SWF In 2013

[Luchador Canadiense]

Started my first SWF game last night. Figured I was finally ready for the challenge, but I never imagined it was going to be this challenging.

 

Faith is in terminal decline, Vengeance is 5 years past his prime, and Bruce is 4. Even Lobster Warrior is 4.

 

The good news is that I have two Next Big Things: Paul Huntingdon and Marc DuBois. (Really thankful I invested 7 points in Diplomacy... hoping to avoid any owner goals related to "trouble with the law.)

 

So it looks like Frehley is going to hold the belt through Supreme Challenge at this point (not my original idea, but going to work with the hand I've been dealt). Going to test Remo and Money for chemistry with Frehley and pray I find my main event for Supreme Challenge from one of those pairings.

 

Also going to see if I can pair Huntingdon with Enforcer Roberts as a tag team, as Paul is projected to be an exceptional in-ring talent, so I want to work those in-ring skills. Huntingdon's contract comes up within the first two months, so praying I can keep him in the fold... especially in the event I have to let DuBois go.

[kingdracon]

How have other people dealt with the Brandon James and Eric Eisen creative controls? Given that the "Keep Strong" note hurts the match rating, it's hard to move them into the main event--their popularity is there, but James can't have a main-event feud with Jack Bruce if he won't occasionally take a loss, and this feud is important to my game. Advice?

[Teh_Showtime]

How have other people dealt with the Brandon James and Eric Eisen creative controls? Given that the "Keep Strong" note hurts the match rating, it's hard to move them into the main event--their popularity is there, but James can't have a main-event feud with Jack Bruce if he won't occasionally take a loss, and this feud is important to my game. Advice?

 

The keep strong note doesn't kill matches that much, you can still get more than respectable grades using it.

 

I personally push James hard though because he's just plain awesome.

[kingdracon]

The keep strong note doesn't kill matches that much, you can still get more than respectable grades using it.

 

I personally push James hard though because he's just plain awesome.

 

I love Brandon James as well. He's sworn to take Bruce's spot at the top of SWF, but now that he's popular, he won't lose unless I use Keep Strong. He's beaten Bruce in tag matches twice--you'd think that that'd keep him happy, but apparently not....

 

Also, on a somewhat unrelated note, I started a Faith/Remo feud (with Remo swearing he won't try for a title until he's retired Faith) and just realized I have no idea how to write a Remo promo. How did other people do that?

[bigtplaystew]

I'm a big fan of the brand split, but I do it several years into my game usually. I have a lot of main eventers when I do it. For the reasons mentioned above, it can really hurt your show ratings unless you have a lot of top talents. And main eventers are easier to make when you have a bunch of them together doing great matches.

 

However, when you do get a bunch of top main eventers, do it. You will absolutely dominate the competition. As long as you have money main events, you'll keep your company momentum up and just steamroll everyone. You'll have more room for storylines, more room for titles, more room to develop stars and keep the ones you have happy.

 

Doing a brand split because you have too many guys? Horrible idea. Job them out and fire your crappy workers that bring down your match ratings. Fire the crap out of these people. Do like two or three a month if you're hurting for cash but as SWF that shouldn't be your problem.

[Bigpapa42]

So after experimenting with a couple of shorter games, I think I have my "SWF Style" down for 2013.

 

Started a new game. Semi-sandbox, which helps a bit. Took Mr. Eisen himself as a user character. Adjusted the product only by dropping the Risque, but that was only so that I could sign a few more conservative young workers. Don't think it really affected the product otherwise.

 

My approach is rather simple - emphasize the angles on TV, make heavy use of the upper card, and keep Supreme TV at 90 minutes. The latter is more key than I expected and its the opposite of what I typically do, as my standard approach in '10 and earlier was to flip STV to 2 hours ASAP. To give myself more room to feature more talent. The key isn't simply putting more talent on TV but doing so in a smarter way.

 

Supreme TV is a lot of angles. I use about four matches and the rest is angles. I keep the angles built around the stars and find simple ways to make them effective. Vengeance attacking Steve Frehley after a match got an A*. Having Remo (rated on Entertainment) talk about Frehley (off-screen, based on Overness) grabs an A, with Frehley talking about Remo doing the same. The angles mostly rate between B+ and A, with the occassional B or A*. They carry the show quite effectively. I run enough matches to hit the minimum for the match/angle ratio. The main event is strong - typically ME vs UMC. Something like Remo over Lobby grabbed a B in the first show, with Money over Gilmore got an A on the most recent one. The other matches are mostly upper card talent. So far, almost no one below midcard has been on a TV match. They get matches pre-show.

