Carcassonne Central expansion: reboot!

[Novelty]

He made it sound like it was more a business trip than anything.

It's probably a long business trip for him and Carcassonne isn't his only game.  Hopefully we'll have some good news!

[Whaleyland]

You'll all be excited to know that I emailed Jay today. He's been much better at replying to me lately so I'd expect a response by Wednesday at the latest. I asked about the CarcCentral expansion (of course) but I also asked about the US release of Der Tunnel and requested him to put a watermark on the tunnel tiles. I feel it would be really great if all the mini expansions would get watermarks, but really only The River and Cult, Siege and Creativity still need them (well, and the mini expansion) since the rest were included in Count, King & Cult.

[Whaleyland]

Alright, so the news from Essen is in and it appears mixed. Here's Jay's reply to my question concerning our expansion:

I have passed your suggestions on - it is up to Hans im Glück and I have
no idea, frankly, if they will do anything as Bernd has many ideas already
in the works.

It's with Hans im Glück now and outside Jay's influence or knowledge. This Bernd guy seems like the next person to contact if we want to know what's going on with the expansion. The good news, at least I hope, is that Carcassonne does not appear dead at all. This Bernd guy is making ideas for expansions, "many" ideas, so that suggests there is a long life left for our favorite game.

I'll put the other response on the Tunnel board here.

[CKorfmann]

Well, I wonder if we can start communicating with him?  Perhaps we can suggest to him that he visit our site for ideas as well.  I think we already had the discussion about releasing our work, right?

[Whaleyland]

Actually, I already emailed him and am awaiting a reply. Hopefully he sends something. I don't have his specific email so I had to use the site's forum. But I don't think there are tons of employees there.

[Whaleyland]

It has been a strange set of days with Jay and HiG. First, Jay told me that it was all in HiG's hands now, then he told me that he lost my original proposal and can I send another, and today I get the strangest news of all...mostly because it is in badly translated (or written?) English from Hans im Glück itself. Here's the message (pass on through Jay):

Oh yes, I remember. And we like these ideas. We will make in Nürnberg expasion 8 - I will send you infos soon. Perhaps Christof can already send you something.
 
After that I think we will mek the next expansion not before 2010 and therefor this could be interesting. We have a lot of ideas at the moment and will look at these in the next weeks to decide which could be really good for a next expansion.

They will be in touch with you directly when they are ready to proceed.

I am not entirely sure what the first part of this message is referring to. It definitely sounds like HiG is making Expansion 8 (after Catapult) and is planning to release it soon. Not sure what the Nuremberg part refers to, though. The second section is more confusing though, it implies that HiG plans to release that new expansion before 2010. I think this is where he starts talking about our expansion. It sounds like it is one set of many ideas but that he is going to decide which are to be playtested for Expansion 9(?), set to release in 2010, sometime in the next few weeks. Jay then ends telling me personally that HiG will contact me directly when they are ready to do something with our expansions (if ever).

So the good news I can derive is that Expansion 8 appears nearly done, albeit unannounced, and that is may release before the end of the year, which makes sense if you don't consider Wheel of Fortune an official expansion (which HiG does not advertise it as). Tunnel, then, is the only official expansion this year and that is hardly a major development. The less-than-certain news is that Bernd is considering ideas for Expansion 9 in the next few weeks and plans to release that in 2010, and if any of our ideas are accepted, it will be a part of this expansion.

Debate, discuss, get confused! At least something is being said about the CarcassonneCentral expansion and that is better than nothing!

[CKorfmann]

Wow, this sounds pretty interesting, but I'm not sure what to think.  I guess we'll have to wait and see.

[Whaleyland]

Not sure about the dates Bernd mentioned, but the Nuremberg Game Fair next year is 4-9 February and it sounds like we can expect some new full-sized expansion then, if not sooner. I doubt HiG will release anything sooner than that.

[CKorfmann]

Not that you would keep it to yourself, Governor, but have you heard anything new yet?

[Whaleyland]

No news. Bernd never got back to me and Jay says it is in HiG's hands now. They have a bunch of ideas they're throwing around for Expansion 8 and ours are just in that mix. I think Seasons is probably out due to its similarity to the Wheel mechanic in Wheel of Fortune. When I was playing last week, I was thinking: "Crap, this is pretty close to Wheel of Fortune". The card expansion and the missionary, though, I think still have a shot. By Order of the King was quite inventive, I think. We may not hear from them, though, until something of ours gets approved. Otherwise, just wait for the Nürnberg Game Fair. That's where they're announcing Expansion 8 according to Jay's email.

[CKorfmann]

No news is still good news... I guess, right?  At least it's not bad news.

[CKorfmann]

Thought I'd kick the tires on this one again.  I don't suppose there's any more news since Expansion 8 is sitting on my game table right now. 

I wonder if our best bet wouldn't be to self publish something like Games Quarterly did.  Granted, this will cost $$$, or maybe just $ (hopefully not $$$$$...), but lets cross that bridge when we come to it.  Any thoughts?

[meepleater]

Just a *few* issues:

1. Will we even be allowed to do it by HiG, RGG?
2. Who would organise it?
3. Who would pay for it?
4. Where would the profits go? (The person who funded it, the expansion's creator, the site, RGG etc.)
5. How many expansions?
6. Which expansions?
7. How much would it cost to purchase?
8. How would it be printed? (Through RGG ect.)
9. How would it be distributed? (Magazine, online order etc.)
10. For how long would it be available?
11. Other legal issues...

[CKorfmann]

Yeah, I know there are a lot of issues, but I'm thinking about the GQ11.  It's too bad that magazine folded up because it would be nice to talk to them and see how they did it.  I remember Jay talking about it, but I don't remember what he said.  I think it's worth persuing to see if it's possible before we worry about coming up with the money.  I guess I'm being optimistic. 

[Whaleyland]

Either way, its your turn to try out such negotiations. I'm rather tired of talking to Jay. Our previous attempt just got passed off to HiG and I've never heard back from them again.