How to kill the spirit of a "free spirit"

[AndyJP]

I have two guys that continue to show up late despite the fines and suspensions I have slapped them with, these two are Liberty and Mario Heroic. Mario Heroic is a pretty decent wrestler that I'd like to keep around and build up, but Liberty is mostly there for his popularity. Both have faced multiple fines and suspensions and they don't seem phased by it, so I'm wondering if there is something more I can do to discipline them. Does the game consider jobbing them a way of disciplining them? Also, is there any site anywhere that goes into deeper detail on how certain functions of the game work than the manual or is that a closely guarded secret? ;)

[Anubis]

Hmmm . . . Killing the spirit of a free spirit . . . You could always go into the editor and set the worker to "deceased", that would be an effective way to "kill" for sure . . . Other than that, no clue . . . :D

[EnchantedGoat]

Sorry to thread-jack, but - what does it matter if a wrestler's late? Does it effect locker room morale or something?

[jonlawson]

[QUOTE=Anubis;337707]Hmmm . . . Killing the spirit of a free spirit . . . You could always go into the editor and set the worker to "deceased", that would be an effective way to "kill" for sure . . . Other than that, no clue . . . :D[/QUOTE] That was GOLD!! I think if they're late in game it effects the overrall rating of the match. In real life, if they're late, they probably miss stretching time, or working with the Road Agents or staff to get the turns and bumps set in their match that night. Who knows?

[hulkamaniac]

I have yet to see any solutions for this problem. It ticks me off. I had a free spirit no-show his very first show with my fed. He got canned before he even made an appearance. For some reason I've been having problems lately with Elix Skipper. He's not a free spirit and when I talk to him he says he has no problems. He's been late 3-4 times in the last 2 weeks. Been fined twice and suspended once and now hates me.

[Michael Wayne]

[QUOTE=AndyJP;337704]I have two guys that continue to show up late despite the fines and suspensions I have slapped them with, these two are Liberty and Mario Heroic. Mario Heroic is a pretty decent wrestler that I'd like to keep around and build up, but Liberty is mostly there for his popularity. Both have faced multiple fines and suspensions and they don't seem phased by it, so I'm wondering if there is something more I can do to discipline them. Does the game consider jobbing them a way of disciplining them? Also, is there any site anywhere that goes into deeper detail on how certain functions of the game work than the manual or is that a closely guarded secret? ;)[/QUOTE] jobbing them out worked for me with Edd Stone. I fined him a couple of times and suspended him once. After a few weeks of jobbing he seemed to have gotten the message.

[Marcel Fromage]

I think there's probably no solution - much of it is down to you as a person just thinking about what is the right thing to do. People coming in late doesn't really seem to affect anything much. But I had Rolling Johnny Stones turn up late three times when I had him as my ROF champion. I just figured that in real-life I'd be taking that belt off him a) as punishment, and b) in case his lateness turned into a no-show on a PPV and made me lose my main event. He hasn't turned up late since, but then that might just be coincidence. I'd imagine it is. I have seen free spirits develop hate relationships before when I've fined or suspended them, which may then cause them not to wish to renegotiate. But I don't know if doing absolutely nothing will make them get there late all the more and maybe cause more negative feelings in the locker room. I think this is a feature that doesn't have a huge effect within the game. But if you try to be honest to yourself with what you'd do if it were a real-life company you were booking and make decisions based on that, it helps keep the game interesting. I know some people never even hire free spirits.

[hulkamaniac]

[QUOTE=Marcel Fromage;337792]I know some people never even hire free spirits.[/QUOTE] That's my philosophy right there. I did accidentally hire someone who turned out to be a free spirit recently. So far, no problem with them.

[Phantom Stranger]

Locker room leaders seem to help - I've got quite a lot of free spirits on board and none of them have ever given me trouble. In my specific case, I think it's Mario who's actually keeping himself in line for me - he's one of my (something like eighteen) LRLs.

[Michael Wayne]

[QUOTE=hulkamaniac;337796]That's my philosophy right there. I did accidentally hire someone who turned out to be a free spirit recently. So far, no problem with them.[/QUOTE] fair enough, but in reality you wouldn't know they were a free spirit until you signed them, or you had dealt with them before. Unless they displayed that kind of behavior elsewhere and it was more or less generally known as a result. For example... Teddy Hart's behavior is pretty well known. So if you signed him anyways, you're more or less asking for problems. But if you signed someone new, or someone who hasn't created that kind of track record yet, you'd have no idea whether they were a free spirit or not.

[Lita Maivia]

[QUOTE=hulkamaniac;337738]For some reason I've been having problems lately with Elix Skipper. He's not a free spirit and when I talk to him he says he has no problems. He's been late 3-4 times in the last 2 weeks. Been fined twice and suspended once and now hates me.[/QUOTE] What type of relationships does he have with your other workers? Someone who doesn't have a lot of friends can tend to cause more backstage issues like this.

[Remianen]

[QUOTE=Marcel Fromage;337792]I know some people never even hire free spirits.[/QUOTE] *raises his hand* I'm never short on locker room leaders but I don't have the time or inclination to coddle people. When playing a CV game, as much as I'd love to work with Kristabel Plum and Ochiyo Iijima, I don't have the patience to deal with lateness and no-shows. As far as how to break a free spirit, de-push them. Job them to oblivion and they should get the message. BUT, the moment you start to push them again, you'll be right back at square one at some point during the push progression.