 

So far its pretty effective. The top guys are gaining overness pretty quickly and the shows are strong - all B+ and an A so far. That's without booking too cheap, like constantly using the Face Off No Contact every show. The key is that while its building the top of the card, its not really doing much for the mid card and lower. I accept that. I figure that if I do this for two months, the upper midcarders and main eventers will have the overness to allow fairly easy A graded shows, and I can then get a B show to give my midcard and lower guys more exposure. Plus, the overness of the top guys will carry shows even if I use the midcard guys a bit more.

[Eisen-verse]

So after experimenting with a couple of shorter games, I think I have my "SWF Style" down for 2013.

 

Started a new game. Semi-sandbox, which helps a bit. Took Mr. Eisen himself as a user character. Adjusted the product only by dropping the Risque, but that was only so that I could sign a few more conservative young workers. Don't think it really affected the product otherwise.

 

My approach is rather simple - emphasize the angles on TV, make heavy use of the upper card, and keep Supreme TV at 90 minutes. The latter is more key than I expected and its the opposite of what I typically do, as my standard approach in '10 and earlier was to flip STV to 2 hours ASAP. To give myself more room to feature more talent. The key isn't simply putting more talent on TV but doing so in a smarter way.

 

Supreme TV is a lot of angles. I use about four matches and the rest is angles. I keep the angles built around the stars and find simple ways to make them effective. Vengeance attacking Steve Frehley after a match got an A*. Having Remo (rated on Entertainment) talk about Frehley (off-screen, based on Overness) grabs an A, with Frehley talking about Remo doing the same. The angles mostly rate between B+ and A, with the occassional B or A*. They carry the show quite effectively. I run enough matches to hit the minimum for the match/angle ratio. The main event is strong - typically ME vs UMC. Something like Remo over Lobby grabbed a B in the first show, with Money over Gilmore got an A on the most recent one. The other matches are mostly upper card talent. So far, almost no one below midcard has been on a TV match. They get matches pre-show.

 

So far its pretty effective. The top guys are gaining overness pretty quickly and the shows are strong - all B+ and an A so far. That's without booking too cheap, like constantly using the Face Off No Contact every show. The key is that while its building the top of the card, its not really doing much for the mid card and lower. I accept that. I figure that if I do this for two months, the upper midcarders and main eventers will have the overness to allow fairly easy A graded shows, and I can then get a B show to give my midcard and lower guys more exposure. Plus, the overness of the top guys will carry shows even if I use the midcard guys a bit more.

 

I agree that Supreme TV needs to stay at 90 minutes. Honestly, I don't think there is enough over talent to really produce a 2 hour show. I mean, you could stretch it out but you'd probably burn through a lot in just a few shows (that could take time to produce do to a more limited time scale).

 

I haven't had the same kind of success as you with grades (have YET to hit an A* and have only had a few A's) but I agree that Supreme TV should be centered MORE around angles than anything else. You've got some great talents that can entertain (Money, Bruce, Frehley, Remo, Vengeance, Faith, etc.) and the focus should really go in their direction.

 

Like you, I've changed my way of booking with this game. For me, it's less about 'getting the new guys over fast' (in a sense, 'my guys') and more about utilizing the TOP names mostly (while pinpointing one or two people I really want to get over -- over time). It's tough, making that choice, but the SWF has SO many great characters at the top that it's impossible not to give them their due.

 

All in all, good to hear that you're finding your stride with SWF in '13!

[LiquidSwords]

So after experimenting with a couple of shorter games, I think I have my "SWF Style" down for 2013.

 

Started a new game. Semi-sandbox, which helps a bit. Took Mr. Eisen himself as a user character. Adjusted the product only by dropping the Risque, but that was only so that I could sign a few more conservative young workers. Don't think it really affected the product otherwise.

 

My approach is rather simple - emphasize the angles on TV, make heavy use of the upper card, and keep Supreme TV at 90 minutes. The latter is more key than I expected and its the opposite of what I typically do, as my standard approach in '10 and earlier was to flip STV to 2 hours ASAP. To give myself more room to feature more talent. The key isn't simply putting more talent on TV but doing so in a smarter way.

 

Supreme TV is a lot of angles. I use about four matches and the rest is angles. I keep the angles built around the stars and find simple ways to make them effective. Vengeance attacking Steve Frehley after a match got an A*. Having Remo (rated on Entertainment) talk about Frehley (off-screen, based on Overness) grabs an A, with Frehley talking about Remo doing the same. The angles mostly rate between B+ and A, with the occassional B or A*. They carry the show quite effectively. I run enough matches to hit the minimum for the match/angle ratio. The main event is strong - typically ME vs UMC. Something like Remo over Lobby grabbed a B in the first show, with Money over Gilmore got an A on the most recent one. The other matches are mostly upper card talent. So far, almost no one below midcard has been on a TV match. They get matches pre-show.

