Poll

Which of these options best sums up your opinion towards, and experience with, Carcassonne II?

I like Carcassonne II and I have bought the base game and/or some expansions.
23 (22.5%)
I don't really like Carcassonne II but I still bought the base game and/or some expansions.
7 (6.9%)
I don't like Carcassonne II and I won't buy anything with this artwork.
34 (33.3%)
I don't like Carcassonne II, but I will buy any future unique expansions with this artwork.
22 (21.6%)
I don't have a strong opinion either way about Carcassonne II.
11 (10.8%)
Other (please explain below).
5 (4.9%)

Total Members Voted: 102

Author Topic: Carcassonne II opinion poll  (Read 48704 times)

Offline jungleboy

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Carcassonne II opinion poll
« on: January 07, 2016, 01:07:34 PM »
After over a year of the new artwork, and with the Princess and the Dragon and Abbey and Mayor on the way, I think it's time to take stock of the community's feelings towards Carcassonne II. There is a general feeling that most people don't like it - but is that really true? Vote in the poll and let's find out!

Linkback: https://www.carcassonnecentral.com/community/index.php?topic=2323.0

Offline SRBO

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Re: Carcassonne II opinion poll
« Reply #1 on: January 07, 2016, 01:20:55 PM »
The only way they were able to get me in Version II is when they only had a basegame with new expansions.. but they are redoing it all over again..
In my opinion a bad mistake to backstab your community in tricking them to pay 200-300 euro all over again. (some even more when you really got everything..

Offline MrNumbers

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Re: Carcassonne II opinion poll
« Reply #2 on: January 07, 2016, 01:22:24 PM »
There is one option missing (and it is exactly my point of view):
I don't like Carcassonne II, but I will buy any future unique expansions with this artwork.
"I never lose. Either I win or I learn." (Nelson Mandela)

Offline Paul

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Re: Carcassonne II opinion poll
« Reply #3 on: January 07, 2016, 01:24:09 PM »
I don't mind the new artwork when it comes to owning them.
  What I don't like with the new artwork is how the tiles becomes repulsive to look at in photos.

Since I already had the base game, I bought the first two expansions. It's only 10 Euro per expansion so I don't mind.
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Offline jungleboy

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Re: Carcassonne II opinion poll
« Reply #4 on: January 07, 2016, 01:26:56 PM »
There is one option missing (and it is exactly my point of view):
I don't like Carcassonne II, but I will buy any future unique expansions with this artwork.

Added.

Offline SRBO

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Re: Carcassonne II opinion poll
« Reply #5 on: January 07, 2016, 01:34:22 PM »
There is one option missing (and it is exactly my point of view):
I don't like Carcassonne II, but I will buy any future unique expansions with this artwork.

Added.

I dont know if there is an option.. but i cant change my vote now. wasnt there a checkbox for it? (dont know:P)

Offline jungleboy

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Re: Carcassonne II opinion poll
« Reply #6 on: January 07, 2016, 01:38:59 PM »
I dont know if there is an option.. but i cant change my vote now. wasnt there a checkbox for it? (dont know:P)

OK, I've reset the vote count with the new option included. So everyone who already voted should vote again. Cheers!

Offline kettlefish

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Re: Carcassonne II opinion poll
« Reply #7 on: January 07, 2016, 03:35:13 PM »
I used this opinion:
Quote
I don't like Carcassonne II and I won't buy anything with this artwork.
But I have the 1st and 2nd expansion: the front graphics - I will put them away - then I have some more blanc tiles. I didn't buy these expansions. I only need the rule books for the clarification of rules.

Offline Rich_The_Fish

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Re: Carcassonne II opinion poll
« Reply #8 on: January 07, 2016, 03:45:20 PM »
Good idea Jungleboy, I'm interested to see how the results stack up. I've placed my vote, but thought I'd give my two-penneth on the subject...

I really disliked the new style artwork when it was first launched, but I'm (afraid to say that I'm) gradually learning to tolerate it! I think that the turning point was when Piklach and I borrowed a copy at the UK meetup and quite liked the Abbot mini expansion and the lovely gardens. Granted, the tiles do look very detailed, but they seem too modern and the colours just seem wrong (esp those blue roofs). For the record, I will definitely not be buying any Carc 2.0 tiles - the main reasons are that (in my opinion) it just doesn't mix with the traditional artwork very well and now I have quite a number of the original expansions then I'm certainly not going to start buying it all again! I really hope that new tiles with artwork by Doris Matthäus continue to be released for many years to come.

Offline Decar

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Re: Carcassonne II opinion poll
« Reply #9 on: January 07, 2016, 03:47:16 PM »
It's almost blasphemy, but sometimes I look at the Carcassonne tiles and box art and wonder if is starting to look dated. 
I think Dorris Matthaus's artwork is beautiful, but compare the tiles from USnS and classic Carcassonne.  Things have moved on and tastes have changed. Imagine playing Monopoly on a board from 1905, technology has allowed for better resolution and better quality printing, which ultimately allows for a more emersive experience.

I use Monopoly of an example of a game that has.... Unfortunately.... Stood the test of time. It has done so by subtly reinventing it's appearance; and less so than changing the rules.

People dont like change, but it is part of the course.  Its a shame DM didnt rejig the artwork, for reasons that will remain unknown.  This has been decided and clearly HiG are moving on.  I think the new artwork is still appealing to younger people and hopefully it will stand the test of time.  Rather than be disgruntled about compatibility, we should be pointing out faults in the artwork that make the game harder to play, the the hope these can be refined.

This is my biggest critisism of the new artwork. Some of the tile layouts are poor. Im on my phone now but tomorrow i will include some photos of tiles and comments how they could be subtly improved to aide players.

