How meticulous do you get with your planning?

[Bonafide_Bluffa]

I usually just have PPVs planned out, but I've been playing a game in which I have a spreadsheet with PPVs, along with every detail of every show planned out weeks in advance. Not sure how long I'll have the patience to stick with it though lol. How do you guys plan? Do you wing it? Do you do basic planning for your major storylines?

[DoubleA012]

I've done one where I planned out every show for about 6 months. It made booking shows nice and quick, but it just wasn't as fun for me personally. I found that I like to book on the fly, occasionally planning out a massive story line for a couple months, but only the end result and a couple twist and turns to get there, the rest is still done on the fly. I just find it the most enjoyable, it allows for quick on the fly adjustments when something random like injury or suspensions happen, it also has the added advantage of causing more impulsive decisions because I'm not locked into my story arc. Downside is if I stop playing for awhile and comeback I'm usually lost and basically just randomly piece things together based off my prior show history and title holders, which can cause for some random story lines to end and such, but overall still very fun for me.

[Zero]

<p>I plan from Summer Slam to Wrestle Mania and Mania to Summer Slam (only pay per views)</p><p> </p><p>

How I get to each pay per view I book on the fly and weird match ups and/or tournaments</p>

[Gungner]

I book my TV Shows on the fly, unless I quickly come up with something that needs to bind two PPV's together... With PPV's, I usually have my next three booked.

[Winter8905]

<p>I usually book around two points in the year. With WWF it's Wrestlemania and Summerslam. I book WM and then I book the feuds for that then I book Summerslam and it's feuds. Everything else gets booked around those. </p><p> </p><p>

After those two then The Rumble gets booked as it leads heavily towards WM. King of the Ring then gets booked as it's winner gets a shot at Summerslam.</p><p> </p><p>

I book it like that and gradually I've got a chunk of key points set up. I don't really pre plan much in much detail after those mentionedd above as long as key points get hit I'm free to book organically the rest of the year.</p><p> </p><p>

I have the rest of the year filled up with A Tag Team Tournament, sometimes a Super Junior Cup and a WWF v NJPW/AJPW. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

Usually It ends up being feuds between Rumble and WM, then some will change between Mania and Summerslam then some will change between Summerslam and the Rumble. </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>

It doesn't take me too long to book the weekly shows as when i finally have my roster where I want it I know which guys I can use to lose to key people and I normally have enough of those types in to not have the same matches every week. I also like to test the progress of younger guys i have pegged for Main event in the future, so in 1990 i have Steamboat facing HBK and in the main event of my A show , Steamboat winning of course, but just seeing where HBK is at in terms of development. He'll face Steamboat again 9-12 months later. </p><p> </p><p>

I pre plan very roughly who I want as stars in the future and roughly what year they achieve things. </p><p> </p><p>

e.g. I have Austin in 1990 , I could super push him now but i'm not. in 1990 he was chasing Slaughter for the US title, he lost the fued but is about to strike up a partnership with Pillman in the later half of the year. They will spend 1992 chasing the tag titles, in 1993/4 they will be a top tag team then go for solo gold from 1995</p>

[sheepy]

<p>I normally plan my main events out 3/4 months in advance with the big main event at my season finale often sketched out a good 12 months in advance</p><p> </p><p>

Tag titles get about 2/3 months pre planning.</p><p> </p><p>

Secondary titles get about 1/2 months.</p><p> </p><p>

Everything else gets about 1 month unless I stumble onto a story or feud I want to stretch out in which case it can go much longer.</p><p> </p><p>

I normally plan out my TV shows in 4 week bursts around key plot points / matches to make the above work. The fine detail of a TV show is booked mostly on the fly.</p>

[kesselll]

I keep my main focus points in the notes ( I.e.: what to do with champs, who they are going to feud with later, etc), and book the showe on the fly.

[chunk]

I usually just pre-book a few big event matches at the beginning of each month to build around and let the rest of the card fall in place as I go. At the most, I'll pre-plan the main events for my bigger quarterly events.

