Local to National

[Eisen-verse]

One thing I've never done in TEW that I'm looking to do now is take a company from Local to potentially National or higher. It never seemed all that fun to barely be able to run a show month without going bankrupt and having nothing to show for it, however, it seems like it could be kind of fun to do something I've never done before. It allows you to develop your own superstars really as you'll get people who are considered your "franchise" players who are relative unknowns. With that being said, I have a few questions about running a company that is at a Local Level. 1st - How many events do you run a month? 2nd - How can you stay afloat financially doing x-number of shows a month? 3rd - Has anyone taken a company from Local to Cult or higher? All in all, It seems like it could be a lot of fun to create a company that is literally and unknown and try to develop it into a big time company. I'm thinking about making it a company focused on creating well rounded characters and plots, however, also focusing on delivering a good in-ring product (Probably having "Realism" at a Low Level... So that way it's not too high and while popularity would still be the major thing... That there would be an undercurrent of focus on actual wrestling... That way people like The Big Problem could still be successful) Thank you in advance! I hope some of you are interested enough (or have had experience with this before) and are looking for a new topic to write on.. Giving your thoughts on it. Thank you!

[Condors]

depends...Usually if you use guys making 150 bucks a show or less it isn't too bad but your income isn't a set figure so you just need to be carefull. Definatly start with 1 show per month. If you can get 6 guys with B- in stamina you can hold a 1 hour show with just them. You can use 4 guys if you have them do a tag match then 2 singles matches. If you have angles you can work them in. The problem is at the end of their 9 month contract if they have gotten more popular they can price themselves out of your reach. I normally don't do more than 1 show a month till I hit regional. Then 2 shows a month. I have been about to do 5 shows a month at cult level with a traditional product and if i go with cheap workers I usually come out sometimes i make some money sometimes i lose some money. I look for guys with F- popularity who have some skills(relatively speaking). I normally stick to 150 as the limit until i hit regional. Paying The Big Problem 900-1000 a show can cost more than its worth until you have more revenue. Also travel expenses can cause headaches you want guys who don't ask for it make a note on who gets it if you give it to guys. I try to avoid it if possible. The 2nd contracts they are usually more easy going on that. The non wrestling staff can kill you(espcially at the start). Be carefull try to get cheap as possible if your local. All the money you can save will be needed when your trying to push to cult and then when you push to national.

[Eisen-verse]

[QUOTE]depends...Usually if you use guys making 150 bucks a show or less it isn't too bad but your income isn't a set figure so you just need to be carefull. Definatly start with 1 show per month. If you can get 6 guys with B- in stamina you can hold a 1 hour show with just them. You can use 4 guys if you have them do a tag match then 2 singles matches. If you have angles you can work them in. The problem is at the end of their 9 month contract if they have gotten more popular they can price themselves out of your reach. I normally don't do more than 1 show a month till I hit regional. Then 2 shows a month. I have been about to do 5 shows a month at cult level with a traditional product and if i go with cheap workers I usually come out sometimes i make some money sometimes i lose some money.[/QUOTE] So you only had 6 guys on your first roster? Doesn't that get pretty boring when you only have a few people to book?

[Trell]

yea it is but thats what it has to come to when you have very little money to work with, I usually go no hire than 10, including announcers and refs.

[teakle]

There are hundreds of way of doing this, use the editor to create what you want. If you want to start with no popularity and no money you can do that. If you want to start with no popularity, but millions in the bank you can do that is well. Why not even put a Rip Chord type figure in with a 5 year contract? Personally, I like to go somewhere in between. Give myself about $250k and run as many shows as I like. It makes getting to Cult a lot easier, but the wrestlers are still built up as I want them to be.

[MattQ2607]

Make Sure that you look at the ideal roster size. If you have less workers than that you'll lose popularity.