 

So far its pretty effective. The top guys are gaining overness pretty quickly and the shows are strong - all B+ and an A so far. That's without booking too cheap, like constantly using the Face Off No Contact every show. The key is that while its building the top of the card, its not really doing much for the mid card and lower. I accept that. I figure that if I do this for two months, the upper midcarders and main eventers will have the overness to allow fairly easy A graded shows, and I can then get a B show to give my midcard and lower guys more exposure. Plus, the overness of the top guys will carry shows even if I use the midcard guys a bit more.

 

Would this strategy work well with USPW? I know both promotions have very different talent levels but since they are both sports entertainment I was wondering if your approach would make it somewhat easier starting out with USPW.

[Bigpapa42]

Would this strategy work well with USPW? I know both promotions have very different talent levels but since they are both sports entertainment I was wondering if your approach would make it somewhat easier starting out with USPW.

 

Absolutely no reason why not. Its based on the basic idea of Sports Entertainment - or even more fundamentally, the popularity over performance product. Its really just focusing the show around the guys on your roster who will deliver the best grades - the most popular guys. With some of the top guys in USPW, its probably best to plan the main events carefully, which is really no different that in the SWF.

[BrokenCycle]

I've tried the 90 minutes thing for two months and my shows just totally suck.

[Bigpapa42]

I've tried the 90 minutes thing for two months and my shows just totally suck.

 

Suck in what sense? If you want some help, give us more detail and we'll see what we can do...

[Irish Wolf]

So after experimenting with a couple of shorter games, I think I have my "SWF Style" down for 2013.

 

Started a new game. Semi-sandbox, which helps a bit. Took Mr. Eisen himself as a user character. Adjusted the product only by dropping the Risque, but that was only so that I could sign a few more conservative young workers. Don't think it really affected the product otherwise.

 

My approach is rather simple - emphasize the angles on TV, make heavy use of the upper card, and keep Supreme TV at 90 minutes. The latter is more key than I expected and its the opposite of what I typically do, as my standard approach in '10 and earlier was to flip STV to 2 hours ASAP. To give myself more room to feature more talent. The key isn't simply putting more talent on TV but doing so in a smarter way.

 

Supreme TV is a lot of angles. I use about four matches and the rest is angles. I keep the angles built around the stars and find simple ways to make them effective. Vengeance attacking Steve Frehley after a match got an A*. Having Remo (rated on Entertainment) talk about Frehley (off-screen, based on Overness) grabs an A, with Frehley talking about Remo doing the same. The angles mostly rate between B+ and A, with the occassional B or A*. They carry the show quite effectively. I run enough matches to hit the minimum for the match/angle ratio. The main event is strong - typically ME vs UMC. Something like Remo over Lobby grabbed a B in the first show, with Money over Gilmore got an A on the most recent one. The other matches are mostly upper card talent. So far, almost no one below midcard has been on a TV match. They get matches pre-show.

 

So far its pretty effective. The top guys are gaining overness pretty quickly and the shows are strong - all B+ and an A so far. That's without booking too cheap, like constantly using the Face Off No Contact every show. The key is that while its building the top of the card, its not really doing much for the mid card and lower. I accept that. I figure that if I do this for two months, the upper midcarders and main eventers will have the overness to allow fairly easy A graded shows, and I can then get a B show to give my midcard and lower guys more exposure. Plus, the overness of the top guys will carry shows even if I use the midcard guys a bit more.

 

This is exactly what I've been doing although to not as good effect as you have. My TV is mostly B shows with the occasional B+. TV nistly hiolds my pop steady while raising it at PPVs. But I run three matches a show and I use the 10% lee way to run it at 60% and 40% angles making sure a majority of my angles are with main eventers thus raising my show ratings by having a good angle total for the show.

 

If I did more than 90 minutes I would need to add more matches which would invariably make my show ratings worse, and since some one would have to lose it would also drag down the momentum of some of my workers. If I could make it an even lower angle to match percentage without pissing off Eisen who hates change I would.

[Eisen-verse]

Has anyone ran shows in Mexico with success?

 

From what it looks like, most (if not all) areas only have 'some' who speak English. With this in mind, my fear is that running an event in Mexico could certainly bomb due to a limited amount of people speaking the language. Is this true?

 

Has anyone tried this & seen a positive return?

[gord]

Anyone out there have a heel authority figure? If so, who? The best candidate I could think of would be Ana Garcia. I'm looking for someone in the Vince McMahon or Vicki Guerrero mold.

[Eisen-verse]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="gord" data-cite="gord" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="34914" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Anyone out there have a heel authority figure? If so, who? The best candidate I could think of would be Ana Garcia. I'm looking for someone in the Vince McMahon or Vicki Guerrero mold.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Jerry Eisen? </p><p> </p><p> He could be a younger Richard Eisen looking to 'flex his power'.</p>

[gord]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Eisen-verse" data-cite="Eisen-verse" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="34914" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Jerry Eisen? <p> </p><p> He could be a younger Richard Eisen looking to 'flex his power'.</p></div></blockquote><p> I considered him but his heel rating is really low.</p>

[Irish Wolf]

I hired Carl Batch using his hustler gimmick. Its working out well. For now he doesn't do much as I slowly build his popularity but he'll start to show heel tendencies soon.

