Why do I suck at this game?

[justin1989]

So I have played TEW 2020 for the better part of a year and was decent at it and I am really good at WMMA5, but I am TRASH at TEWIX. It seems like no matter what I do I lose money, the audience is never satisfied, and when I put on shows that would logically be successful (styles that compliment our product, star power, popular wrestlers within the region, good agents and booking, ect) they still get awful ratings and finish last in the ratings.. I'm not sure what aspect of the AI that I'm missing, but I need some advice. Do I need to adjust the product? Do I need to bring cheaper less popular stars to fill out my roster (even though I'm a bigger company). Logically the reactions and perception of the shows I'm putting on are very strange, as in real life a company would be expected to use their biggest stars and build an undercarriage, but the game seem to hate pretty much every decision I make even though it aligns with the product I've sat up. I've done many play-throughs already and used many styles, but it seems my company's are destined to shrink and go broke no matter what.

[Jaysounder]

Are you playing a mod or C-verse? If it is a mod, it could be that it is not well balanced. The financials in 9 have changed from 2020 and if a mod was only converted without any fine tuning it is possible that the workers are all earning too much. The core mechanics have not changed that much from 2020. If you were booking shows successfully in 2020 you should still be doing well in 9. It also is not completely uncommon to lose some pop and money for the first couple of months in a new save while you get your footing.

 

The first thing I always do on a new save is to check the product and focus. Never use three ring circus if you have a weak roster (I would say fewer than ~8 major stars & stars), otherwise your show will be rated worse. Next, check how long matches need to be to achieve 'world class' rating (80+), your stars should almost always meet or exceed the minimum length for their matches. It's also important to check for things that will penalize your match ratings. My current save is a RTG and I'm using the 'British Sportsmanship' product. I can't use the road agent notes mayhem or car crash and can't book any dangerous matches. The game won't warn you about road agent notes, but should about unacceptable match types. It's also always a good idea to book your top babyface extra strong while you are getting set up. They will bring in the majority of your merch money which tends to be the biggest income.

[alpha2117]

3 hours ago, justin1989 said:

So I have played TEW 2020 for the better part of a year and was decent at it and I am really good at WMMA5, but I am TRASH at TEWIX. It seems like no matter what I do I lose money, the audience is never satisfied, and when I put on shows that would logically be successful (styles that compliment our product, star power, popular wrestlers within the region, good agents and booking, ect) they still get awful ratings and finish last in the ratings.. I'm not sure what aspect of the AI that I'm missing, but I need some advice. Do I need to adjust the product? Do I need to bring cheaper less popular stars to fill out my roster (even though I'm a bigger company). Logically the reactions and perception of the shows I'm putting on are very strange, as in real life a company would be expected to use their biggest stars and build an undercarriage, but the game seem to hate pretty much every decision I make even though it aligns with the product I've sat up. I've done many play-throughs already and used many styles, but it seems my company's are destined to shrink and go broke no matter what.

It often depends which company you are playing as - for instance TCW and 21CW would be really hard for anyone to make succeed the way the data is set up at the start - you have to think really creatively and be a bit lucky with either to have any hope of getting out of the holes they have dug for themselves.  If you let people know a bit more about what company you are playing or if it's custom what sort of company they can give more specific advice.

[cesspool]

How far have you gotten into your current save? It might be just me, but I often start to panic whenever I'm playing through the first few weeks of a new save and the shows underperform, I bleed money and everyone hates each other backstage. And then a few months in I'm almost always doing well. 

[Cards1125]

If you post your company and the types of shows you're running you might get some helpful feedback.  

[MikeSc]

I'll agree with the above and add maybe a little different approach.

First, if you start losing money you need to pay attention to what those factors are.  Look at finances weekly and see where your biggest costs are.  Then think about what you could do to reduce those costs. 

As a for instance, I recently started a QAW game.  You _cannot_ put every worker on the show right away.  Even 5 months in.  You need to pre-book the entire show out and give the people not on the show the night off.  You can make money just barely that way instead of going into debt.  It limits how many workers you can develop right away, but your hands are tied financially.

