Promotion difficulty levels (cornellverse)

[TEWFan]

My decision to make this thread comes from the fact that I am tired of starting a game with a specific promotion, only to find out it's incredibly hard to make it work and thus, I end up frustrated. But no complaints from me here, I love the game! So, with the idea that a lot of people might face the same trials I do, I decided to create this thread so that our resident experts grade each promotion in terms of how easy or hard it is to succeed with said promotion. I know that the game automatically ranks each promotion based on size, but size doesn't matter! As a simple guideline, let's rate them like any other video game: Very Easy, Easy, Medium, Hard and Expert. Maybe this way we will know what we are getting into when we begin a new game. Feel free to post your grades here and add (if you wish) why it is so hard or easy to play as said promotion and your own proven formulas of success.

[Hyde Hill]

depends at what you qualify under succes, some of the smaller promotions are easier to run but take a hell of a long time to get to a bigger level. The bigger promotions harder to run because the bigger the fed the more you have too keep up with, pro is more pulling power and coverage, but also harder to keep on top. Only played TCW so far and I would rate it at medium to hard seeing as many people playing here drop to Cult with it and SWF is just looking to move in on you every chance they get.

[D-Lyrium]

As Hyde said, it all depends on what you mean by 'successful'. If you mean 'it's easy to book shows that raise your popularity', then obviously a fed like MoSC or MAW is going to be 'easier' than TCW or SWF. If you mean 'to get to Global and dominate the wrestling world', it's obviously going to take longer if you're starting with MoSC though... Overall, I'd say a promotion like WLW would be pretty easy. It's based equally on popularity and performance, so one can cover for the other. You also start with several key talents that are very unlikely to leave, especially in the short term, and you're already at a size where you can attract a few big name stars, but still put on decent quality shows with (relative!) ease.

[NordVolf]

