Your kidding right. A new barrier to fields A new phase in the game AI needs to learn to use these new pieces New rules for tile placement New UI for expansion options New Art New 'You cannot place a meeple here' tile Plus probably more the devs had to contend with that I'm not thinking of Take it apart and you'll see there's more than "just X tiles with water on it."
Too true and as they've developed pretty decent AI for the core game, I'd like to imagine a lot of this long wait has been the fine tuning of the AI to really know how to use these new expansion tiles intelligently (and, heck, they even need to implement a little artificial stupidity with the lower level AI opponents).
It's a great update & I love the new rules feature to allow no fields to be played (kid mode) means I can now play with my son. They kept us waiting for the updates but they have done a very good job. Well done Coding Monkeys
I am so happy it's finally out, and that the price of the expansions is so low! I grabbed both of course. When's the tournament?
Everything in the world could be free but usually people need to eat and pay their rent, therefore things cost money. This includes development time (design, new AI, implementation of the shop etc.) too. It is easy for you to cope with this situation: If you think that it is only a tiny expansion that is not worth you 0.79 cent than vote with your wallet and don't buy it. But stop complaining that you would like to get stuff for free. If you like to work for free, do it but don't expect others to do the same. Besides, this game is a real gem because the polish has been extraordinary from start on and even included multiplayer when GC not even existed. I hope the devs make good money with it so that they will develop more games like this and encourage other devs to do the same.
***IMPORTANT PLEASE READ*** Alright - going to lay this out for those who are having trouble grasping the concept: It is an EXPANSION - not an UPDATE. Therefore you PAY for EXPANSIONS to the original game. When you have the actual board game and want to EXPAND it, you PAY for the pack. Same thing here on a smaller scale. Thus ends all debate whether expansions should be free or not. They aren't. End of story. Add: Real (non iOS or Computer) Carcassonne Board Game and Expansions Price Example
Does anyone face problems openning the app after the update? It crashes at the "Carcassonne" screen iPad2 non JB
They just tweeted that iOS 4.X is causing the app to have issues. Try deleting and reinstalling othwerwise a fix is on the way.
One thing I will add is that if people consider the base game price for the iOS version to be quite high, bear in mind that many of the real-world expansions can cost between 1/2 and 3/4 of the base set's price, whereas the digital expansions are almost insultingly cheap. The Carcassonne developers have a pretty inspired formula here, with a high initial buy-in they can maintain without sales or price drops due to a combination of extreme polish in the app itself and an absence of direct competition. They now also offer high-value expansions for next to nothing; given the price and long-standing demand for these, I don't foresee many, if any, existing players skipping over either of these additions. The developers could easily have charged more (as Crunc had thought they might charge $5 for I&C) and could probably still have sold a copy of both expansions to every existing player, but they chose to set a lower price point that not only captures each of those players, but also makes the basic game a far more attractive proposition for new purchasers who may have previously considered the entry price a little steep, and/or were concerned that continuing to pick up every released expansion would become prohibitively expensive. I think the general consensus from the playerbase now is just that, if possible, we'd rather not have to wait until next Christmas for the next expansion(s). That said, TR2 and I&C are probably the two most played and recommended expansions by players of the physical boardgame (hence their arrival first), so Carcassonne fiends should be covered for a good long time. ^_^ Link to NZ example prices for the various Carcassonne products.
I'm mostly very pleased with the addition of the expansions, especially at this price point. A smidgen of disappointment that, unlike the real I&C, you can't add a 6th player after buying it, but oh well. Too many good things to really complain
The expansions & new play modes solidify once again why Carc is one of the best apps on iOS & the only game I've never deleted since its first install & continue to play to this day. Hit me up for a game! Polixenes on Game Center! aa
I haven't tried the new expansions in the app yet, but when I played the board game the cathedrals would add 1 point for every tile adjoining them, but the description doesn't make it sound like that is how it works? I suppose I could go and check the official rules, but I thought I would ask here first. It would be great if they allowed using only the features of the expansions that we wanted, so maybe they will add that in, like they did with the fields. Does Rivers 2 also include Rivers 1? I love the price point and it was a no-brainer purchase. Thanks devs!
Yep, the cathedral boosts the score of every tile of the entire city it is located in, provided you actually complete the city, otherwise you receive no points at all. Where were you looking at rules that stated otherwise for the iOS version? No, R2 basically replaces R1, which was much simpler and didn't have as many features as its "sequel".
Nope - but there's no real reason to play with The River 1 (unless you like fighting over the hugemongous field that it tends to create... )
Don't like the expansions? DON'T BUY THEM. Is that that complicated? I, for one, am uber-excited to brush off my Carcassonne app and play some new games!
I like playing with both, but only if you add in that promo expansion that has a replacement spring that divides the field. Hopefully they will add that promo expansion and then include The River 1. Building a huge river is fun.
