Referee Stats

[BAPACop]

TEW and all its different referees meant I was really disappointed when the WS3 ref was just a faceless, generic entity. It would be nice to at least see a picture and a name for the match official, and it would be even nicer to see some sort of stat or attribute system for referees, just to add some more variety, so here are my thoughts on stats. I am, of course, open to suggestions/alterations/negotiations/constructive criticism/outright dismissals/requests for something more specific than "it should affect this"/etc..

 

Temper: Regardless of promotion-specific settings like Strict DQ, some referees just have less of a tolerance for rulebreaking and will DQ quicker. Having a score of 500 means the referee acts exactly as the base game does now. Even a score of 1000 isn't as huge a multiplier as the Strict DQ rule, but it's still enough to get them angry faster, and referees with exceptionally high Temper in Strict DQ promotions will likely DQ for the first illegal move above Very Minor that is performed. High temper referees, however, will be very likely to issue DQs for Run-In behavior, especially after being taken out during a pin count or submission hold. Obviously, very high Temper referees should be incredibly rare, and the game should probably not generate referees with a Temper higher than 700 or so, leaving that to the player or database creators. Additionally, Temper would control how quickly a manager would be ejected.

 

Perception: I noticed that the referee doesn't always react to illegal moves, and I assume there's a hidden roll happening there somewhere. If that's the case, this stat would just make it more or less likely for the referee to see these moves. Also, a higher stat (in combination with Endurance) would increase the chance that a knocked-out ref a) realizes a pin or submission is happening and b) gets back up to call it. The current referee would be around 500.

 

Consistency: I like seeing the random referee-related events once in a while. This would control their frequency a bit more. More Consistent referees would be far less likely to roll the fast count event (and/or a slow count event if there is one I've never seen). A less consistent referee would be more likely to unevenly enforce illegal moves, perhaps adding a random multiplier onto all changes to the DQ point count. The current referee would be around 500.

 

Speed: Faster referees are less likely to get "bumped". Slower referees are more likely to roll the out of position event or similar. The current referee would be around 500. The game should avoid generating a referee with a speed lower than 300 or higher than 800.

 

Endurance: Sort of based on a pet peeve of mine, but I honestly hate how long the referee stays down. If these matches are real, then the ref staying down for minutes at a time is fairly ridiculous, plus it gives no real strategic advantage to anyone in this time since it's so extended and the match can't end, and I've never seen a character with illegal moves do more of them during this time anyway. That being said, this stat could allow that behavior to remain. I would put the current referee at around a 100 in this stat, since he seems to be down for about three or four minutes consistently (in my game at least), with a score of 900 putting the ref out for only twenty or so seconds. This should be long enough for a Heel to use an Instant DQ Finisher without getting a DQ while still allowing the referee to actually count the resulting pin since he/she is really only staggered and can notice and react quite easily. A referee at 1000 would be staggered for precisely one move, regardless of its Time Taken, would be immediately available to count a resulting pin or submission, and has a (very small, they'd have to roll a 10 or lower) chance of seeing an Instant DQ move anyway. A referee at 1000 Endurance should be incredibly rare, if not impossible, for the game to randomly generate. This could perhaps be a game setting, but to keep referees at approximately the same downtime as the current, the game should avoid giving referees Endurance ratings above 300.

 

Intelligence: Less Intelligent refs are more likely to not react to an Illegal move (even if they see it via a Perception roll) or just flat-out make a bad call and enforce a move at the wrong cheating level (or even call a Clean move illegal). They are also much more likely to get caught out of position. More Intelligent referees can use Intelligence as a save to call illegal moves that they failed their Perception roll on, assuming they only failed it by 1/10 of their Intelligence score (ex. A referee with an Intelligence of 1000 who fails a Perception roll with 899 > 800 gets to roll it a second time). On a similar note, a highly Intelligent referee has a chance to figure out something is amiss when, while he/she is checking on Competitor B, Competitor A performs a DDT on themselves and B goes for the pin while Unknown Party C sprints away from the ring at high speeds. The average referee would be at 650; I'm not sure what the current chance for seeing an illegal move is so I can't place the current referee on the scale. Bad calls aren't made unless the referee's intelligence is lower than 400. Referees with an Intelligence under 400 should be quite rare and generally only work at the Indy and Small levels. A referee that issues a DQ due to enforcing a move at a higher cheating level than it actually is or fails to DQ after an Instant DQ move has a chance of being fired and takes a permanent penalty to their Overall rating.

 

Spirit: I'd like to see a Heel be able to try to Intimidate the referee, making the ref less likely to react to their illegal moves and, if done enough, cause the referee to count fast if they're pinning and slow if they're being pinned out of fear of some sort of retaliation. It could (should?) even carry over somewhat, causing a referee to occasionally come into a match pre-intimidated. This would be a roll directly against this value with no modifiers unless the referee has already been successfully intimidated during the match. This means referees with a Spirit of 1000 should be impossible to intimidate. If the Heel fails this attempt, the referee acts as if they performed a High level cheating move, bypassing Perception and Intelligence rolls and only applying Strict DQ and Temper modifiers to the amount actually added to the DQ counter. This could also be applied to allow managers to distract the referee if they passed the same check, failing it would simply have the referee ignore them.

 

Ethics: Boolean. Referees with Ethics can't take part in the Conspiracy Theory storyline since they won't accept bribes. This stat gives a small bonus to Overall if it is checked.

 

Overall: Not an actual stat, Overall is one of two numbers used by promotions to determine referee hiring. Overall is the average (or some equation?) of every stat other than Temper. Referees with Overall higher than a certain threshold can't be hired by smaller promotions (they refuse the contract) and bigger promotions get first pick at (and prefer?) referees with higher Overall ratings. A referee's Overall stat, relative to the others at the same company, also determines what level and type of matches they work (when compared to their fellow officials at the same company).

 

In regards to promotions hiring referees, they would not hire one who obviously doesn't fit their style unless there are no referees that do available (refs are only randomly generated to fit the promotion's needs if no other referees that are able to be hired due to their Overall rating exist). The only stat that is relevant to this (other than Overall) is Temper. A promotion without Strict DQs and/or with Run-Ins is incredibly unlikely to hire a referee with high Temper.