The SWF Thread

[Sigilistic]

I figure since we've got a new game, we should have a new dedicated thread to everybody's famous evil empire, in any incarnation of the CV setting ('97 or present).

 

After days of waffling, I decided to make my first big game an SWF one, playing from the '97 start date. I'm not actually going to play til we get the full version, right now I'm just exploring the roster and plotting out some storylines.

 

In 1997, we have an exodus of top stars Rip Chord and Sam Strong, a soon-to-depart-for-bloodier-pastures Nemesis and a certain 18-year-old rookie year Tommy Cornell. Total tangent: How'd he get hired by SWF at 18? Was he scouted? A standout amateur? Connected in the biz?

 

My big question is how to handle Cornell. It's obvious he's The Next Big Thing, but he's 18, a rookie and nowhere nowise near ready to carry a belt. I'm thinking of pairing him up with a lower midcarder to start things off, give him a feud with some TV time and lots of wins. But what's a good amount of time to wait before giving him his first run with the belt? A year?

 

My planned big money feud is Sam Keith and Christian Faith. In my reckoning of the history, these two have never faced off one-on-one. Faith only got his big shot at the top after Strong and Chord left, and Keith is a holdover from those days. So my plan is to tease interactions between the two all through 1997, setting up a Supreme Challenge '98 encounter where Keith can drop the belt.

[Jaysin]

I usually pair Cornell up with Angry Gilmore in 97 mods. It allows both workers to grow and sets up a potential feud for them down the road.

[lghikas]

Really intrigued by SWF this year then past years. They lost a few guys up top but are in the process of replacing them. Parker...Hernandez and Mikey Lau all have potential..and that doesn't include some of the regulars in RIPW...Surprised Spencer Spade wasn't called up.

 

So far Ive played almost 1 month..not to thrilled about the starting storylines...I have had really good success with Bruce and Crippler.

 

Looking to beef up the tag division..Frankie Perez is available although he may even hold Mikey Lau back at this point. Hernandez and Parker could find a spot in there for the time being.

 

Don't have the game right in front of me but some people I signed up where El Mitco Jr...Fro Sure and Ricky DeColt...tried signing Kirk Jameson but USPW signed him up.

[Dorian]

I've tried a few different ways to keep the starting storylines working, but each and every time, I can only keep one storyline above B, meaning penalties galore for what happens. You usually need to scrap the starting storylines or modify them into something else to get them to stay at B or better.

 

However, if you continue to produce quality stuff, you'll still manage to keep yourself ahead of USPW and TCW.

 

I'd recommend nabbing Austin Smooth (developmental), El Mitico Jr., bringing up Ekuma and Spade, and perhaps starting a women's division (instead of doing my insane idea).

[tywood2022]

I've been waiting for this thread. First things first, I lower the risque level of the product to medium (makes signing workers much easier), switch RIPW to a touring schedule, and make a few hires. Roger Cage, Kirk Jameson, and Masked Cougar are all great hires, but need to be taken fast because USPro tends to go after them right away. I also keep an eye on Hell's Bouncer, he gets swiped by USPro in roughly one in three games. If I do need to sign him, I rename him Damien (a work in progress) and keep him in RIPW until he can make a big debut. I think Scythe is a little too far off to take Vengeance's spot, but Damien could be perfect for that role. Then I stash El Mitico Jr., Logan Wolfsbaine, and Xavi Ferrera in RIPW.

 

Obviously the tag team division needs work, so I think that is where I am putting the new hires. Cage and Smokes can reform their tag team. Jameson and Hernandez' team no longer exists in the game, but I think that would be a good place to start him at. Cougar could either team with Lau (he fits the product much better than Frankie Perez) or Masked Patriot once you call him up, which would help get Patriot some overness. In 2013, I signed Greg Black and teamed him up with Robbie Retro (until I could steal away Benson), so I might do that again.

 

In addition to the starting storylines, I added one between Eric Eisen and Vengeance (I like this name way better than DeBones). This story is mostly stolen from another thread, but Eisen holds an open challenge every week where he faces and beats members of the undercard (with regular help from Squeeky McClean). At When Hell Freezes Over, Vengeance will answer the open challenge, but Eisen will run off and get himself counted out in a short match. They will interact at every event until Nothing to Lose, where Eisen unleashes what he has been hyping as his secret weapon: a returning Marat Khoklov, leading to Vengeance vs. Khoklov at SC 36.

