How to get an A show?

[MrSelfDestruct]

I don't know why but in 07 i could crank out A* matches all the time. But now in 08 the highest i've gotten is a B. What is the "perfect" way to get an A show? Help anyone?

[Bigpapa42]

I'm not much help. I've absolutely perfected getting B+ shows with SWF, and got them pretty easy with TCW. But no A shows. Even with an A* main event and sevaral A segments in my last show, still a B+.

[MrSelfDestruct]

[QUOTE=Bigpapa42;472089]I'm not much help. I've absolutely perfected getting B+ shows with SWF, and got them pretty easy with TCW. But no A shows. Even with an A* main event and sevaral A segments in my last show, still a B+.[/QUOTE] what do u usually do?

[Remianen]

[QUOTE=petecrimson00;472086]I don't know why but in 07 i could crank out A* matches all the time. But now in 08 the highest i've gotten is a B. What is the "perfect" way to get an A show? Help anyone?[/QUOTE] The reason is simple: 08 was designed specifically to make it harder to get those A* matches and shows "all the time". In reality, A* shows happen probably once in a generation, perhaps even once a decade if your criteria is very loose. A* matches happen relatively rarely too (again, depending on your criteria). 07 was insanely easy in this respect and 05 was easier than 07 (by at least an order of magnitude). In 08, the formula is painfully easy: Highly skilled workers in a promotion whose product plays to their strengths (so no Bruce the Giant vs Alysian Scottsfield in CZCW) + high momentum for both workers (I'd say B+ or better, to be on the safe side) + hot storyline (again, I'd say B+ or better heat, to be on the safe side) + high overness (if the promotion product values it highly, otherwise it's a 'nice to have') + hot crowd + (optional) 'awesome' chemistry (read what I typed: AWESOME chemistry. Not 'pretty good', not 'excellent', 'AWESOME') should give you the rating you seek. Now while the formula might be easy, pulling it off is not. And that's the beauty of TEW08 IMO. :) Go look at the AI promotions and see how they structure their shows. See which of their workers are involved in their A rated matches. The AI has it easy so they can pull off higher ratings (and generate momentum) a lot easier than a human player can. But watching what they do can give you hints you can use in your promotion.

[djthefunkchris]

I've gotten two A* match's. Bassically, the heat and momentum were way up for it as Remi said. The storyline was getting hot, and well... One of them wasn't even supposed to be the great match of the night. I accidentally had great chemistry with two people I hadn't gone one on one with before, at the same time both were involved in a storyline (one was the main feud I was working on, with the other a "Friend" - Read as Big Guns, of the man he was feuding with). That ended up an A* match before the PPV, and then the main match at the PPV ended up with the A* rating, even though I wasn't working with "Great" chemistry, but their was chemistry. Main thing is that my storyline was working out very well. I have since evolved it, and it's gone down. So I'm going to have to step up a new storyline as my main picture shortly (two of them are starting to gain momentum, so we will see what happens and which one shows these signs). Follow what Remi said, because it's bassically exactly how I got lucky. Had two match's at the height of the storylines, and they were unchained ones at that.

[Bigpapa42]

[QUOTE=petecrimson00;472098]what do u usually do?[/QUOTE] With SWF, just basically following some tips I found on here. Using lots of segments, especially with the top guys. Use segments that fit the workers - talkers talk, brawlers brawl, etc. So long as I know a segment is going to get about a B, I make sure its 6 minutes. When booking a show, I start with a strong segment. Then a solid match to start out - not afraid to use a main eventer here. A few mediocre midcard matches interspersed with segments, at least a couple of which are going to get B or higher ratings. A very strong segment just after the middle point. Then a pair of main event caliber matches, with segments between before, in bewteen, and after. I use a lot of three-way and tag team matches at the top to avoid repetitive booking penalties. With SWF, it seems like you need very good storylines going. I have 7 storylines going right now - the 2 new ones are C+, a B, a B+, an A, and my main storyline is A*. All of them are unchained, though with actual direction (not just random segments). What I did is interconnect most of them. So for example, my A storyline is Frehley-Money, but with Faith and Remo as secondary characters. My B+ is Faith-James, with Frehley, Warrior, Remo, and Money as secondary. They seem to cross-benefit. So stuff I'm doing for one storyline can actually still help another. I also end up doing a lot of run-ins, attacks, brawls, etc, which tend to crossover and deal into multiple stories. Out of about the last 10 shows, all have been B+ except 2 Bs.

