the tricky one ;)). Let's check each example:



* Example A: The 4-legged roundabout on the Spiel 18 tile is counted only once even if it connects several road segments, one of them even looping back.
* Example B: The tile at the center has two separate road segments connected to the same road. Even so, the tile is counted only once.
* Example C: The tile at the center has two separate road segments, one of them featuring a printed bridge, which allows one road to pass over the other without actually meeting. Both road segments on the tile are connected to the same road, and the tile is counted only once.
* Example D: This example features a wooden bridge. It will behave in a similar way to the printed bridge featured in Example C.

Therefore, Red would score 7 points for each of these roads no matter their configuration (7 tiles x 1 point/tile), since the tile count is what matters, not the total number of road segments in the road.

This said, Supervisor Nick would like to check you've been paying attention. How many points would Red score for this city?



Have fun!



Forum Statistics

Jan 2022  2022 to date  Jan 2021  2021 to date
New Topics72  72  67  67
New Posts1206  1206  1204  1204
New Members538  538  573  573
Most Online102  102  91  91
Page Views460,999  460,999  579,821  579,821

- 1967 fans
- 1852 followers

Total Members to end of Jan 2022: 8273



Homework

Now settle down everyone, SETTLE DOWN, or we'll all be here until half past three... OK? Good.

A previous homework that I set in an old newsletter required you to build the most valuable complete city from tiles in the basic game in order to discover that the most valuable city possible weighed-in at an impressive 84 points! But while city points are always important for keeping your score ticking over, sometimes lots of small cities are better than one big city, especially when farmers are concerned. So, with this in mind, the challenge I have for you this month is to arrange the tiles from the basic game only into some configuration that yields as many farmer points as possible. But to make it more interesting, I'm going to allow everyone three farmers and your score will be made up of the combined score of the three of them. We'll be going over your answers in class next month so please be sure to submit them before then! Here's a hint: DON'T put them all on the same farm ::)



The Last Tile

Thanks so much for reading January's newsletter, and thanks to Decar and Meepledrone for their contributions too of course. Naturally we hope you had a fun time reading it, and that it gave you plenty of Carcassonne food for thought, but it's your newsletter too so don't feel compelled to accept this collection of our collaborative efforts if there's anything else you'd rather see; let us know! I still have plenty of ideas for extra features I'd like to include in future newsletters, but haven't got round to writing yet, so please help to make sure I'm heading in the right direction by leaving a comment below, and I'll be sure to take your feedback on board.

Before I finally sign off for the month though, I'd just like to leave you with these words of wisdom from Siegbert Tarrasch (Polish Chess player: 1862 - 1934). He was actually talking about Chess when he said them, but I feel it applies just as much to Carcassonne (and most games):

"One doesn’t have to play well, it’s enough to play better than your opponent."

See you at the end of February! C:-) :(y)

Linkback: https://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=5724.0
« Last Edit: February 01, 2022, 05:07:00 AM by danisthirty »

Offline Meepledrone

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Re: Carcassonne Central News #9 - January 2022
« Reply #1 on: February 01, 2022, 05:23:05 AM »
Yeah! They back!!!! ;D

With a lot of info, activities and full of illusion!

+1 merit from me!
Questions about rules? Check WICA: wikicarpedia.com

Offline Decar

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Re: Carcassonne Central News #9 - January 2022
« Reply #2 on: February 01, 2022, 06:07:55 AM »
Thanks a lot Dan. It's great to see these back in place.

And Congratulations to DIN0 for being our Member of the Month  :(y)

Offline Willem

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Re: Carcassonne Central News #9 - January 2022
« Reply #3 on: February 01, 2022, 06:19:04 AM »
Thanks Dan, this is a great news letter! and an impressive list of topics/articles that kept me reading :)
Congrats to DIN0, well deserved and a tough pool of candidates! I'm sure Dan will be sending you lots and lots of pictures of prizes

I'll need to work on the homework and the what comes next, but i'll make Supervisor Nick happy by telling him my thoughts on the knowledge quiz
Join me on the journey through the history and oddities of Carcassonne, on My Instagram
1 0 days since i've bought more Carcassonne

Offline DIN0

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Re: Carcassonne Central News #9 - January 2022
« Reply #4 on: February 01, 2022, 06:28:07 AM »
It's good to see these news come back  :(y) Great summary.

Thank you very much Dan! It is a great honor to be named the Member of the Month, especially after such a long hiatus  :D
I am pleased my work has such a good feedback. May it find good use in the hands of the community!

PS:
Quote
This said, he was apparently so excited about the first of these that he couldn't quite wait until January before sharing his Carcassonne Game Notation with us on New Year's Eve!
Well, this is halfway true  ;D I did release it on the 1st january, though quite early, so depending on where you live it might have still been december  ;)
« Last Edit: February 01, 2022, 06:33:09 AM by DIN0 »

Offline Challa007

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Re: Carcassonne Central News #9 - January 2022
« Reply #5 on: February 01, 2022, 06:58:47 AM »
Thanks @danisthirty for this well written, joyful and informative Newsletter.  :(y)

Its the first one I have ever read (I have only been active here for about 2 months) and to see my name mentioned came as a full surprise  ;D  Thanks  :-*

Good to see Supervisor Nick is back  ;D (quizzes are ALWAYS good  ;D) which reminds me that I still have questions concerning the Advent Quizz - so watch out @Meepledrone, more work is coming  >:D

I also very much like your bridge introduction, very nice idea  :(y)

To summarize: its a very nice mixture you got there and definitely supporting the community +1 merit from me

What I miss is:
an official announcement that @Meepledrone and @Scott have been promoted Admins (formerly they were Global Moderators if I recall well ... ).
Congratulations!!

oh, and yes, of course, congratulations @DINO!! well deserved  :(y)

Offline danisthirty

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Re: Carcassonne Central News #9 - January 2022
« Reply #6 on: February 01, 2022, 07:22:42 AM »
Congrats to DIN0, well deserved and a tough pool of candidates! I'm sure Dan will be sending you lots and lots of pictures of prizes

I thought we agreed on a 10% discount on an annual season pass for The Carcassonne Museum?

