Justifying playing GDS games to friends etc.

[VampiroEl]

Just wondering how many people on the forums have had conversations with friends or significant others where you try to explain what TEW or WMMA is and they either don't understand how the game could be any fun or the point in it.

 

My wife has seen me play TEW 2010 and she really doesn't understand the appeal yet she can spend hours playing the Sims. A couple of years ago some of my friends who are wrestling fans gave an old version a go but they lost interest when they realised they couldn't actually watch the matches they were booking (not sure if they were expecting a 3D match engine after I explained its a TEXT based game!)

 

I did manage to convert an old flatmate of mine to playing EWR 4.0 back in the day, which led to an interesting Raw Vs. Smackdown two player game which went on for over a year.

 

Anyone got any good stories of convincing people to play it buy GDS games or people completly misunderstanding the concept and thinking you're odd for playing :-)

[Self]

Not that I mention it to many people, but I usually compare TEW to Football Manager games. They seem to get the management side of the appeal, even if the idea of liking wrestling is completely lost on them.

[Blackman]

If they don't see the point in playing a game like this, there's really no point in trying to explain it to them, as they seem to have a different conception of gaming. I try to avoid these explanations as much as possible, or go with the 'imagination' route.

[BurningHamster]

I never try to justify my actions to others.

 

Also, the fact I play TEW doesn't really come up in a lot of conversations.

[Self]

If someone walks into the room while I'm playing TEW, I hurriedly minimize the game and fiddle with my fly, trying to look like I'm not trying to look freaked out. Hopefully they'll think they caught me looking at porn.

[Nathers7]

I try to avoid telling anyone I'm playing TEW, I told someone once when they asked what I was playing, honestly the conservation I had after just wasn't worth having.

 

It wasn't that I was embarassed, it was just a painfully long conversation explaining the game which made me angry and probably made my friend think I was strange (from the way he was looking at me it wasn't a bad guess lol). When someone asks what I'm playing from now on I just say Football Manager straight away.

[steesh07]

I got my brother in law to buy it for me when I never had a credit card, he asked what it was and I said a wrestling version of Football Manager. Seemed to make sense to him and that was that.

[Unregistered]

I'm from the school of thought that it's worth going into talking about, in the hopes it brings in one more customer/fellow game player. I don't walk around town shouting about the game, but at the same time, I've brought it up to random wrestling fans I've met.

 

Alot of you guys have the easy way out by saying it's like Football Manager, as an American, it's difficult enough to find someone that likes wrestling, none the less a real sport

 

To me, if your a fan of wrestling, you might enjoy the game. Two fold if your into wrestling enough to go to an indy show. Three fold if you used to efed when you were younger (or in some cases, still do). So, once I get an idea that if they like wrestling for more then John Cena and Hulk Hogan, I'll try and throw it in there. Then again, I've done this since middle school with EW5000. I gotta say, my small town probably has 20 plus EWR players, TEW just hasn't taken off quite as much. And not just because of the price as you would imagine, but because of the lack of matches as said before. It's sad, but true. That plus having a fictional universe? Thats the hard thing for me to explain, even if it is better then the real world

[LoNdOn]

I'm from the school of thought that it's worth going into talking about, in the hopes it brings in one more customer/fellow game player. I don't walk around town shouting about the game, but at the same time, I've brought it up to random wrestling fans I've met.

 

Alot of you guys have the easy way out by saying it's like Football Manager, as an American, it's difficult enough to find someone that likes wrestling, none the less a real sport

 

To me, if your a fan of wrestling, you might enjoy the game. Two fold if your into wrestling enough to go to an indy show. Three fold if you used to efed when you were younger (or in some cases, still do). So, once I get an idea that if they like wrestling for more then John Cena and Hulk Hogan, I'll try and throw it in there. Then again, I've done this since middle school with EW5000. I gotta say, my small town probably has 20 plus EWR players, TEW just hasn't taken off quite as much. And not just because of the price as you would imagine, but because of the lack of matches as said before. It's sad, but true. That plus having a fictional universe? Thats the hard thing for me to explain, even if it is better then the real world

 

I converted my mate at University to TEW and WMMA.

 

If someone asks me what games I play, I quite often mention both TEW and WMMA as I do play them a heck of a lot.

[Purple Cowboy]

Never really had to explain it much, but as above I usually would mention it's like Football Manager or Out of the Park Baseball but for wrestling. I usually quickly add that there's an MMA sim too to smooth out the "you still like wrestling?" factor.

