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How do you fill dense schedules?


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WWF/WWE is almost always my choice when I start a new game, but I just have trouble staying with them. I'll have decent long-term plans, but filling that much television every week, especially in post-brandsplit mods, just gets to be a grind, and it's difficult to come up with anything interesting (or even adequate) beyond my top few storylines. I just started a game and I'm already losing my momentum before I've even finished my first Raw, despite all the cool twists and long-term plans I'm excited to implement. Those of you that play companies with a heavy schedule, how do you get past that?
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Pick a couple guys per push level, so enhancement, opener, lower-mid, and mid-card, that you want to push, and give each a match per show. So with two enhancement and two openers, going against higher up guys, that's 24-30 minutes, plus the angles for the higher ups that's your first hour.

 

Second hour will be your lower-mid and mid-card guys with your lower mid guys you can get ten minute, and with your mid card, you can do one match and an angle between him and a higher up guy. Add in a Divas or tag segment(match or angle) and then you have the second hour.

 

For your final hour, you have your upper mid card, the alternate of the Diva or Tag segment, whichever you didn't do in the second, and you Main-Event segment and match.

 

Basically break-up your three hour show, into three hour long shows, booking each with it's own focus on pushes, and it'll be easier.

 

For Smackdown, just eliminate the first hour, and for a show like Superstars and B shows, Mid-Card becomes your main event, and the rating doesn't matter so, just do what you want.

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Might seem like it's nothing, but I create custom angles.

 

Ring Entrances with Ring Introduction(both for established talent where both get an official introduction and where the jobber is already in the ring).

 

I also do "on screen graphic" angles that are 1 minute long saying what match is next.

 

If you have seven matches, that's seven minutes of angles down right there. Since WWE is an angle heavy promotion anyway, those plus your other angles should be cutting into the majority of the show.

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With a massive roster I'll always suggest a brand split. Any time I try to run a WWE game I always recreate the brands and even out the amount of talent on each. I once played an MAW game that lasted over 13 years. We grew large enough to become WCW and we had two brands with three TV shows. Monday Mayhem and Thursday Takeover. The third show was mixed with each brand. I also ran a B show for the younger talent to develop. It was tough to continue and eventually I stopped playing that save because it was overwhelming to say the least.
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Announcers talking angles help too. Realistically, this is how even the WWE itself makes up some time - how often during a show do they just cut to commentary for a few moments?

 

Whether they're talking about earlier in the show, telling you what's to come, or filling you in on the WWE app, there is A LOT of time dedicated to the announcers talking. And it's been that way for a long time, as even back in the 80s when it was a "talk show" format, you had a lot of Gorilla, Bobby, Gene, and the gang just hyping the big events that are going on.

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I would change the show length from three to two and a half hours for Raw, because of the time for advertisements (smackdown 1,5 hours). That is not included in the Tew game

 

Yes it is, even more so in 2013, with you having a booking window based on how long your show is.

 

On top of that if you go to a taping, during the adverts there are still things going on in the arena.

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I would change the show length from three to two and a half hours for Raw, because of the time for advertisements (smackdown 1,5 hours). That is not included in the Tew game ;)

 

Ugh, Adam has said repeatedly that this is not the case. Do not lower the times because of "commercials".

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Not sure how you guys have trouble filling your cards. WWE is very easy to me. Pick a handful of guys you like and push them. Also dont be against having most of your matches take 13 minutes with the 2 minute intro. Also angles help. I tend to use mine to develop some guys on the mic using HHH or Vince to help them since they are both like a 95 mic/chasimsa depending on the mod. Dont be against making pointless angles based on overness also. Pick a random guy or 2 and put them in it. Obviously dont use them if their segment rating would hurt your show though. Filling 3 hours sucks but its very doable.
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I usually cut down the length of the show. Many times I have the itch to play but I load up into a Monday and dread having to book two shows two days back to back. I make Raw 90 minutes and Smackdown 60 minutes.

 

Sometimes when I'm dreading the booking aspect I try and draw out a weekly plans for my storylines. So if I have my next PPV 5 weeks away what story do I want to plan between those 5 weeks? If it's a storyline ending PPV then I try and plant seeds for the next feud within those weeks also.

 

I also just try and book by divisions. So I'll filter all my Divas and see where I want them implemented who gets showcased or thrown into a angle with the males. I'll filter my mid-carders and see who I feel is next for a storyline and who needs to be thrown in a tag team.

 

Breaking your show down into little sections makes it easier for me at least to book my shows without feeling overwhelmed.

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Guest michael20001

Making sure your storylines are planned out helps, will give you things to put in each show, also what i do is what the wwe does

 

Highlights of PPV matches

Announcers hyping up matches

A midcarder shilling WWE's latest sponsers

A show opening with announcers hyping the show

 

All these little things fill in the time

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Pick a couple guys per push level, so enhancement, opener, lower-mid, and mid-card, that you want to push, and give each a match per show. So with two enhancement and two openers, going against higher up guys, that's 24-30 minutes, plus the angles for the higher ups that's your first hour.

 

Second hour will be your lower-mid and mid-card guys with your lower mid guys you can get ten minute, and with your mid card, you can do one match and an angle between him and a higher up guy. Add in a Divas or tag segment(match or angle) and then you have the second hour.

 

For your final hour, you have your upper mid card, the alternate of the Diva or Tag segment, whichever you didn't do in the second, and you Main-Event segment and match.

 

Basically break-up your three hour show, into three hour long shows, booking each with it's own focus on pushes, and it'll be easier.

 

For Smackdown, just eliminate the first hour, and for a show like Superstars and B shows, Mid-Card becomes your main event, and the rating doesn't matter so, just do what you want.

 

This post has helped me a LOT so far, thanks!

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Here's how I quickly do TV shows: Make a formula. All the FUN stuff should happen on PPV, TV is just to get us there.

 

I'll designate 4-6 "jobbers of the month", often people I have on PPA contracts even if I can sign writtens. Make sure all of those are losing a match, either solo or tag, to people you care about that can GAIN something from the match. Either overness or skill increases.

 

In the semi-main, a defense of your midcard championship or tag team championship. Preferably in a trhree-way.

 

In the main, something relating to your main event/title feud. But NOT a 1vs1. Those are for PPV.

 

After that, look and make sure any and all storylines you have are represented somewhere. If not, do an angle about them, and place it on the card wherever you think it rates. Also, if one if your storylines IS represented with a match, but you think it might not rate well, book an angle that rates better and put it later on the card than the match you're iffy about.

 

Then, there's probably an agle or two I wanna run. If I've already got two strong angles in mind, I can sorta go wild with this. I'll book something with lots of people, some important people rated on something they're good at, and some nobodies I'm trying to get over not-rated.

 

Then, look at all the main-eventers and upper midcarders that don't have a match yet. If they're not in an angle yet either, book them a squash. I tend to bloat my rosters, so I'll often have 4 heels squash 4 unimportant faces, followed by 3 faces squashing 3 heels in my undercard. Remember, you're not booking THOSE matches to get ratings, you're booking them so noone complains about being left off.

 

Then, we make sure things are in the right order. If PST is on, this could be a bit of a pain. looks like it should be third-best match, worst segment, build up from there a bit till the middle of the show, put something that's gonna suck right after that, build up from there again to your semi-main and main. If you've got any angles that'd outscore either of those, put them AFTER the main. Without PST on, just make sure your main's your best match, your semi's the second-best, and order the rest of the card however you want to.

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