 

I plan on dragging out the Jack Bruce/Crippler storyline until Bruce can get the big win at The World Is Watching, which will put him on the path for a title shot at SC 36, though I am still undecided if he is winning here or not. From the looks of it, we have had four years in a row of a face capturing the title at SC, so Remo coming out on top could be a nice swerve. Another plan of mine is having Emma Chase help Rogue win a big match and becoming his full-time manager once again. IMO Rogue is missing too many pieces to be a true main eventer, but Rogue/Chase has always been amazing for me. Valiant is definitely being groomed into the next figurehead, but Spencer Spade should be pushed ASAP.

 

My big question is how to handle Cornell. It's obvious he's The Next Big Thing, but he's 18, a rookie and nowhere nowise near ready to carry a belt. I'm thinking of pairing him up with a lower midcarder to start things off, give him a feud with some TV time and lots of wins. But what's a good amount of time to wait before giving him his first run with the belt? A year?

 

That scrub who defied you in his match with Nemesis and nearly cost you millions in sponsorship deals? I would just job him out until his contract expires. Let him be HGC's problem.

 

In all seriousness, I tend to try and stick with the C-Verse history a little too close probably in my '97 games, which is likely why I have trouble sticking with them. Just guessing from title histories, I build to a big Faith/Bruce match in the main event of SC '97 with McFly/Keith as the semi-main event there to steal the show. Then Keith rides the momentum off this great match to take the belt of Faith in the last Supreme TV of July.

 

I'd recommend nabbing Austin Smooth (developmental), El Mitico Jr., bringing up Ekuma and Spade, and perhaps starting a women's division (instead of doing my insane idea).

I like my workers to have at least either star quality or charisma boosts in his/her road agents notes, and Austin Smooth gets neither, but I'm not sure if either are these are something he can improve upon. I've had good women's divisions in '13, but I usually waited until I could steal away a USPro worker or two and build it around them. Alicia Strong would be perfect since there is nothing keeping her in USPro anymore.

[Bigpapa42]

The Cornell-Nemesis match hasn't taken place yet as of the start of CVerse '97. The match occurs in February of 1997.

[Stennick]

Something that always bugged me is that the match happens on Assault TV yet Assault TV is never in the mod as an option for television.

 

http://i1017.photobucket.com/albums/af295/StennickGDS/HGC/SWFAssaultTV.jpg

[tywood2022]

The Cornell-Nemesis match hasn't taken place yet as of the start of CVerse '97. The match occurs in February of 1997.

 

But Nemesis is set to leave at the end of January, so I always just booked the match myself in his last appearance.

[gord]

I've been waiting for this thread. First things first, I lower the risque level of the product to medium (makes signing workers much easier)

 

I did this in TEW13, but I'm thinking of not doing that this time just to add a degree of difficulty - it's too easy otherwise. Keeps me from hiring guys that I really like, but 1) it'll give other companies a chance, and 2) it keeps me from signing every free agent I like and having a roster of 90+, which happened to me last time.

 

...switch RIPW to a touring schedule, and make a few hires.

 

With the added control over development, you don't have to make it a touring company, just add a weekly event. That way you don't have to take months off.

[Sigilistic]

Yeah, we ended up having that last match at the January PPV. I pulled a screwjob on Nemesis because he had creative control and wouldn't drop the belt. Since Cornell was too upstanding to be part of a screwjob, I brought in the Warlords to do the dirty work, and Richard Eisen to be the special ref (keeping in mind at this time he isn't really well known to fans) to do a fast count.

 

Nemesis ragequit the company, he and Phil Vibert hate Warlord Pain (the new NA champ), Eisen and Sam Keith now. I had Keith take credit for the screwjob, but in a kayfabe way, saying he arranged for it because he didn't like Nemesis as competition. My plan is to turn Keith into the head of a super heel stable, and Cornell will be elevated in the process by virtue of his involvement in that infamous match drawing him into a feud with Keith (along with Sean McFly and Sid Streets).

[tywood2022]

I did this in TEW13, but I'm thinking of not doing that this time just to add a degree of difficulty - it's too easy otherwise. Keeps me from hiring guys that I really like, but 1) it'll give other companies a chance, and 2) it keeps me from signing every free agent I like and having a roster of 90+, which happened to me last time.