 

Wife isn't a gamer and thinks this all is a waste of time, but she watches silly shows like The Bachelor and Housewives of New Jersey so it's a tradeoff.

[mike b]

Actually got 3 of my friends to purchase TEW and a few more for Greatest Cape

 

It helped that they were alwready into wrestling so i just gave them the sales pitch about running your own promotion so forth and so on and they bit right into it.And I am glad to say they all love TEW

 

Though i must say i have been told in other gaming forums that simulator management games are so like 1990's old school:(

 

But i have always loved simulator games sooooo i will always love TEW

[Fleisch]

I've persuaded 3 of my friends to get TEW 2010. To be honest I only recommended it to them because they asked if there was a "Wrestling management type game" (their words) because they wanted to book WWE... since then they've realised life extends beyond WWE and TNA!

[MJStark]

Most of my mates are into their XBox, so they aint gonna buy it or anything, but understand that I enjoy it and thats enough. TEW has always been a way of me getting booking shows out of my system after the little promotion I ran in the real world died due to lack of economy (to put it in TEW terms).

 

To be fair, I probably spend as much time if not more creating images for folks on the forum, writing CBH diaries and helping out on mods as I do actually playing TEW & CBH. I guess I just enjoy being creative and GDS has helped me find that...

 

Sorry, this isn't group therapy is it...

[TakerNGN74]

The only one I really mention TEW to is my best friend and that is only because he plays TEW as well (He's ThriceP86 on the forums). We both started playing EWR and tried a few others like Promotion Wars and then we both eventually purchased TEW 2008 (I purchased it after I found out he did so if it wasn't for him I probably would have never have made the purchase and started playing TEW). So I really don't have to justify playing TEW to anyone, myself and Thrice have both mentioned it to people that we hang out with that don't play it but they don't really give us funny looks because they are into comic books and stuff so it would be weird if they were to look at us for playing TEW when they collect comic books and action figures.

 

Whenever I mention it to one of my friends I try to not go to into detail if they ask me "What is it" i'll just say its a game where you manage your own wrestling promotion and that ususally does the trick. To me GDS games and other text based games aren't really something that you can explain to someone so I ususally will explain what I need to and then tell them to give it a try so that they can experience it for themselves. If they like it cool if not thats cool too.

[soxfan93]

None of my friends know that I play TEW. None of them like wrestling, and are simply too immature to understand that a lot of people do. Therefore, I just don't bother bringing it up.

[Remianen]

If they don't see the point in playing a game like this, there's really no point in trying to explain it to them, as they seem to have a different conception of gaming. I try to avoid these explanations as much as possible, or go with the 'imagination' route.

 

This.

 

Besides, for the most part, if I recommend something to someone, they value my opinion enough not to question it. Sure, if I say "I think you should do your honeymoon in the Seychelles instead of Jamaica", they might jump in with the "That's so expensive" line (everyone does) but then when they acknowledge the fact that they have NFI where the Seychelles are, you can then explain the why. Likewise with games, the people I've recommended TEW to were either into wrestling (by choice or by occupation) or into creative outlets (which wrestling qualifies as much as any other TV program or short form film). NordVolf, for example, wasn't really into wrestling but he liked the whole storytelling aspect of it so he got into TEW. Of course, when I mention I was on the dev team, that seals the deal! (Okay, not really )

 

On a side note, I always felt bad for my guildmates over the years who had to justify their playtime to their wives/gfs. I always told 'em to find a way to make their gaming generate revenue. That way, the SO can't complain ("I'm workin'."). Well, they CAN complain but not too much. Freelance articles for gaming sites can pay decently and there's a large amount of gaming bloggers and artists who HAVE to game in order for their sites (which generate revenue) to continue getting hits. Heck, one of the guys who hosted a podcast for Star Trek Online, got hired by Cryptic as a designer. (That's been a really common occurrence over the last 10 years or so)

 

Anyhow, anyone who knows me knows I'm a management fiend. As a proud graduate of the Gordon Gekko School of Business, I've found myself falling deeper into simulation games than action (only second to RPGs with me, really). So with most of my friends, if I recommend something, they'll ask why I like it (knowing I analyze games to the nth degree and don't play fanboi to any of them). Then it goes on from there.

[PITFan48]

I've never straight up mentioned that I play GDS games to anyone, though I have explained the appeal of text based manager style games to them (one plays Baseball Mogul and the other Out of the Park Baseball). They've recently gotten into watching wrestling with me, so who knows...it might come up down the road.