Thank you very much Dan! It is a great honor to be named the Member of the Month, especially after such a long hiatus  :D

You're welcome. It is well-deserved. You've set the bar pretty high for your next community project though! :o

To summarize: its a very nice mixture you got there and definitely supporting the community +1 merit from me

What I miss is:
an official announcement that @Meepledrone and @Scott have been promoted Admins (formerly they were Global Moderators if I recall well ... ).
Congratulations!!

Thanks! I'm so glad you enjoyed it and I appreciate your feedback. :(y)

Scott has been an admin for longer than I have; he's just not been so active over the last few years so you might have missed him. Decar and Meepledrone were both made Admins during the 5-week downtime period we experienced last year. I'm not quite sure where we'd be now without either of them!

Offline MMike

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Re: Carcassonne Central News #9 - January 2022
« Reply #7 on: February 01, 2022, 07:29:14 AM »
Thanks for the shoutout dan :)
Great post, +1 merit from me as well
:neutral-meeple: My Carcassonne crafts on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mp.works/ :neutral-meeple:

Offline Meepledrone

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Re: Carcassonne Central News #9 - January 2022
« Reply #8 on: February 01, 2022, 07:43:43 AM »
Congrats, @DIN0!

Some comments on the Carcassonne Game Notation for the specialized press? ;D

Any talks with HiG or BGA yet?

Please tell us...

Offline Scott

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Re: Carcassonne Central News #9 - January 2022
« Reply #9 on: February 01, 2022, 08:09:23 AM »
For "What Happens Next", I'm thinking that green could put the crrf tile south of the start tile and claim the city. This helps towards completing the cloister, and makes it slightly more difficult for black to continue the road. Green may be able to claim the other portion of the road in a later turn and either combine it with black's road to reduce the point spread, or throw a junction tile in to end black's road.

Offline DIN0

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Re: Carcassonne Central News #9 - January 2022
« Reply #10 on: February 01, 2022, 08:44:28 AM »
@Decar, @Willem, @Challa007, @Meepledrone
Thank you all for the kind words!

Quote
I thought we agreed on a 10% discount on an annual season pass for The Carcassonne Museum?
No better place than Carcassonne Museum to spend free time  :D

Quote
You're welcome. It is well-deserved. You've set the bar pretty high for your next community project though!
Well, high bars → higher motivation → better product  :(y)

Quote
Some comments on the Carcassonne Game Notation for the specialized press? ;D

Any talks with HiG or BGA yet?

Please tell us...
Specialized press  :D?

Well no talks yet with either of the mentioned parties, considering I don't really have effective means of reaching them on my own.
That said, I am open to letting them know of the Carcassonne Game Notation and any help from members well versed in this regard, in moderating the necessary connetion would be welcome of course.
I can think of few potential uses of the notation for HiG and BGA.
For example it would be nice to have transcripts from the Carcassonne World Championship in Essen. Having transcripts of all the games may not be feasible but I would like to think transcribing at least the final rounds would be realistic. I know they always release a video of the Final Game, but a little bit more insight into the games that transpired might be great to have for aspiring future champions.
When it comes to BGA I noticed in Decar's recent interview with them that the thing which takes up the most storage is the replays. In case they would ever need to empty their current database of Carcassonne replays converting them to text files with transcripts using Game Notation might be an adequate solution. That way the games themselves would not be lost.
« Last Edit: February 01, 2022, 08:47:53 AM by DIN0 »

Offline Decar

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Re: Carcassonne Central News #9 - January 2022
« Reply #11 on: February 01, 2022, 09:00:27 AM »
I'm not quite sure where we'd be now without either of them!

I'm not sure where I'd be without me either!


For "What Happens Next", I'm thinking that green could put the crrf tile south of the start tile and claim the city. This helps towards completing the cloister, and makes it slightly more difficult for black to continue the road. Green may be able to claim the other portion of the road in a later turn and either combine it with black's road to reduce the point spread, or throw a junction tile in to end black's road.

Thanks Scott! I think this is a solid option, although I would worry about committing 2 meeples so closely together so early in the game.
I'm also not sure about the risk of having the cloister and city being trapped very soon afterwards.  But there are quite a few city caps available in the deck.
The subsequent road tiles would be good for the cloister, rather than trying to glom onto black's road.

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Re: Carcassonne Central News #9 - January 2022
« Reply #12 on: February 01, 2022, 09:02:26 AM »
Thank you danisthirty for your great news report.

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Re: Carcassonne Central News #9 - January 2022
« Reply #13 on: February 01, 2022, 09:15:08 AM »
Thanks Scott! I think this is a solid option, although I would worry about committing 2 meeples so closely together so early in the game.
I'm also not sure about the risk of having the cloister and city being trapped very soon afterwards.  But there are quite a few city caps available in the deck.
The subsequent road tiles would be good for the cloister, rather than trying to glom onto black's road.

Indeed, I had also considered south or east of the cloister because it's less restrictive for building the city. I would probably go south or east in an actual game because my playing style is non-aggressive, but since the presented scenario is a tournament game, aggressiveness is probably in order.

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Re: Carcassonne Central News #9 - January 2022
« Reply #14 on: February 01, 2022, 10:08:40 AM »
Welcome back to the newsletter.
What happened next- place the tile under the cloister, claiming either the city or start a farming war, whichever fits your preference.
The Geek shall inherit the earth if we get a good die role


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