 

Yeah it definitely makes the game a little easier, but I am trying to keep my roster down by only signing workers with at the very least either star quality or charisma boosts, but preferably both. The ability to sign one-off contracts with workers without tarnishing your relationship with them will make it easier to see who has these boosts before signing them to long-term deals. Plus I will likely steal away less workers from large companies because they are much better at negotiating.

 

With the added control over development, you don't have to make it a touring company, just add a weekly event. That way you don't have to take months off.

 

Oh yeah, that's definitely better. For some reason I didn't think this was possible without a TV deal.

[Rayelek]

Is it just me or is there a dearth of top tier faces in SWF at the start of 2016? After Jack Bruce and Angry Gilmore, I feel like I'm at the Joey Morgan/Valiant tier, and Val's not ready yet, and Joey's got the NA Title so I don't want to put him into programs with the ME guys yet. Skull DeBones has overness in the 80's, but he's not available for tv so that's not as helpful.

[Grfcboy95]

Is it just me or is there a dearth of top tier faces in SWF at the start of 2016? After Jack Bruce and Angry Gilmore, I feel like I'm at the Joey Morgan/Valiant tier, and Val's not ready yet, and Joey's got the NA Title so I don't want to put him into programs with the ME guys yet. Skull DeBones has overness in the 80's, but he's not available for tv so that's not as helpful.

 

I'd say give Valiant the wins in his feud with Brandon James (Who has never delivered as a top man in my games, despite what his bio says) and i'd say that Valiant is decently ready. Only thing he may be missing is a bit more psych, but you can get him working with Gilmore and Remo in triple threats or something. I do agree about Joey though, he should get a long run with the NA belt.

[gord]

Is it just me or is there a dearth of top tier faces in SWF at the start of 2016? After Jack Bruce and Angry Gilmore, I feel like I'm at the Joey Morgan/Valiant tier, and Val's not ready yet, and Joey's got the NA Title so I don't want to put him into programs with the ME guys yet. Skull DeBones has overness in the 80's, but he's not available for tv so that's not as helpful.

DeBones can work angles on TV, he just can't work matches.

[lghikas]

DeBones is available for tv....he is not available to wrestle sure but with a simplistic approach his angles should definitely be some of the highest rated segments of the show...

 

Personally I tend to stick to longer programs so just having Bruce and Gilmore as top faces will do just fine for now...haven't had a problem with. Valiant being my #3 face in fact...he's hopefully going to help Ricky DeColt get quickly acclimated to the American fans. Outside of that I agree about Joey Morgan and the NA title but still if you're looking for someone quick Mikey Lau is around 60ish pop and has got to around 70 and just being handed a small handful of wins in my first month.

[Bull]

Anyone who cares about Des Davids, while he is out at first for like 6 months, you can perform surgery to get him back a lot sooner, it's pretty low risk so there is a good chance you can get him back by the second half of February instead of waiting until July. The guy makes for a solid Upper Midcarder and is still fairly young compared to the rest of the people that high up the card in SWF. Not to mention if you put him to work with guys like McClean, The Crippler, etc. he's just gonna get better. .

[gord]

Anyone who cares about Des Davids, while he is out at first for like 6 months, you can perform surgery to get him back a lot sooner, it's pretty low risk so there is a good chance you can get him back by the second half of February instead of waiting until July. The guy makes for a solid Upper Midcarder and is still fairly young compared to the rest of the people that high up the card in SWF. Not to mention if you put him to work with guys like McClean, The Crippler, etc. he's just gonna get better. .

Ha - on one of my test games, I elected to have him undergo surgery and it failed, so now he's out a year and two months.

[Bull]

Ha - on one of my test games, I elected to have him undergo surgery and it failed, so now he's out a year and two months.

 

Good to know, I've done it 5 or 6 times now and only ever had it succeed

[lghikas]

Ive done it once and it was a success but he was still out for 3 months. I'll definitely have to take a look at his stats again but he can easily fit into that mid card to UMC range...I'll probably try to find a short term team for him on his return

[marsupial311]

Anyone who cares about Des Davids, while he is out at first for like 6 months, you can perform surgery to get him back a lot sooner, it's pretty low risk so there is a good chance you can get him back by the second half of February instead of waiting until July. The guy makes for a solid Upper Midcarder and is still fairly young compared to the rest of the people that high up the card in SWF. Not to mention if you put him to work with guys like McClean, The Crippler, etc. he's just gonna get better. .

