I don't know ... A lot has changed since Carc. was first released. There's many more boardgame options (hell, lots more options in general), pricing has become ridiculously competitive, and the average app consumer has gotten a bit spoiled by finding great bargains for 99 cents and $1.99. Which is to say: the Carc. folks might have to change their pricing around. Ten bucks for a digital board game? That's going to result in sticker shock for a lot of people. And Carc. no longer has most of the block to itself; a lot of newcomers have moved in and set up shop (Ascension, Puerto Rico, Ticket to Ride, etc.).
There might be many more boardgames for iOS now, yes, but there is still not a single one that has reached the level of polish carcassonne has.
Completely debatable. The same sort of "gold standard" tripe that's been thrown around by Carc. fans since Day One. Too bad it's not Day One any longer. The truth of the matter is closer to this: Carc. has sat still while others have advanced. Even some of the original Carc. apologists are now howling for an update ... (And I'd call Ticket to Ride more polished. I'd say the same about Crimson, frankly ...)
They've updated it several times... but they're awfully slow, and no signs of the long-promised IAP expansions... I still consider it one of the best games that I have but they're trying very hard to be not competitive.
Yes, I should have clarified. They've released maintenance updates, of course, but the long-promised expansions are vaporware. It's like Duke Nuke 'Em: Carcassone. The only developer working slower right now is the group doing Bang.
It is a great game, I enjoy it a lot but is crying out for updates. Apart from the inclusion of gamecenter there has been no major updates on the app. It needs the extra content, it needs a tournament mode (would make my life easier) but above all it needs the option to play a normal game against a random opponent & not just quick play. @thedukester Can't find anything on Crimson - what type of board game is that?
Crismon is not really a board game. I agree with duke .... Except that puerto rico is not really polished (damn wharf bug!) as carc. But the options out there are now amazing. And not just for polish, lot of great ba games are put making carc less intestine for me. Ghost stories, ascension, puerto ric, Tikal, ticket to ride, ra, just to mention a few.
Just released on Sept. 1. A sort-of digital sequel to the old "Pirates of the [X]" constructible games. Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/crimson-steam-pirates/id438053238?mt=8
The Carcassonne app developers have stated that they're quite happy with their current pricing, as it has been working well for them; they're unlikely to change that just because a few people think it is too high (which has been the case since it was released). I have faith that they'll change the price when they decide it will be financially sensible to do so, and not just because people complain about the game being too expensive; quite frankly, more iOS developers should do the same. I've been saying the same thing as Crunc, though, that when the expansions are released, the main game may possibly see a half-price sale to bring in fence-bound players and promote the whole package. That's not really relevant, though. If somebody wants to play Carcassonne, they want to play Carcassonne, not Ascension or Neuroshima Hex, and the number or quality of other boardgames available doesn't really make much difference to that. BGG is a fantastic testament to this. Right now, if iOS gamers want to play Carcassonne, they only have two options: they can either pick up the official app for NZ$13.99, or Might and Card (a clone) for NZ$1.29. The official Carcassonne app still appears to be proving the more attractive option. It's not even remotely close to "vaporware": the developers stated that the expansions would take time to get right, and have always said that they would be released in autumn (northern hemisphere). If the expansions don't come out before the end of the year, people might have cause to complain at that point, but otherwise impatience is their problem, and certainly not the developers'. Taking into account all the boardgames in the app store, Carcassonne is one of the few - but not the only one - with the degree of polish it has; that much certainly isn't up for debate. Skotos Tech's interpretations of Reiner Knizia's games, for example, are functional but quite basic. Now, games like Ticket to Ride (NZ$9.99), Small World (NZ$9.99), and Ghost Stories (NZ$8.29) are definitely providing much more enhanced overall experiences than the quicker "ports" (compare the presentation of Ghost Stories to En Garde, for example), but unfortunately those are all iPad-only games, which makes them irrelevant as far as iPhone/iPod Touch gamers are concerned.
Duke Nukem was mentioned; if that is vaporware, then so are the expansions. They were originally announced even before the game itself was available. Then they decided to work on the universal update first, which itself took seemingly forever in the fast-moving portable gaming market.
No, they're not. The developers have repeatedly made it clear that the expansions would be released "in the fall" of this year, and we've barely reached that point, let alone passed it. We're not dealing with software that was never intended to be released, software that shows no signs of being released, or software that has missed its release date, so it's not "vaporware". What we have is a standard app update that is currently still well within the official release timeframe that was given by the developers.