[MinimiMax]

I usually set a goal that I want to achieve with feuds, sometimes I have a lot of different things that I need to book for that to happen but mostly I just book on the fly. I like to keep my storylines so that they can turn into a very different outcome from what I originally planned so I strictly plan only the most important ones. When I book a TV show, I just book what comes to mind and what ever each feud needs and sometimes even going into a PPV I don't even know who's gonna win some of the matches. This keeps it interesting and surprising for me also. But what I will always do is after a PPV I will plan out the next one's card before continuing because that will give me the base for what to book, though that can always change too.

[The_Monk]

<p>I plan my storys out for 3-5 months, and as I have 3 tv shows that means I have 6-7 storylines.</p><p> </p><p>

I assign each story a show so basically 2 storys a show, once ive booked them each week I then book the rest on the fly.</p><p> </p><p>

I use a programme similar to onenote to write it all down.</p><p> </p><p>

I also keep track of my monthly creative meetings to see any differanaces etc</p>

[AfRoMaN36]

<p>I book from Mania to Summer Slam and vise versa. All my other PPV's cards are merely there to build up to my big matches on the super shows. </p><p> </p><p>

But from a month to month basis I plan out matches and storylines so that I don't get stumped on a show trying to figure out what to do or who jobbed last.</p>

[sabataged]

I book on the fly for the most part. I typically have my PPV's planned out ahead of time but the weekly shows are purely what I feel like at the time.

[Defmall]

<p>I'm running a WWF save and I book on the fly for the most part, with a few exceptions:</p><p> </p><p>

1) I always have my PPV late in the month, so I like to go INTO the month knowing what I want the Main Event to be so I can book the entire month towards it.</p><p> </p><p>

2) I run 4-6 story lines at a time, so of course I have to book to keep that heat rating high.</p><p> </p><p>

3) Some of my PPV's are theme based, so I try to plan 3 months ahead so I hire the right people and get the right (intended) results. </p><p>

For instance, my Survivor Series is always a 6-man, international tourney...I have to get guys in from all over the world and get them OVER before Thanksgiving. </p><p>

And come September, I try to know who will win the Royal Rumble in January so there is a Main Event for Mania (March)</p>

[Crzy1051]

I book on the fly with only a few monthly event main matches planned out because i like playing feds that are low and build them up. Issue with this is the fact like i just had one of my top stars sign a written contract with the #1 company. So my plans have to adjust because he was a big part of my main line.

[redhilleagle]

<p>I never really plan much at all until my fed is up to Regional, but even then I don't plan much, I find it better planning with the bigger roster of Cult. I usually start planning my PPVs about 6 months in advance, at least with the main event / workers I want to push and any storylines that will be ending. About a month before the PPV I will have it 95% finalised, the other 5% booked on the fly if I need an extra short match or two.</p><p> </p><p>

I book TV on the fly.</p><p> </p><p>

I've only just started using this method as I used to book almost everything on the fly except maybe title matches at PPVs. I find it fun booking in advance, it's realistic to have a final card ready to "Advertise" a couple of weeks ahead. (Which I think would be a good additional feature to a future version of TEW). It also throws up all kinds of problems if you have a card all prepared then an injury pops up, ruining everything, but again, very realistic.</p><p>

I'm sure my writing team love having to stay up til the small hours of the morning putting together last minute changes!</p>

[Peria]

<p>I prebook 1 PPV ahead, and always have "subject to change" PPV plans set up for my major 4 events.</p><p> </p><p>

If I have someone booked in a title match, win or lose I always use them. And just keep it going. I kind of cycle people out that way, especially with my main event. I've done a great job keeping Christian Faith and Jack Bruce away from each other though and am VERY excited for their eventual lock up!</p>

[James Casey]

<p>I book broadly from one PPV/big show to the next, but over time longer term plans will emerge.</p><p> </p><p>

When running the SWF, I knew when booking the April 2013 Master of Puppets what I wanted the main event to be at the following year's Supreme Challenge (June 2014) and used the show to lay the foundation for that. But I also already had workers under contract who I believed would be headlining Supreme Challenge in 2015, and was laying the groundwork for <em>that</em> - albeit less specifically as I didn't know exactly who'd be in the final match.</p><p> </p><p>

