Can I ask a serious question?

[Makhai]

Right. So it's totally realistic that Vince McMahon or Tony Khan would give you (general 'you' ) carte blanche to run their companies, right? Where does 'realism' stop and actually being real begin? If we want to pray at the altar of realism, then the top company in the world can never fall from its perch, no matter how bad their shows are. They can put on awful shows, more often than not, and still be rewarded for their incompetence with big TV deals. I mean, that's how it is in reality so the game should be like that too, no?

 

This is kinda the hook for these games, Football Manager is always the gold standard of these genre games. And the logic leap is, that no, it's not realistic that you'd be able to land the Manchester United job... but IF YOU DID? What would you do? This is the product hook. And it's a powerful hook. Everything you do here should feed that hook. The more immersive and realistic that presentation is, the better it gets. The less realistic it gets the WORSE it is. Very simple formula.

 

I also don't subscribe to the idea that the WWE is not being punished for being awful, Look at their business right now. Their fundamentals are TNA cira 2011. They had completely stopped doing house shows because they were canceling them for low ticket sales. Merch volume is down steadily. Revenue for live gates is in the toilet. The only thing keeping them afloat is the Saudi deal, and FOX. And both of those things are unbelievable strokes of luck for them completely unrelated to their core business. And entirely built around their brand power. Which is slowly waning as the more of their fanbase enters the nursing home.

 

They're in a lot of trouble, right now. Nobody sees it, because we are in a stock market irrational confidence bubble I haven't seen since the tech boom, market hit record highs with 22.3% unemployment. It's just insanity. With a live events TV rights boom that could or could not last into the next decade. The ship is riding a wave, but the boat is taking on water, and eventually, it will crest and it's a LONG way down. If we want to pray at the altar of realism, then we should make brand power a feature, we should add inflation, we should expand eras to include finances, we should be able to set the value of PPV buys, we should have target demos, each with different max disposable income ratings.

 

Rome did not burn in a day. It took poor leadership, consistent effort from barbarian tribes, countless wars, slave rebellions, religious conversion, breathtaking hedonism, and self-harm to bring it down. And that's how all monoliths fall. Not in combat, but usually due to stunning arrogance and willful ignorance. Nobody batters down the hatches and takes companies like that. You just wake up one day and read that Sears is filing for bankruptcy and realize that it's over.

 

 

 

I just think people throw the word 'exploit' around too much. So much so that it loses its meaning, but that's been happening for decades. "You have more than one account - exploiter!", "you take advantage of mechanics that were meant to be used together - exploiter!", "you play differently than I do so you're an exploiter!". I dunno, I think there are balance issues and then there are flat out exploits. Wallhacks and Aimbots are exploits. Sitting in a perch without an easy path to reach while sniping people below is not an exploit. It's a clever use of mechanics. It also requires somewhat of a knowledge of the game's mechanics (assuming you don't just rip the strat from a Reddit thread) and in TEW, that ain't easy.

 

 

I just want to say that, the technical definition of an exploit is something done that is not intended by the developers, to gain something that was not intended, and fundamentally breaks the game in a way that invalidates mechanics you are intended to interact with. Clever use of game mechanics is usually, something entirely intended, min-maxed to a degree not anticipated.

 

For example, Path of Exile released an expansion that included a stackable passive on a jewel that gave you 10% aura effect for each Herald effecting you. The developer did not consider the amount you could reduce your mana reservation ratios or the number of auras and heralds you could stack. And thus they allowed a build to exist that is practically immune to damage, with near-infinite damage scaling, utility, and damage reduction thanks to 520% aura effect. All of these systems are working as intended. Nobody cheated. The game was just not balanced correctly, and clever people discovered the power. The difference isn't that this is how the game should be played, it's that the fault isn't on the player.

 

Alot of what is being thrown around in this thread doesn't rise to either standard, and is really just gameplay preference, and booking styles. People need to loosen up and have some fun for a change.