What a great idea! I know, even though I usually only play one promotion from out of the C-Verse (and many of you know what one that is!), I'm always curious about others. And this serving as a helpful guide would be so cool! If I may, I'd like to add to this. I'll make a 'chart', and update it as people post. Here goes! [CENTER] [SIZE="4"][B]__________________________________________________[/B][/SIZE] [/CENTER] [U][I][B]PROMOTIONAL DIFFICULTY[/B] (as graded by us players![/I])[/U] [U]Twenty-first Century Wrestling [B](21CW)[/B][/U] - *Hard *Easy - ([I]Nightshadeex[/I]) Biggest fed in UK, TV deal, talented roster. You can do well here. - ([I]MrOnu[/I]) We can also pretty much assume that 21CW is quite a challenge. They're at Cult, they grade their matches mainly on popularity... but your workers are not popular enough! - ([I]Hyde Hill[/I]) Wrestlers are rated on overness not talent so doesn't help that much, you lose tv deal pretty fast, talented wrestlers get stolen by US and Japan feds, Jeff doesnt let you change the product. [U]Five Star Supreme Wrestling [B](5SSW)[/B][/U] - [B]**Easy[/B] - ([I]Remianen[/I]) The loyalty mechanic in Japan makes things tons easier. Not having to worry about your top stars being stolen is huge. But, another reason they're easy (and in the same vein) is the fact that NO ONE can steal their top stars. AAA doesn't have the cash to import your people (so only workers already working both areas like J.Ro, Gorgon, Connie Morris, and Tsuki can really move), USPW doesn't have the inclination, and NOTBPW won't look outside of North America for their talent. [U]Angel Athletic Association [B](AAA)[/B][/U] - *Medium - ([I]NordVolf[/I]) A tallented and semi-over Main Event keeps this fed above water, but water alone a soup does not make! Owner Anne Stardust is a great add, her popularity and talent helping to boost just about any angle she is in. [U]Australian Pro Wrestling [B](APW)[/B][/U] - *Easy - ([I]alanreao[/I]) I found APW pretty easy. You have the entire country to yourself, so no promotions can steal your workers. - ([I]Remianen[/I]) Other promotions [B][I]can[/I][/B] steal APW's workers. The AI just isn't smart enough to realize how HUGE Swoop would be in SWF. ;) [U]Babes of Sin City [B](BSC)[/B][/U] - *Expert - ([I]Remianen[/I]) Yes, some folks can play it and enjoy it but can they GROW it? That's where the true difficulty comes in. [U]Burning Hammer of the Wrestling Gods [B](BHOTWG)[/B][/U] - *Easy [U]Canadian Charisma Championship Combat [B](4C)[/B][/U] - *Hard - ([I]Gigas[/I]) 4C is pretty difficult because everyone steals your talent, and half the original roster is completely useless. [U]Canadian Golden Combat [B](CGC)[/B][/U] - *Normal - ([I]Nightshadeex[/I]) Have the talented DeColt boys, but NOTBPW likes to take your best undercard and run. [U]Coastal Zone Championship Wrestling [B](CZCW)[/B][/U] - *Normal *Easy - ([I]Nightshadeex[/I]) Easy to make money, but growing can be difficult. The temptation to get a TV deal on Los Deportes Hoy is huge, but never a good idea the first year. [U]European Wrestling All-Stars [B](EWA)[/B][/U] - *? - ([I]Comradebot[/I]) A Sports Entertainment fed that's both too small and too isolated to be one, an undertalented roster, and you're at war with a company that typically puts on better shows than you can at the start. Finally, your owner is a massive prick. [U]FREEDOM Caribbean Wrestling [B](FCW)[/B][/U] - *Normal - ([I]TEWFan[/I]) It's not difficult to make decent money ($2,000-$4000 per month) if you only run one show a month. The key is to keep Puerto Rican Power and Shawn Gonzales in every big storyline and angle, anything they do is usually C- or above, which helps you grow. However, most of the undercard is VERY hard to get over. Especially the mexican luchadors, I have tried hard to get them over, but they seem stuck all the time. I have found it very hard to improve my importance as well, but as long as I keep making money it should happen eventually. [U]Golden Canvas Grappling [B](GCG)[/B][/U] - *Easy [U]Hinote Dojo [B](Hinote)[/B][/U] - *Expert - ([I]praguepride[/I]) Should be considered "expert" just because from my experience it tends to mess with the AI if you get a position there. Plus you'll constantly have your talent being pulled up by your parent company and..well, they're really not designed for players to play as them. Plus it's often really hard to get a job there, at least in the beginning. You usually have to wait for them to fire their booker and hope that no one else applies. [U]Inspire Diversity Group International [B](INSPIRE)[/B][/U] - *Easy [U]Men of Steel Combat [B](MOSC)[/B][/U] [U]Mexico Premier Wrestling Federation [B](MPWF)[/B][/U] - *Easy [U]Mid Atlantic Wrestling [B](MAW)[/B][/U] - [B]**Easy[/B] - ([I]Nightshadeex[/I]) With simple booking, you can grow MAW without a problem. - ([I]James Casey[/I]) I'll add that Rip usually expects Casey Valentine and Antonio to have decent momentum (C+ or above, I believe) which is hard to achieve in a promotion that only runs one show a month. To get both of them over pretty much requires pushing them hard, bringing in outside workers to job to them, giving them lengthy title runs in hot storylines... Casey's not that bad, as it goes, as he has reasonable skills. But Antonio's so very average that he's hard to keep going. It significantly increase the difficulty of the game. Of course, play free style and you have no problems... [U]New York City Wrestling [B](NYCW)[/B][/U] - *Hard *Easy - ([I]Nightshadeex[/I]) With the money constraints of NYCW, building up a solid roster is tough at first, but after a year, if you're still going well, you can go strong. - ([I]1PWfan[/I]) In terms of profit, NYCW isn't too hard. You get very good sponsorship and merchandise, so despite the vast contracts you can be paying out, you can really get some profit laid in. I attempted to ru na Dynasty, but my plans for it didn't go well so it didn't work