[Eisen-verse]

I've tried to pull out some A* matches, however, haven't had much success in my SWF game (8 months in or so). However, I've been able to pull down at least 2 "A" shows in that time period.

[Bigpapa42]

[QUOTE=Eisen-verse;472113]I've tried to pull out some A* matches, however, haven't had much success in my SWF game (8 months in or so). However, I've been able to pull down at least 2 "A" shows in that time period.[/QUOTE] I've had a few A matches but just had my first A* at the end of Feb 08. Vengeance and Faith.

[Eisen-verse]

[QUOTE]I've had a few A matches but just had my first A* at the end of Feb 08. Vengeance and Faith.[/QUOTE] Very nice. Everything Vengeance touches for me in my game ends up as a "B" grade match. Even though he's at an A* in popularity.

[Bigpapa42]

[QUOTE=Eisen-verse;472124]Very nice. Everything Vengeance touches for me in my game ends up as a "B" grade match. Even though he's at an A* in popularity.[/QUOTE] He's feuding with Bruce and both are at A*. Basically, he keeps destroying Bruce even though Bruce keeps the title. Faith challenged Vengeance to a match to avenge the latest attack and I was shocked that it got the rating. Its a bit of a weird game. I haven't really found much positive chemistry amongst my top workers, but not much negative either.

[Remianen]

[QUOTE=Bigpapa42;472112]Using lots of segments, [B][I]especially with the top guys[/I][/B]. Use segments that fit the workers - talkers talk, brawlers brawl, etc.[/QUOTE] This is a very very important point. You should be using your main eventers, in some capacity, on EVERY SINGLE SHOW. Yes, I'm deadly serious. Every show you book, should have ALL of your main eventers on it in some capacity. Why? Well, you're paying them anyway (they're on writtens) so you might as well use them. Also, they're the people most likely to get you those B+ to A* segments. Even if it's something as simple as a backstage segment with Train and The Guru, a simple vignette works. With Train rated on Menace and Guru on the mic or even a custom angle like the one I wrote where the 'monster' is rated purely on Menace (with overness in the background, of course). I picture it as say, Runaway Train working out, hitting the heavy bag and such and then at the end, he turns to the camera and roars or something. Remember the videos the 'E ran when Snitsky was moving to Raw? Like that. Bring your midcarders into segments with your main eventers you have no immediate plans for. Kinda like Cena & Cryme Tyme. Just being in the same segment with the main eventer will elevate their stock. If you're trying to get the top rating for your show, the best way to go about it is to make sure all of your segments are as highly rated as you can make them.

[Bigpapa42]

I've ended up doing a lot of custom angles to fit the story and the skills of who I want involved. Seems to work quite well. With what I've been doing, Remo hasn't had a storyline of his own. He's aligned with Brandon James and Rich Money and is a secondary character in both of those storylines. So he's constantly featured in well-rated segments. He's jumped to A popularity because of it.

[Self]

I've had 2-3 A shows during my 2 year run with CGC, and every one of them has been down to luck, where the Main Event have been surprisingly good. The last one was when I had just started pushing Trent Shaffer into the Main Event, and found he had awesome chemistry with Alex DeColt. A rated match. A rated show. Never duplicated. I've only had 1 A* match, and it was a total fluke. I borrowed Dan Stone Jr from TCW, with the intention of him getting a title match on my next PPV. However, I wanted to give him a win first, for momentum purposes. I had him duke it out with Ryan Powell. A* out of nowhere. No story. No chemistry. I guess people were REALLY happy to see Dan in CGC. There's no formula for getting an A rated show every time, but as has been mentioned above, there is one for maximising your ratings. Segments. Main Eventers. Custom Angles.

[FINisher]

.. And the "peaks and valleys". ^^

[Ironmike]

Angles are a godsend for building momentum with your main guys provided they can cut the mustard, as its damn impossible to get higher than B buy just competing in matches all the time. Like above posters mentioned play to thier strengths as an example Tyson Baine isn't great on the microphone nor is he a brilliant actor and his charisma is just over average. I had him around B- momentum and had him turn back to his heelish ways running to the ring and destroy Tommy Cornell in the Monster unleashed angle that uses Menace for the rating and it scored a B+ for the segment and his momentum shot up to A* and Tommy remains at A.

[Hyde Hill]

Also just read the official tip thread all of it! (moderators please sticky it so less repeated questions please)