Second, are you watching that bit in the shows about how hot the crowd is after every segment?  Are you paying a LOT of attention to every bit of red text in those sections?  It can tell you when things aren't working and at least who is causing the problem if it is specific worker related.

Third, and this comes from people who put me on it, not necessarily mine.  Use those creative points to make Character, Gimmick, Angle and Match ideas.  Abuse that system to the fullest while doing the math on what you will need for shows.  Momentum and better ratings in segments get workers more over faster.  There are risks, but the rewards are totally worth all of them.

Fourth, a question.  Do you plan storylines out so you know who is next in line for the champ?  That way you can build up the next guy in those few months the champ is currently feuding with somebody else.  No scrambling to find a challenger.  Do this up and down the card and you will save time and frustration.

[FINisher]

Has to be a mod, 100% 😛 But yeah, more info would be needed, screenshots of the card etc.

[JD Gans]

Isn't this game a bit slower to build up companies and stars in this game over 2020

[cwamaniac]

8 hours ago, JD Gans said:

Isn't this game a bit slower to build up companies and stars in this game over 2020

It's hard to say without knowing specifics, but I imagine the Financial changes did make building up companies somewhat more difficult and The Confusion for some over the Angle System is likely affecting building up stars for some

[justin1989]

Sorry Im late to reply, I'm not on often.. I never play modded, because I can never get the mods to work. Lol. Currently I am playing TCW, but I usually play as smaller companies like NYCW or PSW. I didn't say which company directly because this seems to be my issue on every playthrough no matter what. Also is there anyway to get the wrestlers to stop screwing up during matches? Like "_____ was really off his game in that match". Also with TCW specifically I put on events that get all around high ratings and the broadcaster, performers, and websites still consider it a failed event. I lost popularity in every region on my last show, and the show got a higher rating that my current expectation. There's really a lot to this game that doesn't make sense to me. I've been a regular player for about a year, but I'm still missing something with my play style. Logically those shows should be going up as well at least as far as popularity. 

[MikeSc]

Do you pay attention to the matches your style demands?  My recollection is TCW needs a "Story Telling" and "Wild Brawl" every show to not be penalized. 

Are you also looking at how many storylines the game is counting as advanced?  If it is under your minimum that will hurt the show as well. 

Have you looked at how your show is rated?  If the main is not the best match on the show that might be the issue.

Are you putting lower card workers on the show a lot?  This can also drop the show rating.

Are your production values lower than direct competitors? You will see a red entry in your office if this is true.

 

On the off their game stuff, try to not put people with low Consistency stats in the main event.  T-Bone is horrible for this BTW.  His consistency has always been his biggest downfall.  Best bet is to keep him out of mains, run him against consistent performers and hope he has a high cap.

[justin1989]

On 9/2/2024 at 4:52 AM, MikeSc said:

Do you pay attention to the matches your style demands?  My recollection is TCW needs a "Story Telling" and "Wild Brawl" every show to not be penalized. 

Are you also looking at how many storylines the game is counting as advanced?  If it is under your minimum that will hurt the show as well. 

Have you looked at how your show is rated?  If the main is not the best match on the show that might be the issue.

Are you putting lower card workers on the show a lot?  This can also drop the show rating.

Are your production values lower than direct competitors? You will see a red entry in your office if this is true.

 

On the off their game stuff, try to not put people with low Consistency stats in the main event.  T-Bone is horrible for this BTW.  His consistency has always been his biggest downfall.  Best bet is to keep him out of mains, run him against consistent performers and hope he has a high cap.

I think you're onto something. A lot of my playstyle is trying to build up midcarders to the main event. So my ratings are probably dropping if the fans only like established stars. That will be difficult for me to work around, as I usually trying to promote people like T-Bone or Petr into main event positions. Is that just based on the consistent skill or is there really no way to promote new stars in the long run? Do I just do Andrews vs Hawkins/Chord at every PPV? I seem to be getting caught up on how pushes and elevating new stars works if they are inherently rejected by the audience. This doesn't seem to be as much as an issue for the smaller companies, but it does still happen.

[MikeSc]

I mean more that the fans have less tolerance for lower card guys on any given show.