out. [U]North Of The Border Pro Wrestling [B](NOTBPW)[/B][/U] - *Very Easy, *Easy - ([I]Nightshadeex[/I]) The Stones, that's all I really need to say. - ([I]Wallbanger[/I]) While you still have Jeremy and Dan Jr., Johnny Bloodstone and Dark Angel, after that quality drops significantly. Factor in repetitive booking penalties and NOTBPW isn't beginner level anymore, you need to know how to build up talent using the stars you have. [U]Origional Lucha Libre In Extreme [B](OLLIE)[/B][/U] - *Easy [U]Pittsburgh Steel Wrestling [B](PSW)[/B][/U] - *Hard - ([I]Nightshadeex[/I]) Just like DAVE, when you build them up, they're gone to TCW or SWF. Keeping talented guys who are over is hard indeed. [U]Pride Glory Honor Wrestling [B](PGHW)[/B][/U] - *Easy [U]Pro Wrestling SAISHO [B](SAISHO)[/B][/U] - *Expert *Easy - ([I]praguepride[/I]) Should be considered "expert" just because from my experience it tends to mess with the AI if you get a position there. Plus you'll constantly have your talent being pulled up by your parent company and..well, they're really not designed for players to play as them. Plus it's often really hard to get a job there, at least in the beginning. You usually have to wait for them to fire their booker and hope that no one else applies. [U]Rhode Island Pro Wrestling [B](RIPW)[/B][/U] - *Expert - ([I]praguepride[/I]) Should be considered "expert" just because from my experience it tends to mess with the AI if you get a position there. Plus you'll constantly have your talent being pulled up by your parent company and..well, they're really not designed for players to play as them. Plus it's often really hard to get a job there, at least in the beginning. You usually have to wait for them to fire their booker and hope that no one else applies. [U]Ring Of Fire [B](ROF)[/B][/U] [U]South Of The Border Pro Wrestling [B](SOTBPW)[/B][/U] - *Easy [U]Supreme Wrestling Federation [B](SWF)[/B][/U] [U]Total Championship Wrestling [B](TCW)[/B][/U] - *Medium *Hard - ([I]Hyde Hill[/I]) Many people playing here drop to Cult with it and SWF is just looking to move in on you every chance they get. - ([I]d_w_w[/I]) TCW starts at low-national and is prone to dropping to cult - ([I]MrOnu[/I]) From what people are saying in other topics, TCW can be tricky if you're not careful. You can easily drop back to Cult if you don't make the right moves. - ([I]1PWfan[/I]) TCW is okay to use, but it's not for the starting player. You have to be very skillful with house shows, and not run a main show in the South-West until you can get a good roster together. [U]Ultimate European Wrestling [B](UEW)[/B][/U] - ??? - ([I]MrOnu[/I]) For some reason, UEW has popularity in all areas in Europe and UK which is not easy to maintain as a small company. - ([I]1PWfan[/I]) Quality shows aren't too hard provided you know your talent base, but actually succeeding is another issue. It's by no means impossible, but it requires thought and skill. [U]United States Pro Wrestling [B](USPW)[/B][/U] - [B]**Medium[/B] - ([I]Nightshadeex[/I]) A non-talented yet over main event and a semi-talented yet unknown undercard. Without making pacts right away, running USPW well is hard, because you lose your best guys on week 1. However, if you've got the drive, you can make Giant Redwood the next Sam Strong. - ([I]d_w_w[/I]) [I]The good things[/I][B]:[/B] You start with some talent that is very over on written contracts and can keep Devine and Caulfield through some a non-aggression pact. You have Alicia Strong and can bring it mostly anyone that you'd like to make a very strong women's division. [I]The bad things[/I][B]:[/B] A lot of your talent is old and/or not very talented. It takes time to build Devine/Davids/Champion up and it'll probably take several months to pull your show ratings up. Also, the USPW tag division is lacking. In 07, you had the Demons and Warlords - neither of which could wrestle, but both had overness. In 08', the Warlords are gone and only one of the Demons is around, so it's a bit harder to get the tag division rolling. [U]Warrior Engine XXV [B](WEXXV)[/B][/U] - *Expert *Easy - ([I]The Aussie[/I]) WEXXV would receive an Expert rating due to a lackluster talent pool and hemorrhaging money due to Kajihara having an absurdly high contract. There are practically zero good hardcore wrestlers avaliable in Japan. This will up the difficulty by miles as good workers wil usually be too popular for you or their style will not get over well. - ([I]The Aussie[/I]) The only suggestion that I can give to WEXXV bookers is to milk their owner for all that he is worth. The guy has crazy overness for an indie worker and is blooody entertaining. Any segment involving him and another main eventer will generally be in the mid C's range. [U]World Level Wrestling [B](WLW)[/B][/U] - [B]**Easy[/B] - ([I]D-Lyrium[/I]) It's based equally on popularity and performance, so one can cover for the other. You also start with several key talents that are very unlikely to leave, especially in the short term, and you're already at a size where you can attract a few big name stars, but still put on decent quality shows with (relative!) ease. [CENTER] [SIZE="4"][B]__________________________________________________[/B][/SIZE] [/CENTER] I've done the 'ticker' symbol for each promotion as well, since I at first had no idea what OLLIE or RIPW was when seeing those abreviations on these forums. The star next to each difficulty level was how many times each was listed by a poster. So, all of us both old and new can see at a glance just what we collectively 'concluded'. I'll boldface the most popular choice once one becomes apparent. I'll also boldface ties. Since I only have the trial for TEW'08, I'll start with those promotions that... well, start at the begining of the game. I'll add promotions as I discover them or people post about them here. Suggestion for other/easier/better formatting or other data to include are welcome! - NordVolf - aka The OCD Man!

