Most people who have played Carcassonne have realized that there is an
inequality in the tile distribution. The last player in a game will
usually play one less tile than all the other players. I say usually
because the situation may occur during the game where a tile cannot
legally be placed and it is removed from the game and another one drawn.
This would then alter the tile distribution mentioned, however, this
rarely occurs.
The reason for this is that there are 72 tiles in a complete game and
one of these is used as the starting tile. So that leaves 71 tiles
to draw from during the game, and 71 is not evenly divisible by 2, 3,
4, or 5, thus it results in the uneven distribution. Why Klaus-Jurgen
Wrede didn't decide to have 73 tiles, I can't say. Maybe that was his
intention, or just an oversight. However, if there were 72 tiles to
draw from then it would leave an even distribution for any number of
players from 2 - 4 and 6 (I know it is a 2 - 5 player game, but there have
been discussions on rec.games.board about the possibility of adding
a 6th player).
Since this has been an issue in my gaming group, and many of the others
I have read about on r.g.b, I decided to come up with a solution. I have
purchased additional copies of Carcassonne and will sell individual
tiles to anyone that wants one at $1.00 each. That will pay for the
tile, the envelope, the postage, and any handling. So all you need to
send me is the buck and your return address. (Who wants to take out tiles
when you can pick one up for a buck and use all the tiles evenly.)
Additionally you can send me a list of what tile you would prefer. Be sure to include a few choices and rank them in order of preference. I will ship the first available tile I have on your list according to ranking, otherwise I will send you a random tile (I will not ship a starting tile unless it is specifically requested). If you are not sure what tiles are available offhand then you can refer to the online Carcassonne Tile Distribution list.
Why $1 and not less?Well, it's really not that much, and I figure it's easier to send a buck through the mail, rather than spare change. Also I need to make it reasonably worth my time to provide this service. And remember it includes my cost for the game (+ shipping), postage, envelope, etc., along with not knowing how many people will want an extra tile.
Jim Barlow
883 County Road 2125 N
Champaign, IL 61822
Be sure to include your tile preferences and your return address!
The easier, quicker method, use PayPal!
If you have a paypal account then you can send me the money through them and I will ship the tile immediately. My paypal account is jbarlow@ncsa.uiuc.edu. If you do not have a paypal account then sign up for one now. Just be sure to email me the address of where you want your tile sent.
Note:
I cannot accept credit card payments through PayPal. You must use a bank
account or your PayPal balance to fund the payment. Upgrading to a Premier
account is too much just to accept the credit card payments.