[BurningHamster]

I did local to Cult in DOTT for 07, yet to get very far in 08 and I find that it's probably a fair bit harder with the Cornellverse than it would be with a created mod. A few tips though Have a product that is going to get you some sponsorship. Something with traditional is better than going all out hardcore. Try to get to small as quickly as possible. I usually try to run just one show a month, but my first show will usually be an 8 man tournament for a title belt. That way some guys wrestle 2 or 3 times and therefore get a chance to increase their popularity a fair bit right off the bat. If you start the game in Rock Hard mode where your local promotion is already at like 10 percent popularity in it's home region, you only need two good shows to boost you up to small, and once you hit small you can usually run two shows some months providing you just run hour long events with like 4 matches. What I usually do is run one longer show every 3 months to make money and put on most of my better matches then, and the other 8 months of the year I run two shows. The first year or so of the game is not very interesting, but really if you run good enough shows it will only be like 18-20 shows until you start getting slightly bigger crowds in and can afford a more interesting roster. Once you get past this point, it's pretty much just like playing as usual and depending on how expensive your workers are you can decide whether you want to run weekly smaller shows, bigger shows less often, try to expand into another region etc. I think local to National would have to take about 10 years of running some solid shows.

[Comradebot]

[QUOTE=BurningHamster;518249]I did local to Cult in DOTT for 07, yet to get very far in 08 and I find that it's probably a fair bit harder with the Cornellverse than it would be with a created mod. A few tips though Have a product that is going to get you some sponsorship. Something with traditional is better than going all out hardcore. Try to get to small as quickly as possible. I usually try to run just one show a month, but my first show will usually be an 8 man tournament for a title belt. That way some guys wrestle 2 or 3 times and therefore get a chance to increase their popularity a fair bit right off the bat. If you start the game in Rock Hard mode where your local promotion is already at like 10 percent popularity in it's home region, you only need two good shows to boost you up to small, and once you hit small you can usually run two shows some months providing you just run hour long events with like 4 matches. What I usually do is run one longer show every 3 months to make money and put on most of my better matches then, and the other 8 months of the year I run two shows. The first year or so of the game is not very interesting, but really if you run good enough shows it will only be like 18-20 shows until you start getting slightly bigger crowds in and can afford a more interesting roster. Once you get past this point, it's pretty much just like playing as usual and depending on how expensive your workers are you can decide whether you want to run weekly smaller shows, bigger shows less often, try to expand into another region etc. I think local to National would have to take about 10 years of running some solid shows.[/QUOTE] Actually, you can go from Local to National in about five or so years... depending on how you approach it. In the 1997 CVerse mod I started a game with a new Local company, and I just hit the three year mark and I'm about a month or two away from Cult. And I know it took someone using ROF (not sure who) about five years to get them to National. If it takes you a decade, then you're not running solid shows. Hell, with my EWA diary game I'll probably be Cult in two and a half years, given how awesome my shows are for a Regional company. But as many said, at local... run just one show. When you're a moderate sized Small company, I've figured you can run two shows a month. At Regional, I can usually start running four or five shows a month.

[Phantom Stranger]

[QUOTE=Comradebot;518253]And I know it took someone using ROF (not sure who) about five years to get them to National. [/QUOTE] Me and Marcel Fromage both. But that was with TEW07.

[Shmoe]

This is a good question actually, I'm running a promotion, still on '07 though, with an amazing product. My popularity is an average of C+ in the US with two regions having B-. From this point, how close am I to national, I'm really anxious so I can start getting written contracts and the damn TCW and NOTBPW stop stealing talent from me!

[BurningHamster]

Woah, 5 years is pretty good going. Although to be fair, if you start with a company such as ROF which already has a roster in place, it should be a little easier than how I usually run a local, which is by signing whatever unemployed indy guys I can afford. How long it takes from regional to cult and then to national probably also depends on what your TV deal is like and what country you are in.

[Phantom Stranger]

[QUOTE=BurningHamster;518271]Woah, 5 years is pretty good going. Although to be fair, if you start with a company such as ROF which already has a roster in place, it should be a little easier than how I usually run a local, which is by signing whatever unemployed indy guys I can afford. How long it takes from regional to cult and then to national probably also depends on what your TV deal is like and what country you are in.[/QUOTE] The big advantage to ROF actually is simpler; the other UK companies will more or less tread water, meaning the moment you start beating them in the regional battles you don't run the risk of being outdistanced and losing your talent to other companies; if they get too big for you you can catch them when you hit the next size level. The big issue is the size of the worker pool; once you hit national, you will NOT have enough big names and every show takes a hit as a result.