There are so many obscure and hard to find expansions now that a series reboot seems like a great way to allow new players to join the Carcassonne Party.  I've been following CarcC's twitter account over Christmas and I have seen many many tweets of new players who are thrilled with their new Xmas game and hiw beautiful their landscapes are.

I also had a tweet from someone who mixes Carcassonne and Winter Edition together!

Offline Whaleyland

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Re: Carcassonne II opinion poll
« Reply #10 on: January 07, 2016, 04:44:14 PM »
There is one option missing (and it is exactly my point of view):
I don't like Carcassonne II, but I will buy any future unique expansions with this artwork.
On that note, there's also:
I don't like Carcassonne II, but I may buy a future unique expansion with this artwork.

Clearly I'm undecided on that one specific issue. Technically, I do have Spiel '14 and Spiel '15 tiles in the new art, but I have no intention to actually use either in my games (that's how stupidly completist I am).

Offline TheDoctor_13

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Re: Carcassonne II opinion poll
« Reply #11 on: January 07, 2016, 10:21:31 PM »
My opinion is already know, I'm a fan of the artwork and I own the base game. I own I&C in the original artwork, but I plan on maybe selling it and buying the new artwork (not a huge problem, as its cheaper then the original artwork). My only problem is how long it might take to get the originals re-printed in the new style, and the fan-expansions will likely continue to be in the old style.

Offline AlbinoAsian

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Re: Carcassonne II opinion poll
« Reply #12 on: January 08, 2016, 12:05:09 AM »
I selected "other" because my opinion is

 "I'm ok with Carcassonne II, but I'm not happy with the way they have done things and continue to do things. I will not buy anything in the Carcassonne II series until it contains something substantially unique or different from from whats in other Carcassonne variants."

So my explanation is this. The artwork is neither here nor there, its an update but not an improvement for me. I would have liked better artwork yes, but this wouldn't have made me "buy into" the Version II series any more than I already do.

If at some point they release some new major expansions that are exclusive to Carcassonne II, I'd be happy to purchase them along with the base game, in the same way that I purchase every base game I can that is a variant of the original Carcassonne. So far Carcassonne II has brought nothing new to the table (the Abbots don't count for me).

Reboots in other game lines happen all the time, but when do it, its usually to fix something that was broken, or to take things a different direction. At the moment I haven't seen that happen with Carcassonne II and I won't purchase anything until it does.
« Last Edit: January 08, 2016, 02:28:34 AM by AlbinoAsian »

Offline Whaleyland

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Re: Carcassonne II opinion poll
« Reply #13 on: January 08, 2016, 02:12:21 AM »
Reboots in other game lines happen all the time, but when do it, its usually to fix something that was broken, or to take things a different direction.
That's a good thing to note, although it's not entirely true. What seems to more often be the case is that the new version is used specifically to market a new expansion. Pandemic, for example, released a new version to critical righteous indignation, only to since release two large expansions for it (in addition to the original On the Brink expansion). The new art was utterly unnecessary for this change. Similarly, every version of Catan has been accompanied with a new expansion exclusive to that new artwork (and future artwork changes):
1st edition: Settlers of Catan
2nd edition: Settlers + Seafarers
3rd edition: Settlers + Seafarers + Cities & Knights
4th edition: Settlers + Seafarers + Cities & Knights + Traders & Barbarians
5th edition: Settlers + Seafarers + Cities & Knights + Traders & Barbarians + Explorers & Pirates
None of these were necessary, in contrast to the conversion of the Catan Card Game into Rivals for Catan, which introduced cleaned up mechanics and a number of fixes in addition to a new method of expansions and a new overall theme.

Carcassonne II thus far has introduced nothing new to the game in respect to expansions even to justify the change (I agree, Abbot doesn't count). In fact, it had just released Hills & Sheep in the old style, directly undermining their new art direction. The rules are simplified but nothing is really clarified in any way that was necessary. This art change was just to rebrand the product, plain and simple. But remaking the tiles was never necessary. Box artwork: fine. But tile artwork: utterly unnecessary.

Offline danisthirty

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Re: Carcassonne II opinion poll
« Reply #14 on: January 08, 2016, 02:25:06 AM »
I voted that I don’t mind either way. On the rare occasions that my wife and I are able to sit down to play Carcassonne I’ll usually grab whichever box first falls out of my wardrobe regardless of whether it’s classic Carc or Carc 2.0. Apart from the Abbots (which we don’t use), the gameplay is exactly the same and that’s what I’m most interested in/ addicted to.

With the utmost respect to everyone here, my opinion regarding this whole debate is that some people see Carc 2.0 as a threat to classic Carc. But whilst classic Carc may be under threat, it isn’t under threat from Carc 2.0, it’s under threat from old age and the fact that the classic artwork looks dated. Beautiful, granted. But dated nonetheless, compared to many other games at least.

This would still be a problem for classic Carc even if Carc 2.0 didn’t exist, but if the fact that Carc 2.0 does exist means that more people are likely to discover it and play it then I don’t really care what version of the artwork they’re using as long as they’re enjoying the game and keeping it alive. Surely it’s better having classic Carc co-exist with Carc 2.0 and there be some kind of future rather than nothing to look forward to at all?

And finally, if HiG do start publishing exclusive Carc 2.0 expansions, how long is it going to be before some of our very talented authors here have knocked up the same expansions in the classic artwork? I’m not 100% on the legality of this, but it’s certainly a possibility and if HiG want to salvage some respect from those of us who are still annoyed by their Carc 2.0 decision then hopefully they’ll see the sense in allowing this to happen.


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