Spoons

Default has 88, I checked. So quite a lot fewer, but not quite the 35 you mentioned. 😛 And I don't think all of them check, since there are some that basically never come up because their hiring rules and rosters are such that they have no need to hire anyone, but yeah, that does certainly hinder things. Though if it didn't take so long for each individual one then that would be a non-issue, since again, everything else that would be made longer by having more companies takes way less time than this. And I'm not certain what all of that goes to. Like, I've got to wonder, like the first response said, if it's figuring out who to hire, or if it's more that that doesn't take long but the negotiation takes longer? I dunno, I'm just guessing. I'm sure it needs to take as long as it does, it's just a shame that it makes long playthroughs take even longer in bigger DBs, and that it's the sole contributing factor for the loading taking forever.

It's decently big at least, yeah, especially with what I'm adding to it. Maybe I'll take your advice about the game areas thing, since some don't make much sense, like I'll look at it and go "Really? They can work there?" Like, so many people can work in America, probably because most of the companies are in America, but if they're not American then that doesn't make sense unless they've worked there before. There are 185 companies and 5494 workers, so yeah, significantly more than default.

Rigid Planner, perhaps?

Through the Crowd - This worker enters through the crowd. They have a chance, during the entrance part of their match, to have an altercation with a fan due to this, that's increased or decreased depending on their personality. Questionable Loyalty - This worker can be coerced into breaking their loyalty from one company size lower, medium or above rather than big. Just Won't Quit - This worker refuses to retire... even when they probably should. They will never stop being an active wrestler. If they would normally retire, they'll become an Occasional Wrestler instead. Master Manipulator - This worker will try to befriend the management of whatever company they're in in order to try and get a better position on the card & win more matches. They'll have a much higher chance than usual of bonding with the owner/booker of a company, developing a positive relationship with them, and if they do this in an AI-controlled company, they'll be treated as if they're one level higher (Star, Recognizable, etc.) than they actually are, and will often win matches and be given championship opportunities. However, losing any matches will have a much bigger effect on them, and they're much more likely for their relationship with the owner/booker to turn sour if they lose too many times in this position, or if their manipulation doesn't work.

Nope. Windows 10 with OneDrive turned off.

My laptop isn't that old, I don't think, maybe 4 to 5 years at most? But more like 2-3. Though I do often have other things running as well. Doesn't make much of a difference whether I do or don't, though, since the disk & CPU don't go red in Task Manager. The DB I'm using is a heavily edited version of a converted port of the 2020 "War of the Immortals" DB, which... I have no idea how it compares to the default, honestly. I can't check right now because the game is loading, and is stuck on... well, take a guess. xD I'm legitimately glad, though, to hear that it's worse than yours, because that means that the "several minutes per company" thing is not standard, which is a big relief.

Oh no, it's done every single day. Every in-game day, specifically the transitions between them, take WAY too long because of it, to the point where I have to be doing something else while I play the game lest I spend hours of my life doing nothing while the game loads. I do think you're onto something with how it most likely works, though. I just can't imagine why that'd take so much longer than every other loading time that's affected by the number of workers in the DB. Like, processing workers, contracts, etc. takes comparatively no time at all. It's by far the longest part of the loading process, taking more time than everything else combined, which makes me think that it'd be that way regardless of how many workers were in there, though maybe not, since it's not every company, it's only the ones who want to hire people in the first place.

So, in my playthroughs, I will always create an alliance that consists of every company that's small sized or above that isn't in one already (and are happy being in one). This usually makes for a ton of members, and a ton of champions to compensate for that. However, when playing this most recent playthrough where I'm unemployed and am just watching how things progress, I noticed something interesting. CMLL, who's always part of my alliance, is doing WAY better financially. And in fact, several other companies are doing better, too. CMLL, in my other games, will often borrow a lot of alliance champions, like basically for every single show, and, putting 2 and 2 together, I think that tanks them financially, since usually after one month they're severely in the red, like by a couple million, but here, when left to the exact same devices just without an alliance, they're in the green by about five hundred thousand after the same amount of time. So I feel like alliance loans need to be nerfed somehow, to make them more viable, so as not to tank a company on their own if the company does a lot of them. EDIT: After another month, they are in the red, but not nearly as much. 900K rather than like, 5mil.

