danisthirty

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danisthirty
Posts: 13
Joined: Tue Feb 02, 2021 9:20 pm
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Location: Reading

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danisthirty

Post by danisthirty »

Hi. I'm Dan, and I've been playing Carcassonne since it was bought for me as a birthday present in 2012. I wasn't a boardgamer and assumed it was some sort of jigsaw puzzle at first, but once I'd realised it was a game and had played it a few times I was absolutely hooked!

I got very excited when I learnt of Carcassonne's expansions and found Carcassonne Central (CarcC) while trying to decide which ones to buy first. I soon got drawn into CarcC's community and in April 2014 suggested the idea of an online league where forum members could play Carcassonne against each other using JCloisterZone. The tournament proved so successful that I ended up running ten more competitions over the next few years and became an admin at CarcC through recognition of all the work I was putting into the forums including newsletters, quizzes, giveaways and other actions intended to bring people together. A major highlight from this time was driving to Essen in 2016 with my good friend Tom/ Decar, and presenting Klaus-Jürgen Wrede with a framed Carcassonne landscape consisting of around 140 tiles that had been signed by Carcassonne fans from all over the world. Meeting KJW would have been enough in itself, but being able to present him with such a wonderful gift on behalf of a community I loved was the icing on the cake!

I joined BoardgameArena in 2018 and couldn't get enough of it! Despite struggling with the interface at first, the frequency of the various competitions and the size and strength of the Carcassonne playing community there meant I became a daily visitor and soon made friends with lots of the other regulars. One such friend - defdean - messaged me in 2020 to invite me to form a UK team for Carcassonne.cat's upcoming World Team Online Championship. I was already in touch with most of the team either through having met them at previous UK Carcassonne championships or through CarcC, but I also checked the standings of BGA's current Arena season for any waifs and strays to make sure we had the best possible team available. The UK team had been born! Since then, I've tried to attract new members with promises of vast wealth and unimaginable power, but thankfully the prospect of representing the UK and playing some top-level Carcassonne has proven sufficient for all new recruits so far.

My top three Carcassonne highlights:
1. Presenting Klaus-Jürgen Wrede with his framed Carcassonne landscape in 2016
2. Being part of the UK team that finished fourth in the European Team Online Championship in 2020
3. Finishing second in the UK Carcassonne championship in 2019


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