In my current WCW game I'm in January 1992 and building broadly to two points that occurred in real life in spring/summer of 1992. One of them is fixed (it'll occur in May), the other will happen sometime after that, but it's important to be flexible. In the last month or so in game, I've had the chance to take one worker from the WWF, bring in a big star from NJPW, and had two main event stars' contracts come up for renewal. How those four panned out really changed my booking plans.</p><p> </p><p>

I find it best to book like a river; The water keeps flowing, and it doesn't matter so much if someone tosses a rock in, or takes a bucketful of water out.</p>

[Irish Wolf]

I plan out my big end of year show. Then I usually do three month at time for PPVs. And I'll plan the four shows before each PPV that month. Since my current fed has a policy that means you need to get 5 wins to get a shot at a title. So I need to make sure people I want to get title shot do and that the people I don't, don't.

[Motor]

<p>I usually have plans for next PPV, especially for storylines, and book the rest on the fly. Then I pre-book matches for the PPV when they are "officially" announced on one of my shows, so one week before the event I usually have the whole matchcard pre-booked.</p><p> </p><p>

Sometimes I have longterm plans in mind but as injuries or other circumstances can influence my booking I don't plan everything out in every detail.</p>

[marsupial311]

<p>I try to have my plan for every feud's match/angle on PPV and then fill in the TV time from there. As I get closer to my "Wrestlemania/Supreme Challenge" the feuds tend be focused on ending there so maybe three months out I have 2-3 matches set and then the next month I've added 2 more. </p><p> </p><p>

By the end of a PPV, I pretty much know what my card for the next PPV is going to be barring injuries and unforeseen things like that.</p><p> </p><p>

Right now, I'm hung up in one of my saves because I just ended Supreme Challenge 39 and I'm trying to figure out what I want as my main event for SC40 because I figure that historically, it should be one of the biggest shows ever. I have feuds I want to start now but I definitely want to get my two main guys in a great position by next year to bring the house down.</p>

[PlatYellow]

It depends, if I get into a game really deep, it can be what I'm doing 3 years down the line, in my last game I had a feud between Elektro Boy and Lion Kid for my Anniversary show where Lion Kid won, the idea was to keep Elektro Boy out of the title picture to freshen him up as he was like my Cena in the game, and Mark Hendry was supposed to win it off of Lion Kid 6 months down the road which got turned into the following Anniversary show's main event show, so I essentially had 3 years worth of plans roughly. With my current game at the moment it's about 1-2 years planned out and I'll see what happens along the way.

[gord]

I plan out *everything* in three-month chunks. Nothing is done 'on the fly'. It takes longer, but it ensures I have a plan in place for everyone I'm pushing. I usually book the PPVs then fill in the gaps from there.

[DatIsraeliGuy]

<p>I will plan out storylines outcomes and worker pushes, along with PPVs and sometimes TV Main Events, but everything is subject to change at all times.</p><p> </p><p>

I won't force a rivalry to go long if the workers have zero chemistry and vice versa (If they have great chemistry they may go longer).</p><p>

I like having the injury and death sliders on high along with post PPV standard drug tests for all since it feels a bit more realistic and unpredictable to push someone only to be backed into a corner.</p><p> </p><p>

I do, however, plan out a few matches for my next season finale PPV (Mania/Starrcade) after I go through one, so I have a goal</p>

[dude-1981]

<p>Sorry to bring up an old thread but what does anyone think of this for planning?</p><p> </p><p>

This is my provision line up for Supreme Challenge 39 (it's November, so 8 months out but you have to know where you are going.)</p><p> </p><p>

<a href="http://note.ly/dude1981" rel="external nofollow">http://note.ly/dude1981</a></p>

[shawn michaels]

Very rarely do I plan things ahead, except stuff like who's gonna win the rumble or main event my season finale, stuff like that. Other than that I usually book on the fly, and what I do plan ahead I keep it in my head, writing as few as possible and always trying to limit it to the notepad of the game. (which should not have a limit.)