Another thing might just be that mysterious randomness. I will very often (like way too often) run shows where both guys in the main event get high 90's but the match gets an 82 with the only penalty being inconsistency, then I'll quit and redo it and it'll be an 86 with several MORE issues, then I'll quit and redo it again and it'll be a 77. Then again and it's a 90 with "terrible colour commentary". Match ratings vary wildly sometimes for seemingly no reason, and you need to learn to roll with the punches, and abuse creative ideas as much as possible.

I don't know if it's just me, but I've noticed that, while everything else loads relatively quickly between days, "Processing AI Hirings" takes FOREVER, often pausing for minutes at a time on nearly every company it processes. It doesn't even like, freeze the game or stop responding either, which means it's actually taking that time to hire people. It did this in 2020, too. Anyone know why it does this?

Could also have "Teams with both members able to negotiate" so you don't run into the issue of hiring one only to discover you can't hire the other.

I think it would make sense for Medium (maybe Big) and above companies to not get penalties for language barrier if the worker in question is in a video angle, as they can easily hire a team of subtitle writers, like AEW does when letting New Japan stars speak Japanese.

Maybe we could have a whole spectrum of alignments? "Face", "Tweener, Leaning Face", "Tweener", "Tweener, Leaning Heel", "Heel". Maybe even more than that. I just think it would be nice to have a bit more customizability with this kind of thing.

Hey, here's an idea. How about, when approached with a creative idea, sometimes you'll get workers coming up with ideas for a new catchphrase that you can debut in an angle? If it goes well, they gain the "Hot New Catchphrase" attribute, but if not, then the rating gets a penalty? Same with an idea for a new spot in a match, "Hot New Move" could be added if it succeeds, the match suffers if it fails. Having creative ideas that can result in temporary attributes would be fun, I think.

Wrestling is Life - This worker doesn't know what to do with themselves if not working the wrestling schedule. If unemployed, their wage demands are severely lessened. If they're working for multiple companies at once, and/or have a busy schedule, they will get occasional morale boosts. This worker's morale changes for being hired and fired are greatly enhanced. "Money Motivated", "Fame Hungry", and "Loves the Business" have lessened effects on this worker, as they would do it regardless of those factors.

In the editor? Like not the in-game editor, but the proper, before-the-game-starts editor. I'm not seeing anything like that.

Honestly, I think every angle rating also being rated on popularity kind of hinders things a bit. When Raven or Mick Foley cut truly legendary promos back in the day, they were not yet megastars. When Steve Austin said "Austin 3:16" for the first time, he was just coming out from his time as The Ringmaster. I think some should, obviously, but all of them having that restriction is just unnecessarily prohibitive.

Tag Team Battle Royales, as well, and customizable match setups and requirements would be fun.

Definitely! Like having someone eliminate their partner, making for a heated argument after the match. I think choosing the entrance order would be nice, too, for rumbles. Like, the elimination order gives us SOME control, but I think doing that would give us a bit more, and I think having 100% full control of such a match would be a fun idea. That way you could simulate things like Benoit going all the way in '04.

I think it'd make battle royals more immersive if some people, particularly those with negative/confrontational personality types and/or political players, complained about which number they get eliminated, even if the person winning is well above them in popularity. For example, Hulk Hogan might complain about being eliminated third, thinking he ought to make it to "at least the final four". Or not being eliminated "before someone so small", in relation to someone lower down on the card than he is. This would make you have to rethink your elimination order, and almost make it like a puzzle to solve. How to keep everyone happy and still get the outcome you desire. Or you could just rebook it with different people. Either or. Also, you could have, for example, two people who have IRL beef with one another, neither wanting to be eliminated before the other, so you have to make the decision to please only one of them (since I don't think double eliminations are a thing yet)!