[scorpion]

Rather than rating each promotion as easy or hard, I think it would make more sense to discuss the challenges and advantages each promotion has.

[d_w_w]

This is very subjective (given destiny, chemistry, owner goals and so on), but could be fun anyhow. I'll grade promotions later. For now, I agree with Scorpion. The "easy" to "hard" is fine, but it's probably more useful to add substantive comments about why a promotion is easy or hard. In terms of formating, it'd make sense to me to add extra hard returns (and maybe dividing lines) between each promotion, to separate them a bit. Maybe space to add short comments that seem to come up a lot (things like: "TCW starts at low-national and is prone to dropping to cult")

[D-Lyrium]

Hey, hey! I never said 'very easy'! ¬_¬

[NordVolf]

And yes, I'm the one that 'set' AAA as Medium for starters. Since that's the promotion I play, and am most fond of. Not that I've played all that much! I find I primarily write my diary. Then play a bit to get to the next show or two. Then write a [I]lot[/I] more. Rinse and repeat. Doesn't help that currently my main story character is 'in a state of flux', as it were, and so the story is more about how she's dealing with that. But things will smooth out soon enough, and I'll be posting more shows. At any rate, my grading AAA as Medium stems from the fact I'm getting match and show grades where I think I should be. For a newb at this TEW thing. From what other people have posted about promotions in general, I think I'm doing ok. Not ecstatically pleased, nor horribly frustrated. Which is, quite incidentally, where I like being. I find booking shows on what I think is par for an 'indy' promotion to be challenging, yet not overly difficult. And I've been improving steadilly. Yes, it's not easy since I have to closely watch my P's and Q's or bomb something, and yet I'm not pulling F shows either. So all in all, I find AAA to be Medium difficulty. For me. Your mileage may vary, of course! Just ask Remmy... *smirk*

[NordVolf]

[QUOTE=D-Lyrium;454180]Hey, hey! I never said 'very easy'! ¬_¬[/QUOTE] LOL! Ok, D. Rest easy. I'll fix it. *grin*