 

My first SWF game (before I ruined it with a lot of foolish mistakes) Squeeky McClean needed a new gimmick, so I turned him into a racist with the idea that he would form a stable with Eisen to give Remo a shot at playing babyface to become a future figurehead when Bruce starts to decline.

 

My new game I'm trying the same stable but instead I'm having Robbie Retro join up with McClean (A "good old days" retro gimmick to play off McClean's racist gimmick) and beat down on Mikey Lau for a little while. I tried the surgery on Davids and he won't be ready until May so I'll probably have to sign someone to team up with Mikey in the meantime but eventually having Lau and Davids overcome the stable should push both of them up the card nicely by the end of the year. Once they move on, depending on where guys from RIPW are in terms of development (Lenny Brown and Primus Allen might be ready by that time) I can continue having McClean and Retro run their gimmick to put those new guys over and eventually having McClean turn on Retro when they run out of things to do.

[lr10540]

The top of the card is a little difficult initially due to the lack of top faces. The roster in general is very heel heavy. However, you have a couple babies ready to strap the rocket to in Mainstream and Mikey. Those were two I always signed, so the push is easy for me to do. Losing Frehley certainly hurt though.

[marsupial311]

The top of the card is a little difficult initially due to the lack of top faces. The roster in general is very heel heavy. However, you have a couple babies ready to strap the rocket to in Mainstream and Mikey. Those were two I always signed, so the push is easy for me to do. Losing Frehley certainly hurt though.

 

I've had Remo and Angry get bad chemistry twice so far so I end up turning Rogue really quickly and having him feud with Remo for the belt for awhile. I also turn the Awesomeness after they finish their feud with the Bumfholes since most of the tag division seem to be heels. It evens out the face/heel divide on paper but more of the faces are lower on the card. Having Morgan lose the NA Title and move up the card to feud with Remo will probably work as a transitional feud. I imagine setting up Bruce/Remo for The Supreme Challenge will give the heels someone to chase after giving the belt to Bruce.

[lr10540]

I've had Remo and Angry get bad chemistry twice so far so I end up turning Rogue really quickly and having him feud with Remo for the belt for awhile. I also turn the Awesomeness after they finish their feud with the Bumfholes since most of the tag division seem to be heels. It evens out the face/heel divide on paper but more of the faces are lower on the card. Having Morgan lose the NA Title and move up the card to feud with Remo will probably work as a transitional feud. I imagine setting up Bruce/Remo for The Supreme Challenge will give the heels someone to chase after giving the belt to Bruce.

 

Turning Rogue isn't a bad idea. It'll also allow for him and Valiant to reform as a team (you'll have to add it to the database) and give you a main event tandem to feud with whatever team is on top. Another loss that I just remembered is no more Faith. They lost 2 top faces. The top of the card has always been heel heavy, with most of the upper midcard only able to play heel. That alone makes it a little tough early on, especially with a heel champion.

 

As far as Morgan dropping the title, I really like having that title on him. He feels like a really good fit for it. If you drag out your programs he can have a really good, long and impactful reign and help improve the in ring abilities of the midcard guys. Then once he's a made man, he'll slide into the main event scene smoothly.

[MarkyGeorge]

Turning Rogue isn't a bad idea. It'll also allow for him and Valiant to reform as a team (you'll have to add it to the database) and give you a main event tandem to feud with whatever team is on top.

 

I'm thinking about doing this post-Supreme Challenge to set up a feud against The Crippler and a repacked Jungle Lord, with the angle being that Crippler (ahead of a title match) encourages Lord and Captain Atomic to drop their gimmicky personas and take their careers more seriously, with Lord taking his advice and betraying Atomic who turns into an avenger-type superhero.

[pantaloons]

How did everyone do in the first national battle? USPW finished last, TCW 2nd, SWF (me) 1st. TCW and SWF had no popularity change, but USPW fell hard, and dropped all the way to 72 across the US and are at cult. They are still the #1 company but I don't see that lasting long.