Update: Yeah, this is also breaking up the teams & making me unable to defend the titles on my own guys. The trios champions are The Elite (Kenny Omega & The Young Bucks), and very often, only Nick Jackson is being borrowed. Or just Kenny & Matt, used in separate teams. It's really weird.

Great ideas! I think allowing for that level of control would help a lot of DB makers, especially historical ones.

Living Life On The Edge - If this worker is on a booking team, or they otherwise come up with ideas, their ideas will always be very risky, but will always have a massive payoff if they succeed. Top Ref - This worker is considered one of the best referees in the business. If put in the position of "Head Referee", they will boost the morale, and the bonus given to matches, of the entire referee team. However, they are much more likely to complain if someone else is in that position instead of them. He's Coming With Me! - This worker won't agree to sign with a company unless they make an offer to another particular worker as well. This doesn't apply if said worker is unsignable by the company making the offer. Terrible New Catchphrase - This worker coined (or was given) a new catchphrase that the fans just aren't getting behind. Their promo & other spoken angle ratings are reduced as a result. [This attribute is automatically temporary and lasts anywhere between 3 months and 1 year.] Pipebomb Launcher - This worker is much better at shoot promos than most. They get much higher ratings if they're unscripted, but are also more likely to offend the person/people they're talking about, thus starting fights backstage & forming negative relationships. Birds of a Feather - This worker is much more likely to form a positive relationship with somebody whose personality is the same as their own, but also much more likely to form a negative relationship with someone whose personality clashes with their own. Occasional Comedy Wrestler - This worker has one or two alter egos that are considered comedic, but otherwise they're considered a serious wrestler. When working one of their comedic alter egos (any alter ego they have with a Comedy-based gimmick), they will be treated as if they have the "Notable Comedy Match Performer" attribute and the "Funny Bones" attribute, but won't be treated as such otherwise. Accent - This worker has a heavy accent from wherever they're from. If speaking another language, or speaking English in a different English-speaking country (besides America-Canada & vice-versa), angle ratings where they're talking will be rated slightly lower, as many fans won't be able to tell what they're saying. (This no longer applies in medium companies or larger during video angles, because they'll be able to hire subtitle teams.) Star Struck - (This attribute only applies to wrestlers who are 25 and below, and have 5 or years of experience or fewer.) If working in a company with a wrestler at least 10 years older than them, that has at least 50 popularity more than them in the region, this worker will be in awe of them, will try to spend time with them, and will try to take as much advice from them as possible. They will be more likely to become a protégé of said star. If booked in a match together, this worker gets a huge morale boost. After working with them for 6-12 months, this worker will have gotten used to it, and so will no longer get the benefits from this attribute until/unless another person is in the company (or enters the company) that fits the criteria, in which case it will start over again. [This attribute is automatically temporary and lasts until they're either 26 or have 6 years of experience, whichever comes first.] Be A Star! - This worker is very explicitly anti-bullying. If working with someone who has a "Bully", "Troublemaker", "Agitator" or "Scumbag" personality type, they're very likely to raise a fuss. Also, they're more likely to get involved in backstage incidents with people who have antagonistic personality types, are more likely to get pulled into altercations that didn't previously involve them as they try to stand up for the victim, and are a lot more likely to form positive relationships with people who are the victims of locker room bullying.

I'd also like to suggest adding "Bodybuilder", "Plays Gimmicky/Cartoonish Well", and "No Stunts".

I think it comes down to time, mostly. He does not have infinite time, and the game is already in a completed state, so he mostly makes small changes, with the occasional bigger one coming in once in a while. So he probably considers all of the ideas, but only really thinks about which ones would be practical, and focuses on those ones first.