[EnchantedGoat]

Does lateness "build up" and eventually result in a no-show? I guess I just still don't see why free spirits are a bad thing. Who cares if they show up late? And no-shows seem to be incredibly rare.

[Marcel Fromage]

[QUOTE=EnchantedGoat;338879]Does lateness "build up" and eventually result in a no-show? I guess I just still don't see why free spirits are a bad thing. Who cares if they show up late? And no-shows seem to be incredibly rare.[/QUOTE] As I mentioned in my other post, I don't think the game really makes it matter at all. But it matters in my head. I don't want a guy that works for me showing up late all the time and getting away with it, whether its real life or just in a wrestling game. Generally we're trying to mimic an alternate reality when we play these kind of games, so I just try to treat my actions within the game world in the same way as I would if it were real. I think it's something that the game could perhaps improve in any future versions - like finding out when you're on the booking screen that someone is late and you have no idea if and when they're going to show up, so you have to change your booking as a result. I know it does this already for no-shows, but I think it should do it for lateness as well, but where you'd need to book them later in the show and hope they arrive in time (or something like that).

[Irish Wolf]

I'm a free spirit myself so I like a very lax locker room. I've had liberty show up late a few times so far in my first year of TCW but he manages to put on B+ matches with my up and comers. Occasionally I'll warm him I think I've fined him once but as long as he actually shows up I don't care. I've never once had a free spirit no show.

[Remianen]

[QUOTE=EnchantedGoat;338879]I guess I just still don't see why free spirits are a bad thing. Who cares if they show up late? And no-shows seem to be incredibly rare.[/QUOTE] Sorry, as Marcel alluded to, this is business. Besides, I've seen the problem get worse in some games where, after letting the free spirit get away with lateness, other NON-free spirits start to do it. In that instance, you're screwed. You can't warn or fine the non-free spirit because you've been letting the free spirit have a free pass. I'm big on fairness and letting one person slide while coming down hard on another for the same offense is WRONG. Yes, I come into work late sometimes but NEVER when I have meetings scheduled. Likewise, I don't care if a worker shows up late to conditioning or for a workout session. But damn it, if there's a show, you'd better have your happy ass there on time. It's simply a preference. I prefer people I can depend on. Free spirits don't fit that particular category.

[Jungle Jack]

With the odd exception of Mario Herioc I have not had a free spirit that I *haven't* had problems with lateness and no showing and it eventually grew to the point where Herioc and Cameron Vessey (who's only around because he's signed to 20 more months, and I ain't paying for that) are the only two free spirits (and Vessey's usually on suspension). By the way, in another question on personality: What does the Joker personality ultimately mean? I know what the others (normal, very nice, jackass, free spirit) mean but not Joker.

[ZMAN]

Liberty sucks balls anyways, just fire him. That jerk wanted over 5k pay raise but I was like, screw you buddy. So now im jobbing him to my future stars, Bulldozer, Kanishoki, and Primus. If any of these other old timers try to screw with me, they'll get the same thing right in the FACE.

[Irish Wolf]

[QUOTE=ZMAN;339481]Liberty sucks balls anyways, just fire him. That jerk wanted over 5k pay raise but I was like, screw you buddy. So now im jobbing him to my future stars, Bulldozer, Kanishoki, and Primus. If any of these other old timers try to screw with me, they'll get the same thing right in the FACE.[/QUOTE] That's really ultra agressive dude but if it works for you then fine. Liberty can't put on a main event match but being able to last 16 minutes in the ring and being able to pull off B+ matches with Upper Midcard and Midcard workers makes him a valuable asset for the upper midcard. It's been a year for me in my TCW game and I've only had to resign him once and I got away with a $250 pay raise to keep.

[James Casey]

Christian Vars is the only worker I've had who I've suspended more than a week. In fact, he may be the only worker I've had who I've suspended at all. But he's worth it. In the time I've had him on board, he's shown up late, I would guess, at leas tonce a month. I start out with warnings, but if someone becoems persistent then it's fines, suspensions... Vars is in line for a firing if he doesn't start shaping up. The pity of it is, he's turning into a decent worker. I've had him just take part in his first C+ match, which isn't bad for an LMC in a regional fed. Admittedly it was a 5-way singles, but none of the rest of the workers were superstars either. He now says he doesn't like the atmosphere backstage. I think I have a decent number of backstage leaders, but I should check if there's anyone he dislikes. Maybe me... * The Joker personality might affect how people respond to a character. Ric Flair's book is full of stories of 'characters' doing stuff to each other that in the real world would result in criminal charges. Randy 'in her bag' Orton could be considered a Joker... Conversely, some people might like that stuff, and it might make the character more popular backstage. I would suspect it might increase the chance of relationships forming with other characters, good or bad, but have no evidence to say for sure.

[Sigilistic]

Orton sounds more like the definition of Jackass to me. To me, Joker is someone like Owen Hart, who was always playing friendly pranks on fellow workers.

[Irish Wolf]

[QUOTE=Sigilistic;339727]Orton sounds more like the definition of Jackass to me. To me, Joker is someone like Owen Hart, who was always playing friendly pranks on fellow workers.[/QUOTE] Yeah Orton is a Jackass, Joker is like Foley and Al Snow.