[Eisen-verse]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Apupunchau@optonline" data-cite="Apupunchau@optonline" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="34914" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I hired Carl Batch using his hustler gimmick. Its working out well. For now he doesn't do much as I slowly build his popularity but he'll start to show heel tendencies soon.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> How is he producing grade-wise? I love Batch but have been weary to hire him due to his average entertainment skills.</p>

[20LEgend]

<p>I've just started an SWF game but I'm struggling with match ratio. Even with the bottom percentage (55%) I struggle, because I'm used to SE promotions having less that 50% match ratios IRL. I could do with the leeway to just do 50/50 match/angle ratio but I can't because Richard Eisen is a control freak, might start again with him as my user.</p><p> </p><p>

70% match ratio is too high IMO for the major Sports Entertainment in the C-Verse, same thing that makes 21CW unplayable for me.</p>

[ash1983]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="20LEgend" data-cite="20LEgend" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="34914" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I've just started an SWF game but I'm struggling with match ratio. Even with the bottom percentage (55%) I struggle, because I'm used to SE promotions having less that 50% match ratios IRL. I could do with the leeway to just do 50/50 match/angle ratio but I can't because Richard Eisen is a control freak, might start again with him as my user.<p> </p><p> 70% match ratio is too high IMO for the major Sports Entertainment in the C-Verse, same thing that makes 21CW unplayable for me.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Then either change it in the editor or be the owner of SWF instead and amend at will.</p>

[20LEgend]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="ash1983" data-cite="ash1983" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="34914" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Then either change it in the editor or be the owner of SWF instead and amend at will.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Yeah, I'm going to start again as owner. I don't like playing with the in-game editor, for some reason <img alt=":p" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p>

[Irish Wolf]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Eisen-verse" data-cite="Eisen-verse" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="34914" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>How is he producing grade-wise? I love Batch but have been weary to hire him due to his average entertainment skills.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> I started him mostly interacting with guys on my B show and occasionally being the only low pop guy in an angle with all my main eventers and he doesn't drag those angles down to far. Bur I also don't use him that much maybe one or two segments a show.</p>

[3rdStringPG]

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="gord" data-cite="gord" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="34914" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Anyone out there have a heel authority figure? If so, who? The best candidate I could think of would be Ana Garcia. I'm looking for someone in the Vince McMahon or Vicki Guerrero mold.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> At first I used Eric Eisen, since I didn't want to stick him in too many matches outside of those relating to his storyline with Angry Gilmore. Then I made him relinquish his post...and now I've got Runaway Train (as Barry Bowen) playing the role of the heel Commissioner/GM. He's more of a hypocritical heel authority figure, sort of like John Laurinaitis, talking about "people power" when he's obviously favoring the heels. His lack of entertainment skills can be an issue when it comes to angle grades, but there's something about the guy that makes me think "heel commish/GM" right away.</p><p> </p><p> Perhaps Ana Garcia would make a good heel commish/GM as well, if you're looking for a Vickie Guerrero-type. Entertainment and heel skills are more than decent. Though I don't exactly envision her screaming a similar catchphrase to "EXCUSE ME!!!" <img alt=":p" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/tongue.png.ceb643b2956793497cef30b0e944be28.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /> Unfortunately, I can't think of anyone in the Vinny Mac mold...Richard Eisen's entertainment skills are terrible, and he's not that over.</p>

[Bigpapa42]

Jerry E would be able to do a reasonable job. So could Michaels or Fry. Nemesis always made an interesting choice in past versions, given his history, but won't work anymore. Someone like Eric Tyler could do well. Even a worker with good entertainment skills like Joe Sexy could work. There are many options. Just depends on what direction you want to go...

[Purple Cowboy]

If I'm not mistaken, BJ O'Neill starts the game as an Authority Fugure in SWF (she may be the only SWF Authority Figure when the game starts). I'm using her in that role in one save, split her off of American Machine to concentrate on her role as GM (and gave The All-Americans to Dawn the Cheerleader) and have been shadowing a heel turn as her decisions become increasingly more erratic. She's not a direct comparison to Vicki because she doesn't start with the best mic skills, but she's got good B-range sex appeal and decent enough star quality and charisma. Her POP needs work too, but I think she starts in the vicinity of American Machine/Richard Eisen if I'm not mistaken.

 

Just one option for you that's already in-house. I haven't ever made her the sole focus of a show but when paired with ME workers and involved in a decent storyline she's not killing the angle grades in that save.