GWF Feuds And Scheduling Matches

[markyhitch]

Every game edition we get a handbook with all the feuds for that edition contained.

What I'd like to know is, do you, as the promoter, only ever schedule matches between feuding wrestlers (which would result in a lot of repeated match-ups) or do you just stick to scheduling anyone face versus anyone heel?

[Mynnotaur]

I just go with whatever is going on in my fed. I think I usually have a flow to my angles and matches. And if the dice lean into it, then I have no problem having face vs. face and especially heel vs. heel.

But it just depends on what happens.

[Biggin]

I will schedule anyone against anyone, letting the dice choose my matches. Good vs. Evil makes for great matches, but Good vs. Good puts the Code in the spotlight, as we watch the respect between wrestlers. Evil vs. Evil puts villainy at a premium, with the wrestlers trying to one up each other's dastardly behavior. I think feuds are the best of all, but they get stale if they are replayed constantly.

Above all, I let stories (and thus, matches) develop based on what the dice create for me in previous shows.

When I get around to it, I'm going to try a draw system. It will be less random, but the "fans" will get what they want, in theory.

[floydthebarber]

For me, I think it depends on a number of factors. How well written the feud is, how good the matches are between the wrestlers, and where the dice and your imagination take you. Some feuds, like Star Warrior v. Thantos, or Krakan v. The Titans in the early years for example, are at the core of the GWF story, and you can almost do as many of those matches as you want and there will be a legit 'heat' behind it...which keeps those feuds alive all year. Other feuds are more like 'beefs' and unless the matches between the two parties, or your skill as a booker allow for a sort of long term friction, then those feuds play themselves out and then you kind of just book on the fly. There are also times where I've already got something going on, or I'm just not feeling Tom's version of things, so I'll bypass a feud altogether. I would never not want Tom to map out in detail where his version of the story is going because a) its fun story to follow b) it really kicks off my own imagination, much like a lot of discussion around this set revolves around the question of what happened to the Future Shock guys? I've read some very interesting and creative theories about what may have happened, and in my mind, they're all right, you know? Because every player is going to play with their own idea of where the fed is headed in the back of their minds, while also being influenced by other peoples feds and theories...only to be steered in another direction when the next set comes out...it's what makes the game so fascinating, and why it's had the longevity it's had it my opinion.

[maddog1981]

I use the booklets as a basic guideline for my feds. Sometimes that feud will get a lot of play and sometimes it will get glossed over. I know I often run into match ups that I absolutely love that don't get a lot of play in the handbooks. Sometimes a feud is too one sided and you need to move on to something else. Sometimes I intentionally keep wrestlers apart. There was a time where I didn't have Star Warrior and Thantos wrestle for 2088-2089 because Thantos was dominating the feud and I was going to revisit it when Star Warrior got upgraded. I also have standby feuds that I go to as filler from time to time. Wolf vs. Bishop Hell comes to mind for that. I need a feud that will write itself for 2 months well Wolf and Hell always put on a good show.

[DK II]

I don't outright schedule every card with all feud matches, but I will use the handbook as a guide for setting the matches. Sometimes it might not be the exact two guys who are the "main feuds", but within the teams, those are fun too.

I have run a SuperCard (PPV) named "Feud Night" where I pit al of the main feuds versus each other, usually in special matches. Plus, I have also made the champs defend against their #1 contenders early on the card and then the winner has to face their main feud for the title later in the card. That makes for some interesting events...I remember guys who were no where near the title, but because of the feud the walk out of that event with a Championship. I don't run the SuperrCard every year, but it is in my list of events that I cycle through.

Every game year I run a SuperCard (PPV) named "BattleZone Fury" in which all of the matches are BattleZone type between feuding teams. So no matter what every year the team feuds get a spotlight for one night. This is actually my second favorite event, only behind my Deimos Perennial which are my "New Year's Tournaments". When I first started playing I would actually hold these tournaments on New Years Day, but then morphed them to the GWF New Year (be that in July or Jan based on set release). Every so often I will make the first round matches of the Perennial all feud matches to start the year off with that edgy start...some years random draw, some years seeded.

So while I don't specifically make all matches with the handbook feuds in mind, I do have them intertwined in major events as well as in cards. Tom seems to be right on target with what he makes as the feuds so I like seeing how they play out in my fed.