Carcassonne Central

Question: were some editions of Carcassonne released that did have the small city rule and 3rd edition farm scoring? At http://www.chessandpoker.com/carcassonne-rules-and-strategy-guide.html (http://www.chessandpoker.com/carcassonne-rules-and-strategy-guide.html), it talks about the small city rule and 3rd edition farm scoring. Also, one of my friends whose German friend translated the rules for Carcassone for them play with 3rd edition farm scoring and the small city rule.

It could well be. The original change to the small city rule was announced on the website under the heading 'Recent Changes'. There's a translation in the out-of-date FAQ (http://carc.mjharper.de/page9/page9.html#Small_city_rule_revoked) section, but it doesn't really add anything to what we already know.

The problem is actually the term '3rd edition'—and maybe I should clarify this in the CAR, actually. '3rd edition' has come to refer to nothing more than the method of farmer scoring being used at the end of the game. Since the small city rule has nothing to do with farmer scoring, it is quite possible to have both the small city rule and 3rd edition scoring, and wrong to think that one must entail the other.

I suppose the revocation of the small city rule might constitute a 4th edition, and the Big Box would then be a 5th edition. There might have been other steps in between, and should this question (http://carc.mjharper.de/page6/page6.html#Question) be integrated we might be talking about a 6th edition. But that's all speculation, and it's easier at the moment to refer to the Big Box rules, and take them as the latest.

Whilst I really prefer the 3rd edition farming rules, I do think the small city rule is excellent and should remain. It's generally very easy to create small cities and for that and the fact it brings 4 points without the rule, small cities always seems a really cheap way to score easy points in my humble opinion. Perhaps someone can convince me otherwise?

Moreover, without the small city rule I'd imagine there would be a littany of small cities. If this is the case, I can see why farmers and big farms then become so dominant in many people's games.

It makes an excellent house rule. :)

Of course, the main reason for revoking the rule was consistency. It was—I think—the only instance of an exception in the Carc rules, and so they are much simpler to remember, and teach, without it. Also, revoking the rule actually makes strategy easier: as one of the old FAQ pointed out, a small city would actually score more during farmer scoring than on completion of the city itself. Streamlining the score keeps the two things more separate which is a good thing for beginners and young players.

(I haven't tried it, but I could imagine that trying to explain to a child that her two-tile city scores 2 points while your three-tile city scores 6 could be a little tricky ;D)

Also, as more and more expansions are added to the mix, there are quite enough rules to remember ;)

Actually, I don't think that's the case, although it probably depends on how many expansions you're playing. In vanilla Carc it probably does lead to more small cities, simply because there are fewer opportunities for building; but by the time you've got three or four expansions added it, well, if creating a small city is the best you can ever do with a tile, you probably aren't going to win. By the end of the game, when most of the possibilities have been played out, making small cities may be effective; but I'm sure most of us are, by that point, trying to build and connect farms and farmers instead. And earlier on in the game you're trying to build a metropolis or three, and leech onto other people's cities to steal their points. Also, of course, a couple of points here and there might make a difference if your total is 70, but when you're scoring 300+ it doesn't really matter much.

My view would be that it's a nice house rule if you're just playing with the basic game, but after that, forget it.

W eplay with most of the expansions and the 4 points / city has never been a problem. There is so much going on with the game with the expansions included that a mere four points is hardly a prime consideration anymore. We like the consistency of the ruleset and ease in explaining to new players as well. The fewer exceptions to a rule, the better. Yay, 3rd edition!