[NordVolf]

[QUOTE=d_w_w;454179]This is very subjective (given destiny, chemistry, owner goals and so on), but could be fun anyhow. I agree, D_W_W![/QUOTE] I'm all about the fun. *grin* [QUOTE=scorpion;454177]Rather than rating each promotion as easy or hard, I think it would make more sense to discuss the challenges and advantages each promotion has.[/QUOTE] [QUOTE=d_w_w;454179]For now, I agree with Scorpion. The "easy" to "hard" is fine, but it's probably more useful to add substantive comments about why a promotion is easy or hard.[/QUOTE] I agree, actually. And I think TEWFan was fishing for that as well in his original post. And looking back on it, my post about AAA didn't say very much, specifically... *sighs and goes to the editor...* BTW, D_W_W; the formatting better? I'll add subjective commentary as we go...

[alanreao]

I found APW pretty easy. You have the entire country to yourself, so no promotions can steal your workers.

[Phantom Stranger]

It entirely depends on the player. I mean, myself and Marcel Fromage find, say, Ring of Fire a lot of fun and rewarding. Eisen-Verse, however, that well known sports entertainment fan, would probably loathe it.

[Dragonmack]

Almost all of them were easy in '07 if you had a decent understanding of the game and what to do to get good ratings in each type of fed. People on the boards have taken ROF, MAW, NYCW and USPW to cult or better, while others have gotten good results from created feds and the bigger feds like BHOTWG or TCW, SWF. WEXXV is probably the only fed I haven't seen someone make successful in a diary, but even that could be improved by good roster and money management. As for 08, I haven't played all of the feds yet to really get a good grasp of how they work with the new additions, but as long as you can put on shows a grade or so above the current popularity ,then pretty much any fed should be able to succeed.

[Guest The Aussie]

The only suggestion that I can give to WEXXV bookers is to milk their owner for all that he is worth. The guy has crazy overness for an indie worker and is blooody entrtaining. Any segment involving him and another main eventer will generally be in the mid C's range.

[NordVolf]

[QUOTE=The Aussie;454251]The only suggestion that I can give to WEXXV bookers is to milk their owner for all that he is worth. The guy has crazy overness for an indie worker and is blooody entrtaining. Any segment involving him and another main eventer will generally be in the mid C's range.[/QUOTE] The same can be said for Anne Stardust, of AAA. I didn't find that out till after my first couple of weekly shows where my User Character tried doing authority figure promos and they'd not do well (*[I]cough[/I]* bomb *[I]cough[/I]*). Then I used Anne, and it pulled a D. With a low-pop worker. Even brand new workers, new to AAA, can pull Es with her. Which is actually pretty good, considering I expect F-s when I use my User Character. Not too shabby. Must be why I now have Anne Stardust managing Karen Sørrenson...

[MrOnu]

UEW can be really tricky because of the owner goals. If you get one about not going down in the Promotions Ranking, you're in a big trouble. For some reason, UEW has popularity in all areas in Europe and UK which is not easy to maintain as a small company. From what people are saying in other topics, TCW can be tricky if you're not careful. You can easily drop back to Cult if you don't make the right moves. We can also pretty much assume also that 21CW is quite a challenge. They're at Cult, they grade their matches mainly on popularity... but your workers are not popular enough !

