Wrestling League...redux?

[ShadowedFlames]

For the majority of you who weren't around to see this when I started it, here's the link.

I originally started this as something to keep activity up on the boards before the hiatus hit us, and I had plans to turn it into a full-fledged thing with NLW, OWF, and maybe other feds if they wanted to join later on. Sadly, my computer crashed halfway through the second season and most of the info I had at that time was lost.

HOWEVER...running that first League has given me some ideas to work with, and with Matt's blessing I'm going to give this another try. The original idea was to use the current NLW roster (granted, one or two "inactives" would be added to bolster the field some), but after some further thought a better idea hit me.

If I'm looking for true audience interaction (as much as it would allow anyway), I need to broaden the opportunities for said participation. Thus, I'm introducing what I'm calling the "Build-Your-Own-Character" Wrestling League.

Here's the basic premise as explained last time:

Originally Posted by Modified explanation from the last thread

OK. Let me see if I can explain this a bit better. As an example, I will use Phoenix, since I am most familiar with him.

In this game, there are certain stats everyone can assign points to. Depending on your character, you might be an all-rounder, a high-flyer, brawler, technical wrestler, MMA crossover, hardcore or any mix thereof. Phoenix would have more points in the technical field, as befits his character. By comparison, Nick James would be about equal in brawling, hardcore, and flying.

There is also a section for how well they entertain the crowd, how stiff they work, how well they sell, and physical stats. Normally, I would have made these stats already, but this time around will change the way it's done a little.

Another portion has to do with the movesets. Every character have a unique moveset, which again I will be putting in from the write-ups and also with any input that the handlers are willing to give me in assisting with entering said movesets.

Phoenix, as a technical wrestler, would have a lot of suplexes, submission holds, and a number of moves to work on the legs of the opponent to set up the Blaze of Glory. Nick James would have a lot of speedy, cruiserweight-type moves as he is that sort of wrestler. All of the finishers and trademarks would be entered manually, and would be set unique to the character who uses it. (Thus, The Milieu would be entered for Corbin Damari if he was in the game; same with Ethan's Shadow Kick or Josh Allen's Touch of Reality / Shooting Star Legdrop.)

A warning to those who have top rope finishers: you might be well advised to have a non-aerial finisher. The computer AI, if the top rope finisher misses, will instantly go for the cover and normally get the pin without pulling off another offensive move. I speak from experience. (Bolding this part so that it's not missed.)

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As for the league itself, it's a round-robin schedule. Say, with 10 people, you'd have Phoenix/James, Damari/Winterborne, Dashery/Roxy, Okuma/Josh Allen, Drake Munday/Lopes. I would announce the card, let people make predictions if they wished, simulate the matches, and report the results like so:

Josh Allen vs Okuma
(enter brief write-up here. Not doing full matches because I have to write enough of those for the main site )
Winner: Josh Allen, via pinfall (Touch of Reality), 17:20. Match Rating: A

Ethan Dashery vs. Roxy Erikson
(another brief match description)
Winner: Ethan Dashery via pinfall (Roll-up with tights held), 11:00. match Rating: C-

(Maybe an angle or two if I can find something good to work with.)

and so on....

The next week would then be posted, and a few days later I would run those matches. This proceeds until the end of the round-robin schedule, at which time I set up a tournament-style format to determine the overall league winner.

After a week to add in whomever is being added to the league for the next season (if we're going that), updating stats, and so forath, I would repeat the process, etc.

It's really something that's a diversion for the rest of you, as I will be doing most of the hard work on my end. But I think this might have potential.

Two things I should add here that are not mentioned above: a character's popularity determines their starting energy. I've balanced the popularity worldwide for 10 roster spots, though I can add a couple more if needed. How well the match is rated, as well as who wins, affects your popularity. Losing a two minute squash will hurt rather badly, while winning a 59-minute technical and aerial showcase will great boost your popularity in the region you're wrestling in. I've got formulas and such to calculate just how much the popularity changes.

The other thing is a new feature I'm adding to this run: Money. The game I'm running this from (Grey Dog Software's "Wrestling Spirit II") treats wrestling as real in this case. Winning gets you popularity, helps move you up the card, and gives you the winner's share of the prize purse. You then take your winnings and apply them to boosting your skills. The system I will be using for this is a bit simpler, but effective.

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Now with that big wall of text out of the way, here's where I need folks to join in. I'm going to have every character start with 0 skills in everything except "Basics," "Safety," and "Selling." Those three numbers will be equal for everyone. The rest of the stats the wrestlers will be earning with the prize winnings. Every player who wants to join in with this can control the development of one character, and direct how to spend their money on training. Naturally, the higher the ability, the more you will have to spend to increase it. If you join, but don't assign your money to training, you simply don't train that week and keep your money for the future. While you might end up having a bit banked by year's end, it'll be a bit more difficult to beat your opponents if you don't improve with them. Keep that in mind. You won't have to RP for this game; it's just a diversion and so I don't want to make it too much work for anyone other than myself.

If you want to join, and bring in your current NLW wrestler, that's fine. If you want to join, but don't want to use your NLW wrestler due to current NLW plotlines that you'd rather not see resolved in this game, that's also OK. Just give me a name, style of wrestler, size, gender, trademarks/finishers, and age, and you can join that way. A picture base is not necessary because, frankly, I suck at graphics. Hell, if you came from OWF, SW, GCWA, or some other promotion and want to use a character from there, that's fine as well. I may have to ask a few questions, but that would be a minor issue.

Whoever ends up the League Champion will get some sort of prize--nothing of monetary value, sadly, because I'm too damn poor--but it will be related to this game. Probably the option to set the divisions for the following season, or something like that.

I'd like 10 people, as my schedules are already set for that. Would be willing to settle for 8 if I must, and if we go over I'll adapt as necessary.

I'll let sign-ups go for about a week, as I'll be without Internet for two days this coming week (but my phone, for what it can do, will still be available for me to check on stuff here).

So...any takers?

[???]

yeah TLS does.

[Job]

Consider me a taker like my name was Mark Calloway.