For instance, Wolf can be in a 15-20 minute main event, and in a couple of long angles and the fans are happy.  If you do that with a Recognisable guy, the fans will be unhappy because they aren't looking to see that guy.  If you put an Unimportant guy on the show for over 8 minutes, same. 

Once they reach Well-Known you can do a 15 minute match and an angle with no complaints. 

As for the consistency thing, even guys like Wolf and Aaron come in with bad matches, they just do it less.  The Consistency attribute is what determines this, plus a RNG and probably a few other things.  I know the "Go All Out" note or any match type that auto-includes that will heighten inconsistencies.

One way to elevate somebody faster is to make them a manager of somebody higher on the card.  They consistently get more time out in front of the crowd, a lot of it in segments that are more highly rated than they might normally be in.  A couple of things the can work against this method, like if they are Recognisable and already in a match, if you put them in a promo with their "client" it may trigger that too much time on screen issue.  Also, realism.

If you can convince somebody with more than 5 pop above them to take a loss (or just don't care what that guy thinks) you can move them up the card fast.  Not recommended unless you plan to make that guy a victim of squashes week after week or want to fire them though.

[Cards1125]

6 hours ago, justin1989 said:

I think you're onto something. A lot of my playstyle is trying to build up midcarders to the main event. So my ratings are probably dropping if the fans only like established stars. That will be difficult for me to work around, as I usually trying to promote people like T-Bone or Petr into main event positions. Is that just based on the consistent skill or is there really no way to promote new stars in the long run? Do I just do Andrews vs Hawkins/Chord at every PPV? I seem to be getting caught up on how pushes and elevating new stars works if they are inherently rejected by the audience. This doesn't seem to be as much as an issue for the smaller companies, but it does still happen.

I'm about a year into my TCW save.  I can mostly spam low to mid 80s TV and high 80s or low 90s PPVs without too much effort.  For TV I run a lot of tags, triple threats, and fatal 4 ways with a few main eventers and an upper carder to eat the pin.  Run it 20-25 minutes with a slow build and a creative finish, you should easily hit 80-85 as long as the finish doesn't fail.  Run angles with the rest of your main eventers.  Get a wild brawl with a few upper carders and put over a guy you're looking to move up.  Run story telling before that to make sure you don't burn out the crowd, I usually use it to leech pop off the time decliners.  Early in the card just don't go all jobber and turn the crowd off, you really can't mess it up.  And you can absolutely make new stars, I brought in Nicky Gilbert with 0 pop across the US and he's a main eventer for me now with mid-high 70s pop.  I've also got Loxley Robbins, Will Beaumont, Blackfriar, and Frankie Boy Fernandez in the high 50s/low 60s and intentionally holding them there for now, but they could go over no problem with the right push.

My initial plan was to run Andrews/Chord to Mayhem, Chord wins, Chord is dominant all year, then Andrews gets his revenge.  But with the way Gilbert has sprinted up the card, and the fact his SQ is better, I might let him win King of Kings and give him his first go with the title.  He can put up 90s.  But even with your starting roster, Andrews, Gauge, Mo, T-Bone, Hawkins, Chord, Huggins, Quentin Queen, all those guys can put up 85-90 matches 3-4 months in if you keep booking them strongly.  Just don't let your main eventers eat the pin unless its a PPV against another main eventer.

[Shooltra]

13 hours ago, justin1989 said:

I think you're onto something. A lot of my playstyle is trying to build up midcarders to the main event. So my ratings are probably dropping if the fans only like established stars. That will be difficult for me to work around, as I usually trying to promote people like T-Bone or Petr into main event positions. Is that just based on the consistent skill or is there really no way to promote new stars in the long run? Do I just do Andrews vs Hawkins/Chord at every PPV? I seem to be getting caught up on how pushes and elevating new stars works if they are inherently rejected by the audience. This doesn't seem to be as much as an issue for the smaller companies, but it does still happen.

A thing to keep in mind are Popularity Caps. T-Bone has a Star Quality in the 70s so even if you push him really hard, he won't be able to get into the 90s unlike a Jay Chord for example who has a Star Quality in the 90s.