[djthefunkchris]

The biggest problem I've found, in getting anyone interested is the visual aspect of gameplay. The OP mentioned the "SIM's", and although I can see a little of the appeal in comparing, I would have to use "The Movies" as a better comparison, only because of the modding aspect.

 

If you could see the characters in GDS games interact, it would appeal to a much bigger number. Backwards example: IF WWE games had the modding capacity (mainly talking about AI in the characters) that we have with TEW, it would appeal to me alot more then they do.

 

It's a total let-down that there isn't something out there that has both... but then again who knows what the future might hold. Who knows what the future might hold, especially with the main programs (Daz and Poser) getting easier to convert their characters into desirable characters for more and more game engines. At some point I can see people being able to make a character in a program of their choice, and exporting it for another game, after putting the character in game, then being able to give them a personality.

 

I've been contemplating picking up one of the Civilization type games, but what I'm really looking for is a "Game" (loosely) kind of like a sim's type game, that I can adjust personalities and go into a "sandbox" type play, where I don't have to actually play a character, but perhaps just influence it... Kind of like 3-D pets on my computer I guess, lol.

[Astil]

I've been contemplating picking up one of the Civilization type games, but what I'm really looking for is a "Game" (loosely) kind of like a sim's type game, that I can adjust personalities and go into a "sandbox" type play, where I don't have to actually play a character, but perhaps just influence it... Kind of like 3-D pets on my computer I guess, lol.

 

If you find this PM me about it I'd want it.

[ThriceP86]

The only one I really mention TEW to is my best friend and that is only because he plays TEW as well (He's ThriceP86 on the forums). We both started playing EWR and tried a few others like Promotion Wars and then we both eventually purchased TEW 2008 (I purchased it after I found out he did so if it wasn't for him I probably would have never have made the purchase and started playing TEW). So I really don't have to justify playing TEW to anyone, myself and Thrice have both mentioned it to people that we hang out with that don't play it but they don't really give us funny looks because they are into comic books and stuff so it would be weird if they were to look at us for playing TEW when they collect comic books and action figures.

 

Whenever I mention it to one of my friends I try to not go to into detail if they ask me "What is it" i'll just say its a game where you manage your own wrestling promotion and that ususally does the trick. To me GDS games and other text based games aren't really something that you can explain to someone so I ususally will explain what I need to and then tell them to give it a try so that they can experience it for themselves. If they like it cool if not thats cool too.

 

This. Besides Taker, I stopped justifying it to friends, parents, and whoever else may know I play TEW. Most of them just don't get it and/or know I just like the business/management side (Like Remianen stated) of just about any kind of sport (even though TEW is the only one I play on GDS). Sometimes I find it more interesting than the sport itself even though I do love wrestling as a sport & for the entertainment value.

 

When Taker & I talk about TEW, our friends know not to interject although sometimes they do. I don't think any of them are really turned on by the idea though since most of them play more casual console games.

[VampiroEl]

Lots of responses :-) I guess if people arn't really into simulation or management games then they won't get into TEW no matter if they like wrestling or not. I'll try and explain it with the "Its like Football Manger but with a wrestling promotion" line to people who ask me in the future. Wrestling isn't very popular or well known in my part of the world (moved to Sweden 6 years ago) and I guess that's also why its harder to explain. I also enjoy making mods for GDS games, Wrestling Spirit 2 and an upcoming CBH Buffy mod, which takes a lot of time, often whole weekends disappear :-) but I think its worth it :-)

[Wrestling Century]

My older brother (who visits from time to time), who is a hardcore console gamer, understood the appeal of it. He said that it would be too boring for him though.

[HansLanda11]

I've told people about WMMA and I always get a weird look when I tell them that you don't watch or play the fights, you read them. I feel like it's best just to tell them it's a matchmaking strategy game.

[Hive]

I'm a bit of this:

 

I never try to justify my actions to others.

 

Also, the fact I play TEW doesn't really come up in a lot of conversations.

 

mixed with this:

 

If someone walks into the room while I'm playing TEW, I hurriedly minimize the game and fiddle with my fly, trying to look like I'm not trying to look freaked out. Hopefully they'll think they caught me looking at porn.

 

depending on the person.

[Astil]

I talk about TEW a lot, to the point where my friends 'want to see it' after a while. Most of the time it ends up being 'oh that's nice', but it's never awkward or anything.