Fascinating interview.  It really highlights some of the inside machinations of the game design business and emphasizes the importance of the development process.  The specific comments about Carcassonne that Eric cited are most interesting--I’d love to know about the “direct fighting between players” that was excised from the original design.

It also may be an indication of why Wrede hasn’t really come close to duplicating the success of Carc.  I don’t think the publishers of his other games have the same reputation for world-class development that Hans im Gluck has.  Maybe Wrede is more of an ideas man whose games need more development than most.  That’s certainly no crime; I remember reading an article after Hacienda came out about how long and how closely Bernd Brunnhofer worked with Kramer to get that game into its final form.  So even the best designers can benefit from the assistance of a good developer.