[James Casey]

The other thing is that location obviously counts - it's a lot easier to hit national in the UK, where you have four or five regions, than the US, where you have a lot more.

[Sons of Kohral]

I'm trying it right now, started a new promotion on rock hard. It's tough though because I'm based in Tri-State but I have that regional battle kicking my ass. I got knocked back down to local three months in a row.

[SaySo]

If you start out as local, is there any way to filter what wrestlers you are able to sign for cheap? How to avoid the travel expense problem (what workers to select)?

[Sons of Kohral]

search for workers who live in your home country (if you're in the USA, hire Americans) and set the boundries to search popularity from F- to F.

[That 1 Dude]

I've done it in previous verisons... I'd set it to no owner and see who would take over... For whatever reason it ended up being Bryan Holmes more times then not. It was a huge help!

[Comradebot]

[QUOTE=That 1 Dude;518761]I've done it in previous verisons... I'd set it to no owner and see who would take over... For whatever reason it ended up being Bryan Holmes more times then not. It was a huge help![/QUOTE] Lucky... I typically get stuck with Gil Thomas as an owner. You have no idea how happy I was the time Dean Daniels bought my company instead. Because, Gil Thomas? Frakking definition of useless.

[WrestleManiac]

I have an ongoing game where I started a new promotion on Rock Hard level. Like somebody said before, you want a product that gets good sponsorship. That sponsorship money is your life-blood. I always put on one show a month until I get a TV deal. At local level this is good practice. Others have said you can put on more shows per month, but I prefer one. If you find you're losing money fast, take a month off. This is where good sponsorship comes in, because you get a nice cash injection. My game is at the tail end of 2010 and I've only taken one month off - since then I've always turned a profit. Use cheap workers and don't expect high grades. If your popularity is F, and you put on an E+ show/segment, you're giving the fans more than they expected. When you rise a level, remember to go through your roster cutting out the dead wood, and replacing them with talent that suits the level you are at. Your main eventers should stay for a while, but your lower mid-carders are probably surpluss to requirements.

[Sons of Kohral]

[QUOTE=WrestleManiac;519018]I have an ongoing game where I started a new promotion on Rock Hard level. Like somebody said before, you want a product that gets good sponsorship. That sponsorship money is your life-blood. I always put on one show a month until I get a TV deal. At local level this is good practice. Others have said you can put on more shows per month, but I prefer one. If you find you're losing money fast, take a month off. This is where good sponsorship comes in, because you get a nice cash injection. My game is at the tail end of 2010 and I've only taken one month off - since then I've always turned a profit. Use cheap workers and don't expect high grades. If your popularity is F, and you put on an E+ show/segment, you're giving the fans more than they expected. When you rise a level, remember to go through your roster cutting out the dead wood, and replacing them with talent that suits the level you are at. Your main eventers should stay for a while, but your lower mid-carders are probably surpluss to requirements.[/QUOTE] I'm doing the same thing. I'm in mid 2010. Problem with me is, I started up in my home region, which happens to be the Tri-State. Bad idea. My grades are suitable for my size (still small) but I'm getting killed in the regional battles, always coming in 3rd out of 4. NYCW who seems to always comes in 1st refuses to sign a working agreement. Any advice?

[Bull]

[QUOTE=Sons of Kohral;519020]I'm doing the same thing. I'm in mid 2010. Problem with me is, I started up in my home region, which happens to be the Tri-State. Bad idea. My grades are suitable for my size (still small) but I'm getting killed in the regional battles, always coming in 3rd out of 4. NYCW who seems to always comes in 1st refuses to sign a working agreement. Any advice?[/QUOTE] NYCW usually wont sign a working agreement as i think the stompers pacts are set to hostile so i would either start putting on more shows to keep from losing alot of popularity and prestige, or try building your popularity up in a different region where the promotions dont put on as good of shows as you. or try hiring better workers to put on better shows. anyway thats what i would try, maybe somebody else might have some better advice for ya:D