I'm a bit tired of playing Carcassonne without expansions, but I do think that Carcassone is THE most polished board game app on the app store. I expect that once the first expansion is released, and I'm certainly confident that it will be since it is money in their pockets, it will be the most polished expansion to a board game on the app store. So, yes, I think this game is awesome, but I'm pretty much holding off on playing (I do have one game going, but that's it) until the first expansion set is released. I have played it a ton before, though, and it was well worth the asking price. They will probably drop the price to $5 when the expansion is released, but only temporarily. I think they are going to stick to their guns on pricing otherwise. I agree that if you want to play Carcassonne, you'll pay the price to play it. It's still relatively cheap compared to the real game. Board games can get away with such pricing, especially when they are this well done. It's the games that are more poorly done and/or less well known/loved that need to drop their prices. See every Sage Games production to date. Those are in "more poorly done" category. A lot more poorly done.
So, beyond not really being a board game, I think it has little to know replayability with all of its missions being completely scripted affairs. I can't vouch for the multiplayer stuff, but the single player missions would have little value in replaying. This being said it is VERY polished and has extensive help and tutorials to get you up to speed.
Got it when it was released and paid about $5 for it. Still playing it after all this time. Few other games have that kind of lasting power. Thankfully game developers have stopped the race to the bottom.
LOL! Stirred up the Carc. fans, did I? Jesus, RELAX, guys. I think you're getting a bit defensive over the lack of expansions and the fact that it's just not the "gold standard" any longer (and it never really was, but whatever). But it's still a fine game, and it will always be valuable for showing other boardgame developers what is possible if they don't settle for less (smooth asynch, chat, professional look-and-feel, etc.). But, seriously, if you don't realize that the App Store environment has changed completely since June 3, 2010 (Carc.'s original release date), then you're just burying your head in the sand.
Wow, really surprised to see you take such a narrow view. First of all, Crimson is absolutely a boardgame. You take turns moving fantasy ships around a map. The ships fire weapons during their turns in an attempt to damage the other guy's ships. Put it in a box with a 16-page rulebook and you'd have a Fantasy Flight Games boardgame. What part of this aren't you seeing ... ? Second, the shot at "scripted" is disingenuous, at best. Many fine games (both cardboard and digital) come with missions or scenarios; why this would even be considered a negative escapes me. In Crimson's case, not only are these fun and engaging, but they are used in an intelligent manner to introduce new rules and concepts.
You're embarrassing yourself. Every person responding to the points you raised provided calm, rational counters to your posts, which, to be honest, were largely misinformation, opinion and insults. The issue here is simply that people disagree with you (not least of whom are the developers themselves), which for some reason you don't seem to be able to handle; I assume otherwise you'd be able to have a discussion, and not just throw out posts consisting entirely of projection that don't address anything anybody actually said, like you just did. The only person getting worked up here is you; why is that?
That's odd I don't feel embarrassed at all. Now, that's interesting. Because here's the thing: I really didn't say anything other than, 1) The App Store environment has changed since 15 months ago, and 2) The Carc. developers might have a harder time justifying a $10 premium price when there's so many more solid boardgame choices now. That's pretty much it; I didn't disparage or mock the actual game at all. In fact, I praised it as being a trend-setter. So why are you getting all worked up? You don't honestly believe that, do you? I mean, seriously ... are you reading your own posts? You can portray yourself as the calm, rational, voice of reason all you wish, but your obsessive need to defend this game and offer point-by-point rebuttals is a pretty big indicator of ... ... wait for it ... getting worked up.
Yes, you mentioned that other boardgames were making their way to the app store, and that there were many games out there for $1/$2. However, none of those games are Carcassonne (Might & Card, while a "clone", isn't exactly the same), so for somebody who wants Carcassonne, none of that makes any difference. Whether they can get Monopoly for $1.29 or Small World for $9.99 is irrelevant, because neither of those are Carcassonne. This isn't like somebody charging $9.99 for a "match-3" game when there are literally hundreds of cheaper (or free) alternatives available: right now, if you want Carcassonne, you pay $13.99 or you go without, and apparently people are willing to pay. In addition, many (if not most) of the people looking for these gamer-style boardgames are coming from playing real (physical) boardgames: Carcassonne, for example, costs NZ$42 for the base game, and NZ$30 for expansions. Unlike the TA crowd who seem to want most every game either for free or $1, these people tend not to be overly fussed about paying $13.99 for a game that would otherwise cost them multiple times that for a physical copy. You appeared to be trying to claim that developers would have a hard time being successful if they continued to sell their game for $13.99, which is an issue on which Carcassonne's code monkeys would disagree with you. They're not having a harder time justifying the price, or they would change it. However, that speculation was all fine and reasonable enough on your part. The minute somebody disagreed with you, however, it was "tripe", "apologists", "vaporware", "head in the sand", and other loaded, personally-invested nonsense which can be knocked on the head. Seriously, your response is going to be "I know you are but what am I?" If you want to counter specific points I (or anybody else) raised in opposition to your posts, then counter them, or don't post at all. Skip the personal attacks and attempts to save face, please: they're entirely unnecessary.