[Nightshadeex]

Twenty-first Century Wrestling (21CW) Easy - Biggest fed in UK, TV deal, talented roster. You can do well here, but you may have to switch the product up a tiny bit, if Jeff lets you. Canadian Golden Combat (CGC) Normal - Have the talented DeColt boys, but NOTBPW likes to take your best undercard and run. Coastal Zone Championship Wrestling (CZCW) Normal - Easy to make money, but growing can be difficult. The temptation to get a TV deal on Los Deportes Hoy is huge, but never a good idea the first year. Mid Atlantic Wrestling (MAW) Easy - With simple booking, you can grow MAW without a problem. New York City Wrestling (NYCW) Hard - With the money constraints of NYCW, building up a solid roster is tough at first, but after a year, if you're still going well, you can go strong. North Of The Border Pro Wrestling (NOTBPW) Very Easy - The Stones, that's all I really need to say. Pittsburgh Steel Wrestling (PSW) Hard - Just like DAVE, when you build them up, they're gone to TCW or SWF. Keeping talented guys who are over is hard indeed. United States Pro Wrestling (USPW) Medium - A non-talented yet over main event and a semi-talented yet unknown undercard. Without making pacts right away, running USPW well is hard, because you lose your best guys on week 1. However, if you've got the drive, you can make Giant Redwood the next Sam Strong.

[NordVolf]

[QUOTE=MrOnu;454264]UEW can be really tricky because of the owner goals. If you get one about not going down in the Promotions Ranking, you're in a big trouble. For some reason, UEW has popularity in all areas in Europe and UK which is not easy to maintain as a small company. From what people are saying in other topics, TCW can be tricky if you're not careful. You can easily drop back to Cult if you don't make the right moves. We can also pretty much assume also that 21CW is quite a challenge. They're at Cult, they grade their matches mainly on popularity... but your workers are not popular enough ![/QUOTE] So... UEW - Hard? TCW - Hard? 21CW - Hard? Also: Perfect, Nightshadeex! I'll drop those in right away!

[d_w_w]

Yes - I think the format is good now. Easier to find each promotion now, which will be important when more folks add comments and ratings.

[NordVolf]

Thanks, d_w_w. It does look much better to me too. And I'm just waiting to hear Remmy's take on AAA, as well as 5SSW. You just [B][I]know[/I][/B] that'll show up at some point... :cool:

[Wallbanger]

Re: NOTBPW -- While you still have Jeremy and Dan Jr., Johnny Bloodstone and Dark Angel, after that quality drops significantly. Factor in repetitive booking penalties and NOTBPW isn't beginner level anymore, you need to know how to build up talent using the stars you have. I would call it easy, but not very easy.

[Guest The Aussie]

An additional thing about WEXXV, There are practically zero good hardcore wrestlers avaliable in Japan. This will up the difficulty up by miles as good workers wil usually be too popular for you or their style will not get over well. Overall; WEXXV would receive an Expert rating due to a lackluster talent pool and haemmoraging (sp?) money due to Kajihara having an absurdly high contract

[Gigas]

4C is pretty difficult because everyone steals your talent, and half the original roster is completely useless.

[NordVolf]

Ok. I've not only inserted the 'grading' for posts to the present, but I've also included the commentary, as well as crediting the commentors. In trying to keep the commentary as business-like, useful, and brief as possible (esp. to new TEW players!), I've done some paraphrasing instead of rote quoting. I try very hard to keep the tone, flavor and jist of your comments and opinions, so if I've gotten it wrong, please let me know (as well as how I got it wrong!) so I can promptly fix it! And I think I got to appologise to you, TEWFan. For some reason, this just grabbed me. Feels like I highjacked your thread... See what you started?! ;)

[FINisher]

Any promotion in Japan is easy, as the Loyalty plays a key part in the rosters of any promotion. Even with WEXXV you can succeed, always get the new workers to sign for you first and they'll be loyal to you for the rest of their careers. Just keep your finances on the profit with WEXXV. WLW and GCG are really, really easy, as are BHOTWG and PGHW obviously. CZCW, NYCW, MAW are all easy because of their simple product. Only thing that you have to worry is that the bigger companies may steal your stars, so try to balance your roster so that even if you lose one guy, it's not so big hit for you. Any promotion in Mexico is also easy in the long run, because of the promotion pacts. When a new worker debuts, always sign those guys. And 'cause of the pacts, no one in Mexico can steal or use that worker. The game gets always easier the longer you play it. :)