The first thing to do is keep an eye on the performances during a match. T-Bone for example may be limited in popularity but he can get really good ratings during a brawl so he is someone who can get a Main-Event slot. Look for those with performance in the 80s as they will give you good ratings. And if someone with a low popularity does a good performance, that's a sign they are worthy of a push to get that performance even higher.

Aaron, Wolf and Jay are your backbone for delivering matches. Ideally, you first want them all really popular thanks to their Star Quality and then, you want to give the popularity to those you push in a great match. They can carry a match so you don't need them against each other but rather in different matches so they can elevate the entire card.

[Spoons]

Another thing might just be that mysterious randomness. I will very often (like way too often) run shows where both guys in the main event get high 90's but the match gets an 82 with the only penalty being inconsistency, then I'll quit and redo it and it'll be an 86 with several MORE issues, then I'll quit and redo it again and it'll be a 77. Then again and it's a 90 with "terrible colour commentary". Match ratings vary wildly sometimes for seemingly no reason, and you need to learn to roll with the punches, and abuse creative ideas as much as possible.

[Polpetta5]

I have a similar problem. My wrestlers, especially in the main event of tv or ppv, always give me a low rating due to "holding back". I don't understand why, but it aleays happens.

[Spoons]

52 minutes ago, Polpetta5 said:

I have a similar problem. My wrestlers, especially in the main event of tv or ppv, always give me a low rating due to "holding back". I don't understand why, but it aleays happens.

PPV shouldn't do that, I don't think, since that'd be for the "canny operator" trait, I'm pretty sure.

[alpha2117]

1 hour ago, Polpetta5 said:

I have a similar problem. My wrestlers, especially in the main event of tv or ppv, always give me a low rating due to "holding back". I don't understand why, but it aleays happens.

Check the settings for the event.  There's a setting marked Importance and not all Events have the same.  Think WWE - Royal Rumble, Summerslam and Wrestlemania are a lot more important than Cyber Sunday was.

Edited September 11 by alpha2117

[Cards1125]

4 hours ago, Polpetta5 said:

I have a similar problem. My wrestlers, especially in the main event of tv or ppv, always give me a low rating due to "holding back". I don't understand why, but it aleays happens.

Are you using the story telling match type?  Or some other type of note like protecting or keeping someone strong?

[elmiticomark]

On 9/10/2024 at 4:39 AM, Shooltra said:

A thing to keep in mind are Popularity Caps. T-Bone has a Star Quality in the 70s so even if you push him really hard, he won't be able to get into the 90s unlike a Jay Chord for example who has a Star Quality in the 90s.

The first thing to do is keep an eye on the performances during a match. T-Bone for example may be limited in popularity but he can get really good ratings during a brawl so he is someone who can get a Main-Event slot. Look for those with performance in the 80s as they will give you good ratings. And if someone with a low popularity does a good performance, that's a sign they are worthy of a push to get that performance even higher.

Aaron, Wolf and Jay are your backbone for delivering matches. Ideally, you first want them all really popular thanks to their Star Quality and then, you want to give the popularity to those you push in a great match. They can carry a match so you don't need them against each other but rather in different matches so they can elevate the entire card.

 

Star quality is very important in structuring a federations top tier talent and how it can last on a long-term basis; I run an "Other Guys" fed with the best workers I can find who aren't signed; Ernest Youngman and Aldous Blackfriar do incredibly well (Frankie Perez/Cowboy Buck, a few others can take this spot, Davis Wayne Newton for example who is a very good "B+ Player") as I'm getting myself off the ground with their stats, charisma/mic, and above average Star Quality... however, as I progress, a worker like Papa Swoll or Cory Underwood are much more important to long term success.  In TCW, you already have the 90+ SQ players, so the 65-79/80 range wrestlers are good to have as that second-tier main eventer.  The guy who can work with the guy, more or less, esp. for TCW specifically.  

[MikeSc]

I have seen some of the older workers get penalised for "holding back" in big matches that were not one-on-ones.

[cesspool]

Doesn't "holding back" have something to do with road agent notes, too? I've always figured that the wrestlers would hold back in, say, a story-telling match, or when they are supposed to make their opponent look strong.