Brand Split?!

[simplydurhamcalling]

I posted this in the wrestlecrap thread but I figured I'd cover all bases (and I got the e-mail!) so....

Have any of you done a brand split in your game?! I've been contemplating doing one for a while now, I'm running TNA and I was going to have one of my shows X-Division only and the other one none X-Division guys. Decided that wouldn't work because the show without X-Division wrestlers would lose out to much as far as match quality is concerned anyway some background...

I've got 73 workers, 21 of which are in developmental.
8 Main Eventers
14 Upper Midcarders
13 Midcarders
7 Lower Midcarders
3 Openers
0 Jobbers
4 Managers
3 Non-Wrestlers (Bret Hart, Terry Funk, Vince Russo)

If I did split them Funk would be GM on one show and Russo would be GM on the other (Bret does commentary) and I'd probably hire a couple more guys to fill out the rosters.

So any thoughts?

[tvang]

I'd say go for it buddy. I have a thought that you might wanna chew on, kind of an extension of your x-division idea. Maybe you should do your split based on style Like put most of your technical on one, brawling on another (Funk's show I'd assume) because in that case, the wrestlers will still have good quality matches, just a different type.

[Mr. X]

If you do a brand split, keep an eye on the morale of your Main Event guys. They lose morale every show they're not used. I've never done a brand split myself for that reason.

[Brain Of J]

I only found it to work if I had three shows.

Show A=Roster split A
Show B=Roster split B
Show C=mixture/recap show

It's not 100% perfect, but its better then nothing.

Jed Shaffer
~Your friendly neighboorhood hint-man.

[jordenisgood]

By: TheBlueyComplex @ ewbattleground.com

Inevitably, you're going to tick someone off. When a wrestler's morale dips below 40, they start to work sluggishly in the ring and, if their morale drops too far, will sit out the rest of their contract.

So how to fix this? Simple. Just make that wrestler seem important, like in real life. If they have charisma or superstar look/fonz factor, then use interviews and angles to give them face time and make them look good. If they don't have any of those three, feel free to place them with a manager who is charasmatic (Paul Heyman, James Mitchell, Torrie Wilson, etc. etc.)

Along with this, you can have them cleanly win matches and/or feuds over some of your other feds stars, or workers that you have nothing else to do with. That way, they seem like a legitimate contender and a good worker. Be warned, however. You can expect low match qualities as long as the wrestler's morale is 40 or under!

Another cool way to boost morale was given to us in version 4.0. If you hire someone who has a good relationship with an unhappy worker, your unhappy worker's morale will gain a decent amount (anywhere from 10 points to 20 points). Also, you can avoid having a worker lose morale via a relationship by releasing the worker they have a relationship with, instead of firing them.

Every time a Main Eventer is not used on a show he will lose 5 morale. An Upper Midcarder will lose 3 morale every time they are not used. This becomes much more apparent when running a roster split and if you do not use your time wisely then you will soon have a roster full of unhappy people. You must remember that roster splits are not based on the WWE idea of roster splits. In EWR, it is just a tool you can use to organize your roster.

The most common ways to raise a worker's morale:
1 hire his friends and relatives
Check his relations from his profile, and he will get a morale boost for every one of his friends or relatives you hire. If you don't need these new guys on your roster, hire them straight into development deals and they will be out of your way. They may even develop into something useful to you one day! Conversely, your worker will lose morale every time you hire someone that they dislike or hate. You will be warned when you are trying to sign the enemy. A popup will appear saying "Don't hire that guy, we don't get along."

2 fire his enemies
He will gain morale if you terminate (not 'release') people he dislikes or hates. Conversely, he will lose morale if you terminate (not 'release') his friends/relatives

3 let him color commentate a tv show for a while
If he has the "announce" attribute checked, he can be a color commentator and will gain 9 or 10 morale points for every television show (but not event) that he commentates on.

4 put him in segments that get him over
I know that this is may be counterproductive to your Vincesque plan to hold his overness down, but anything that gets a worker over will raise his morale, anything that causes a worker to lose overness will generally hurt his morale. A worker winning a high MQ match will gain about 3 morale points.

5 gimmick change or face/heel turn
Especially if the writing team notices that his gimmick is getting stale, or is causing him to lose heat because it is not right for your fed's risk level (like if he is gimmicked as a daredevil in a low risk fed) you need to change his gimmick pronto. He will lose overness and morale every time he appears with a bad or stale gimmick, and will gain overness when his gimmick or face/heel alignment changes.

6 if he is on open contract, make sure he isn't working for a fed that is losing PI
If he is working for a fed that is losing PI (including yours) he will lose morale. If a fed he is in drops by a whole fed size (like national to cult) he will lose overness and morale. Conversely, he will gain morale and overness if his other fed (or yours) raises by a fed size. He will tend to also gain morale in Japanese touring feds when touring.

7 Don't leave this guy off of tv or your events
Workers lose morale when they are left off of any tv show or event. Sometimes you don't see the morale loss because the worker can lose a fraction of a point, but the morale display rounds to the next whole number. Lower card workers gain morale quickly via tv appearances. Upper card workers lose morale quickly if they are left off of a lot of tv shows, or any events.

[simplydurhamcalling]

Wow, thanks for all the advice, I didn't realise they lost morale every show they were left off, I thought it was only if they were left off 2 tv shows in a row!

I've had two prime time shows running for a while now and so far I've tended to use one to build up actual feuds and the other to use guys I don't have in feuds and get new workers over, it seems to have worked so far. I've got 100% PI at Global Level but the market is at 85% and on the wane! The only guy below 40% morale is Sting and that's because I jobbed him out to Matt Morgan and I really don't care about him anymore!

I think I may take tvang's advice and try to keep the X-Division guys together on one show and my Jeff Jarrett's and John Cena's (yes I stole Cena and I don't regret it one bit!) on the other. Only thing is I may need to hire a few more brawlers because my roster's mostly dominated by X guys.

I've got Abyss, Brock Lesnar, Chris Harris, Chris Mordetsky, James Storm, Jeff Jarrett, John Cena, Justin Credible, Matt Morgan, Monty Brown, Nigel McGuinness (more technical), Raven, Ron Killings, Samoa Joe, Steve Corino, Sting, Terry Funk (if needed).

Any other workers you can think of who'd work well with those guys?

[Zane]

I hate brand splits. I just throw everyone together anyway so it's no issue for me.