GWF is great because...

[welsh]

Writing my post in the WWE thread on Mr Kennedy (McMahon ) has just made me realise

Our feds take place 115 years in the future and feature aliens, magic and such things. And yet, somehow all the storylines are sensible, coherent, mature, generate real heat, are internally consistent (JR : "Who is that stranger ? " JR you idiot, he was on WCW only last month !!) and have titles that matter, fueds that are vicious and run for years but we don't get tired of.

WWE takes place now, and has none of those things and everything that is worse. Imagine if Vince Jr Jr Jr was in charge ? Our sets would be called "Richard Joke 2123" and would include all the terrible gimics we have seen but for real (Gonzales really would be part animal, Undertaker really would be dead, Massacre's wife would have been the new manager of the Gladiators, and worst of all, the Johnson's would be aliens who look like a pair of ... you get the idea) and it would SUCK

Basically, it just never occurred to me how well Tom has managed to keep the feel of the old wrestling we know and love alive in the fed.

It also makes me wonder... Tom and Chris and Mark, what is your demographic like ?

I only ask because I am wondering : kids who have been into wrestling for a couple of years, if they pick up a copy of this game (assuming they are Sci Fi fans and get on board with the fantasy nature), will they be thinking "This isn't like wrestling I know, where are the illigitimate children, where are the retarded characters, where are the characters whose gimmick is a stutter ?" Basically, can they relate to it ? I am sure part of the reason we love the game is because it reminds us of our favourite time periods of wrestling. Do the younger fans set up their cards and come up with angles like the ones they have seen like Katie Vick ?

Just a few random thoughts. The main point of the post was to give massive props to Tom for keeping the spirit of the game intact through all these years. The only thing I can think of that's changed to stay contemporary is matches and movesets. Everything else has been ahead of its time rather than catching up.

Cheers everyone

[jefft]

The main reason GWF is great is because YOU are the promoter. You run the angles and feuds or whatever that you think are interesting. Basically you are running a REAL WWE exactly the way you want it run so it is always cool to you.

[welsh]

in the words of Tenacious D...

"That's also true !! "

[JamieOD]

jefft said:

The main reason GWF is great is because YOU are the promoter. You run the angles and feuds or whatever that you think are interesting. Basically you are running a REAL WWE exactly the way you want it run so it is always cool to you.

Add to the fact that the storylines and characters put in place can really inspire some unique moments in your fed that don't have to follow the official story. Some might be obvious (eg Slave Beast stands up for himself and leaves Epoch, Valour loses his temper and takes it out on Reckless, Sly Drury takes a bounty placed on Encubus or Epoch's head) others could be something of your own imagination (eg Star Warrior and Thantos join together, Paralyze breaks Tristan's neck). The results you get and the matches you make, whether they come from the default storyline or your own can kickstart your vision of not only your fed but maybe even the galaxy.

[welsh]

All good posts, I suppose what I was pleasantly suprised about after all this time was that the official story lines are very rarely best ignored, or run contrary to what an old style fed would book.

[Trent Lawless]

You know, I've never really thought about a "demographic" other than wrestling/MMA fan when I write. I just try to be intelligent about it and assume that readers are with me with any twists I incorporate. I don't like lowest common denominator stories any more than most fans of this game, so my stuff won't ever go there if I can help it.

Having been involved with this game for two decades now, I guess it's just second nature to me to expect what people might like, but I also have to like it or I can't write it. Plus, meeting fellow players at conventions is a big plus for feeling out what works and what doesn't, or what's anticipated or pushed for.

We've got a bunch of smart folks here. Why pander to them, eh?

[PureHatred]

jefft said:

The main reason GWF is great is because YOU are the promoter.

That's true.Im pretty great.

[Knapik]

purehatred said:

jefft said:

The main reason GWF is great is because YOU are the promoter.

That's true.Im pretty great.

Welcome back, Hate

[MikeMcKinney]

Wow PureHatred is back..nice to see you back on the boards bro.

[azfan]

Great characters, storylines.

[Werner Mueck]

great characters, great storylines, and purehatred.

Tom is receptive, he cares about his game a lot and cares about the fans of his game. He hasn't sued me yet. The game and the people involved have encouraged the creation of a cool online community. I get work because of it. It's all good (not Andy Good but who can be that Good anyway?)

[GOODZILLA]

wernermueck said:

It's all good (not Andy Good but who can be that Good anyway?)

Hehe, I found a t-shirt at the store that just says "It's All Good" on the front. I wore it to the bar and it was a big hit with the ladies.

[lordofthisworld]

I've always appreciated the intelligence that Tom and Mark and Kris have assumed from their audience. Since I've been playing, I've been off and on watching wrestling on tv. I will usually watch until I get disgusted with the bad jokes and (much higher of a crime) bad wrestling. I'll put it down until my wrestling jones starts itching again, and then I'll watch for a while again. Great wrestling quality will keep me tuning in, but when that begins to stumble, as it inevitably does, it goes downhill fast for me.

However, the stories of the GWF, CPC, and aCe have always been top-notch, and the quality of the wrestling matches I have beat what's on tv hands down. My weekly show main events are usually better than WWE ppv main events, and my ppv main events are like nothing I've ever seen.

[setratus]

I like it because of the evolution of the characters, be it on their card or story. I like seeing the evolution of a rookie wrestler to mid-carder to megastar to aging veteran... I love seeing them switch sides during that time... when they finally retire, I can look back on their stories and say 'Man, they did a hell of a lot! What a ride!

-Kevin

[welsh]

I think the investment in the characters is a big part of it, as it lets people really get behid characters however small they are in terms of the overall storyline. Logical and coherent charatcer progression is missing from real world wrestling because of the problem of fan popularity getting in the way. In GWF I like to think that characters get a push and then are loved rather than the other way around...ie they earn it.

That's not a given though... do any promotersout there push their guys, or push the guys they guess from the handbook they are supposed to push, rather than go by their own w/l records ? Obviously that is closer to the E's own booking, but how does that sit for you ?

It isn't straightforward because I have thought of setting up matches in the past to make historic match ups, even though the dice never made it happen, so I understand the temptation.

[toasterboy]

....it made us a chocolate cake!




sorry, had to.

[Werner Mueck]

GWF inspired a musical cd too if I remember correctly (I can't remember the name of the album though or who the singer was).

[mft]

wernermueck said:

GWF inspired a musical cd too if I remember correctly (I can't remember the name of the album though or who the singer was).

Weird Al? He's the only parody singer worth anything around. Anyone else is a cheap imitation!

[Werner Mueck]

No, it wasn't Weird Al. It was something more like "Stomping Toasters".

[deadlikeme]

I heard Bigfoot actually comes out of the forests in Pacific Northwest just to draw Promoter Madness!! I think that's pretty great!!